Despite some shaky moments, Carson High's softball team passed the first of three big tests this week.
Lauren Knorzer and Lisa Yamamoto hit run-scoring singles with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, and the Senators snapped a 6-all tie to beat Reed 8-6 in a Northern 4A crossover game Thursday afternoon at Carson.
The win was Carson's fourth straight after losing the first game of Monday's doubleheader against Galena. Carson puts its win streak on the line Saturday at Bishop Manogue in a Sierra League doubleheader starting at 10 a.m.
This was a game won by the offense, which produced 14 hits off Shivaun Landeros and Detinee Levesque.
K.C. Withrow went 3-for-3, while Jen Purcell and Lane each went 2-for-3 while Yamamoto and Christa McGahuey went 2-for-4. Purcell and Yamamoto each drove in two runs. The latter hit a solo homer in the second which tied the game at 3. Purcell is 7-for-9 in her last two games.
"When we designed the starting nine it was done with who could swing the bat," Carson coach Scott Vickrey said. "Sometimes we've been up and down, but we swung the bat well today. (Jen) Purcell has been hitting the ball well which is why I moved her up to third today, and it paid off in the first inning."
What was good to see were the efforts of Knorzer and Lane in the sixth. Knorzer has been in a little bit of a slump, while Lane hasn't seen a lot of good pitches to hit.
With two outs in the sixth, Christa McGahuey singled to right to keep the inning alive and moved to second on a shot by Lane back through the middle.
"I was just trying to put it in play," Lane said. "We needed the runs. I just tried to hit up the middle."
Up stepped Knorzer, who had struck out twice and hit a comebacker. Knorzer singled home McGahuey to give Carson a 7-6 lead.
"I felt a lot of pressure," Knorzer admitted. "I needed to pull through; needed to pick myself up. I got the hit I needed to get. I think he was going to let me pull through (or not). I was not picking up the release point."
Yamamoto smacked a single to right-centerfield to score Lane, but Knorzer was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second base which ended the inning.
In the seventh, Hannah Martini walked, but was forced at second when Emily Collins made a nice stop and flipped to Lane for a force out. McGahuey retired the next two hitters to end the game.
"It was scary nervous," McGahuey said. "I just wanted to do my job and win the game. Offense and a lot of defense, we have to have both. She (Collins) save my life out there."
It was a slugfest from the outset. Both teams scored two in the first and one in the second.
Carson took a 6-3 lead after four, as McGahuey and Withrow delivered run-scoring hits in the third and Purcell had a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Three Carson errors enabled Reed to tie the game at 6 in the sixth. Two errors came in the two-run fifth and one came in the sixth.
That set the stage for clutch hits by Lane, McGahuey, Knorzer and Yamamoto.
