After slow start, Carson girls rip Fallon

FALLON - After shaking off some first-inning cobwebs, the Carson softball team powered its way to an season-opening win on Thursday in pool play of the Preseason Victory TOC .

The Senators, who spotted Fallon a 4-0 lead after the first inning, rallied for a 14-4 win in five innings. Danielle Morrow put the game out of reach in the fourth with a grand slam off Fallon ace Jill Pinder for a 10-4 lead.

Carson (1-0) tagged Lady Wave (0-1) reliever Robyn Openshaw for five runs in the fifth inning. Both teams will head to Sacramento today to continue pool play of the three-day tournament.

"I don't know if it was opening day jitters ... but we gave her (Lindsey Ashbaugh) time to work through it and it wasn't happening," Carson coach Scott Vickrey said. "The girls kind of nickel and dimed ... the second inning we broke through and got on top."

The Senators, though, were off the a rocky start against the defending 3A champs. Fallon freshman Ali Tedford reached base after an error and starting pitcher Ashbaugh walked the next two batters to load the bases with one out.

Ashbaugh had trouble finding the strike zone as one unearned run scored on wild pitches. Fallon's Danielle Rothery and Pinder added RBI singles to give the Lady Wave a 4-0 lead. Christa McGahuey came on in relief with one out in the first and went the rest of the way.

"I look at the game from three aspects - hitting, pitching and defense," Fallon coach Phil Pinder said. "After the first inning, I don't think we scored real well in any of those categories. But give Carson credit, they're a good team."

Carson responded with six runs in the second inning highlighted by a two-run ground-rule double from Jennifer Purcell. The Senators tagged Pinder for six hits in the inning and the Fallon defense committed two errors.

In the fourth inning, Emily Collins singled with two outs to spark a rally. Purcell reached on an error, one of five committed by Fallon, and McGahuey walked to load the bases. Morrow stepped to the plate and crushed a pitch over the centerfield fence to put Carson in control.

"That big hit with two outs really lifted us up," Vickrey said of Morrow's homer.