RENO — Carson High’s baseball team continued to struggle at the plate, but managed to put up another victory.
The Senators scored three runs in the top of the fifth to snap a 2-all tie en route to a 6-4 win over Wooster Tuesday afternoon in a Sierra League contest.
The win upped Carson’s record to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in Division I play. Carson opens a two-game series against Damonte Ranch at 3:45 p.m. at Ron McNutt Field with Charlie Banfield expected to take the hill for the Senators.
Carson managed just four hits, giving them 13 in the last three games, two of them wins.
“We only had three strikeouts,” Carson coahch Bryan Manoukian said. “Our approach was better. We hit some balls hard today. Their centerfielder made a couple of nice plays.”
Carson scored first when T.J. Thomsen smacked a solo homer off J.J. Harloff. Thomsen went 2-for-2, scored three runs and drove in one run. He’s doing exactly what Manoukian and the Senators need him to do.
“This is TJ’s third year of experience,” Manoukian said. “That’s the difference. He has confidence in himself. He’s not pressing anymore. He knows what he’s doing up there.”
Wooster went ahead 2-1 against Jace Zampirro in the second when Coltan Ramirez doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch. Mike Sowers reached on a Gehrig Tucker error and Zampirro hit the next batter. Cassin Brown doubled home Sowers to make it 2-1.
Carson tied the game in the fourth when Chase Blueberg singled, advanced to second on an error, to third on a passed ball and scored on a balk. Carson got a runner to second after that, but was unable to cash in.
In the fifth, Dom Norton had an infield single and stole second. Thomsen walked. Tucker sacrificed the runners over and was safe at first on an error by Harloff. Norton scored on the play and Thomsen moved to third. Tucker moved to second on a passed ball and Blueberg was hit by pitch to load the bases. Thomsen scored on a wild pitch and then Charlie Banfield hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
Zampirro left after allowing a run in the fifth to make it 5-3. He allowed two earned runs and six hits, He struck out five and walked one, but hit three batters.
“Jace didn’t have good control of his off-speed pitch,” Manoukian said. “He battled out there and made pitches when he needed to.”
Thomsen singled and scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-3. Luke Maher singled and eventually reached third where he was stranded.
Wooster scored once in the seventh off reliever Cody Schmidlin, who recorded the save.
DOUGLAS 12, HUG 2
The Douglas High baseball team staked Hug to an early 2-0 lead Tuesday afternoon, but recovered in a big way, rolling over the Hawks for a 12-2 win.
The victory boosted the Tigers to 8-1 overall on the year and 4-0 in Northern Division I play.
Hug plated its two runs on three hits in the first inning and then held Douglas off the scoreboard in the bottom half.
Pitcher Cole Peck settled in for Douglas and shut the Hawks out over the next three innings before Kyle Johnson closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts in the final inning.
The Tigers got things going at the plate in the bottom of the second after Nolan Weintz and Dillon Lopez were hit by pitches on back-to-back at-bats.
Cale Kynett followed up with a single, bringing Weintz around, and Teddy Mason singled to bring Lopez home for the tying run.
Chase White drew a walk to load the bases, and Cody Carter walked to drive in Kynett for what would prove to be the game-winning run.
From there, the route was on. Dusty Fisher doubled, bringing two runs home, Kaleb Foster walked to re-load the bases and Weintz walked to bring Carter home.
Another bases-loaded walk, this one to Kynett, later brought Fisher home with two outs to wrap up the scoring in a six-run frame.
In the bottom of the third, Carter doubled and moved to third on a passed ball. He later scored on a sacrifice fly to center from Jimmy King.
The Tigers extended the lead to 10 runs with a five-run fourth and finished out the game early due to the mercy rule.
SOFTBALL
TIGERS TOP RENO
Douglas knocked off Reno, 7-4 and 6-1, over the weekend in Reno.
In the opener, Douglas rallied from a 4-2 deficit with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth. Kaitlyn Bowman struck out seven batters and scattered eight hits in picking up the win. Kelly Sonnemann went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs, while Bowman helped herself with two RBIs. Allison Meyer and Illiana Brown each contributed two hits and Leonna Mortimer clubbed a solo homer.
In the nightcap, Kali Sargent scattered seven hits and didn’t allow an earned run. She fanned six and walked one. Meyer went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs, while Brown added an RBI and a single.
GOLF
CARSON STRUGGLES IN OPENER
Carson placed a disappointing fifth in its season-opening tournament on Monday afternoon at Lakeridge Golf Club.
Jon Porter 92, Avery Whitt 93, Andy Cooper 96, Nathan Swan 99, and Jake Jones 100 were the counting scores for the Senators. Sam Bruketta had a nonscoring 101.
Bishop Manogue won with a 381. Galena, Damonte Ranch and Douglas grabbed the next three spots.
“I was very disappointed, but the most important point is that the team was disapointed in themselves,” coach Jeff Rispin said. “The only golfer who matched my expectations was Avery Whitt. His 93 is a reasonable score, but like all the boys, shots were just thrown away. Each golfer had at least one quadruple bogey or worse. They know that to get to postseason play that can’t keep happening.”
