Dom Norton at second.
Carson High saw way too much of Reno’s Jeremy Peterson on Saturday.
The Reno slugger drove in nine runs, including a game-winning grand slam in the first game to lead the Huskies to a doubleheader sweep over the Senators, 9-5 and 10-0, Saturday at Ron McNutt Field.
Carson dropped to 8-8 entering Tuesday night’s (6 p.m.) game against visiting Manogue. Reno improved to a league-best 16-0.
“That was a rough day,” said assistant coach Chad Eaton, who ran the team for the last two innings of the opener and the second game after head coach Bryan Manoukian was ejected by plate umpire Billy Martin. “I think if we get Peterson out (in the first game) we win the game. We had grabbed the momentum a little bit in the sixth.
“We walked too many (12 walks, 2 hit batters), and you can’t do that against anybody, especially a good team like Reno. Peterson’s homer in the sixth was huge.”
Of the 14 free bases Carson allowed, nine Reno runners scored. Not acceptable under any conditions. Simply put, it probably cost Carson a chance to split the twin-bill against the undefeated Huskies.
Reno had built a 5-0 lead against CHS starter Dom Norton and Josiah Pongasi on the strength of a two-run homer by Peterson, an error, a run-scoring single by Cooper Krug and a sacrifice fly by Brock Tsukamoto.
Matt Lawn, who sailed through the first five innings, ran into major problems in the sixth.
Singles by Pongasi and Norton, a hit batter and a two-run single by Chase Blueberg made it 5-3. A bases-loaded walk to Connor Leahy made it 5-4. Reliever Jeremy Speth came on to retire Pongasi to end the inning.
The walks that Eaton referred to reared their ugly heads in the top of the seventh.
Pongasi, who had came on to start the sixth, easily retired the first two batters of the inning. Matt Young, Joe Bath and Jake Clark walked to load the bases. Peterson pounded a homer to make it 9-4. It gave him six RBI for the contest.
“Peterson had a great day,” Reno coach Pete Savage said. “He has been working really hard on his hitting; hitting to all fields. It (the homer) was huge. It gave us insurance runs.”
And, Reno needed the extra four runs.
Two walks, a hit batter and a single by Blueberg made it 9-5. The game ended with John Holton flying out to right with the bases loaded.
Another thing that stood out in the opener is Reno’s hitting with two outs. Seven of the nine Reno runs came after two outs. The Huskies were unofficially 4-for-10 with two outs.
“Two out and two-strike hitting is an important part of the game,” Savage said. “I was proud of the kids and their approach at the plate.”
The Peterson HR had an emotional effect on the Senators in the second game.
Starter Danny Guthrie hit the first batter and walked the second. Three straight hits followed, including a two-run single by Peterson, which made it 2-0. A wild pitch, a run-scoring single by Krug and a squeeze bunt by Connor Allard accounted for the final three runs of the inning.
“Danny struggled in the first inning,” Eaton said. “Reno is too good of a team to give up a five spot against and try to compete with them.”
Guthrie gave up another run in the second before being pulled in favor of Holton with two outs in the second. Holton gave up one in the third on a homer by Krug, two in the fourth and one in the fifth, which turned out to be the final inning of the contest.
The Carson offense?
It was nowhere to be found, as Tsukamoto retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced. Jace Zampirro singled in the second, and that turned out to be Carson’s lone hit of the game. Tsukamoto worked 4 1/3 innings before turning the ball over to Drew Winkelmaier, who got the last two outs of the game.
“He (Tsukamoto) threw well,” Savage said. “He had a good downward angle with his fastball.”
