The Rangers won the Carson City Little League regular-season championship, and managed to defend their title in the post-season tournament with a 5-4 win over the third-seeded Cardinals.
This one came down to the wire, as the Rangers snapped a 3-all tie with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Diego Lopez hit a one-out solo homer off Casey Mortenson. Tim Jones reached on an error, the fourth of five miscues by the Cardinals. Eddie Tierney forced Jones at second for the second out. Tierney moved up a base on a wild pitch by reliever Isaac Nelson, advanced to third on Dylan Roide’s infield single and scored when Anthony Singh’s ground ball was misplayed. Walker McKenzie grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Roide relieved Tierney to start the sixth, but was unable to record an out, as Braxton Carter singled and got around to third on a passed ball and wild pitch. Randy Herrera followed with a walk, and Lopez came on in relief.
Carter scored when Nelson’s ground ball to first was turned into a game-ending double play when Herrera overshot the bag at second and was tagged out.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead when Vernon Painter’s fly ball fell in for a run-scoring double.
Mortenson, who retired the first seven hitters of the game, yielded a run in the third when Lopez’s ground ball scored Keegan Wood, who had reached on a walk.
Mortenson was the victim of bad support in the fourth, as three errors led to two unearned runs and a 3-1 lead for the Rangers. The Cardinals tied the game in the top of the fifth on a run-scoring double by Tyler Gurrieri and a passed ball. That set the stage for the Rangers’ two-run outburst in the bottom of the inning.
Roide led the Rangers with two hits, while Gurrieri and Mortenson led the Cardinals with two hits apiece.
