2nd baseman Connor Pradere flicks the ball to the bag in a double-play attempt Saturday at Bishop Manogue High. The Carson Senators beat the Manogue Miners 7-6.
Pradere helps lead CHS to big victory
RENO — Wins against Bishop Manogue have been tough to come by in recent years.
The Senators, who were swept in 2012 and 2013, withstood a seventh-inning rally to grab a 7-6 upset victory over the Miners Saturday afternoon in a Northern Division I game.
The win moved Carson to 6-5 and dropped Manogue to 8-1. The Senators go for the series sweep Monday at 6 p.m. at Ron McNutt Field, and they will do it without head coach Bryan Manoukian, who was ejected in the second inning by arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Stephen Greer.
“It’s huge,” said second baseman Conner Pradere, who drove in three runs in his return to the lead-off spot in the order. “We’ve had trouble here before. This gives us confidence going into Monday’s game because we know we can play with them and beat them.”
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” said catcher Kyle Krebs, who had a hit in Carson’s four-run second inning. “We know we can beat them. Coach (Matt) Morgan tells us that if we get the right mindset we can compete with anybody.”
Bishop Manogue took its only lead of the game in the first when starter-winner John Holton was nicked for a run on Shawn Plamondon’s opposite-field double. Holton retired the next two batters to escape further damage.
Carson started the second with a line drive down the first base line by Terek Been and a single to center by the hot-hitting Krebs, who has hit safely in seven of the last eight games.
“For the first time since Little League I feel like I can smash everything I see,” Krebs said.
Manogue starter Alec West fanned Joe Nelson and Cody Azevedo. Manoukian felt the third-strike call on Azevedo wasn’t a good one. After being warned by Greer, he continued to dispute the call and was ejected.
Jesse Lopez followed with a roller to second. Lucas Howard’s throw to first was errant, and Been scored the tying run. Pradere, who batted leadoff for the first time since the preseason tournament, followed with a two-run single to center to make it 3-1. Pradere scored when Conner Nelson dropped Josiah Pongasi’s flyball.
Pradere had three singles and two runs scored.
“I didn’t know at all I was going to bat first,” Pradere said. “I was surprised when I saw the lineup.”
“Jesse had struggled the last couple of games,” said assistant coach Joe Tierney. “Conner has been hitting the ball.”
Holton, who was mixing up his pitches well, worked out of a first-and-second jam in the third, but gave up an unearned run in the fourth on a throwing error by Pongasi which made it 4-2.
“John did a nice job,” said pitching coach Cody Farnworth. “He set the tone.”
Carson tacked on a run in the fifth when Pradere singled and scored on Pongasi’s deep drive to center to make it 5-2. Pongasi moved to third on Brandon Allen’s infield out. After Been walked, West fanned Krebs to end the inning.
Holton walked Web Charles to start the fifth. He moved to second on Plamondon’s infield out and scored on a double to left by Casey Trosclair. Holton departed in favor of Allen, who walked Howard immediately. Allen easily retired the next two hitters.
Manogue coach Charles Oppio put Wes Farnworth on the hill to start the sixth, and that backfired when the hard-throwing right-hander walked Joe Nelson and Azevedo. Sidearmer Ben Rawlins came on to face pinch-hitter Seamus Burns.
Rawlins quickly went ahead 0-2, but grooved the next pitch and Burns ripped it to left to load the bases. Pradere made it 6-3 with a single to right, and Pongasi drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Bryce Moyle grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
The Miners rallied against Allen in the seventh.
Plamondon and Trosclair hit back-to-back doubles to make it 7-4. With Howard at the plate, Allen bounced a pitch which Krebs blocked, scrambled up, and threw a strike to third to nail the sliding Trosclair. A big baserunning mistake with his team down three runs. That mistake loomed large when Allen hit Howard and then gave up a two-out homer to Anthony Galati to make it 7-6. Connor Brewster flied out to end the game.
“That was a great play by Kyle,” Farnworth said. “He did a good job blocking the ball and got up like a cat and made a good throw.”
