Brandon Allen
RENO — Big innings were the name of the game for Carson on Saturday.
In the opener against Wooster, the Senators scored seven runs in the top of the seventh to wipe out a 5-2 deficit and win 9-7, and a five-run outburst in the fifth inning snapped a scoreless tie and led to a 5-1 win in a Northern Division I doubleheader.
Carson, coming off a home loss to North Valleys on Thursday, improved to 9-7. Wooster dropped to 0-16. Carson faces league-leading Damonte Ranch Tuesday at 3:45 in Reno.
“We needed these two wins,” CHS coach Bryan Manoukian said. “We’ve got some issues offensively that we need to work on this week at practice. We’ve got Damonte Ranch and Galena coming up, and if we don’t hit better than we did today, we’re going to be in for a real tough time.”
Carson trailed 5-2 in the opener when the offense finally got on track.
Bryce Moyle was hit by a Joe Pearson pitch and then Cody Azevedo walked. Conner Pradere followed with a single, loading the bases. Josiah Pongasi followed with a bases-clearing double which knocked Pearson out of the game and tied the game at 5. Logan Weeks came on for the Colts, and he didn’t have a lot of success, either. Kyle Krebs gave Carson a 6-5 lead with a run-scoring single. Seamus Burns walked and Brandon Allen was awarded first on catcher’s interference to load the bases. John Holton ripped a double to deep center for three more runs and a 9-5 lead.
“It was a fastball,” said Holton, who has seen spot duty this year between first and third base. “When I see my name in the lineup I just try to do the best I can. I’ve been working with coaches in practice on throwing my hands inside instead of arm bar.”
“John was the best player for us in that first game,” Manoukian said.
“He threw very well. The team didn’t pick him up.”
Wooster made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh, scoring twice before Azevedo was able to get Kody Scott on a foul pop-up to end the game.
“Cody did a good job picking us up,” said Holton, who gave up three unearned runs in 4.2 innings.
In the opener, Carson grabbed a 2-0 lead in the fourth when Allen hit a one-out single and Holton hit a triple to left-centerfield. Moyle followed with a single to right.
Wooster went ahead 3-2 thanks to a costly two-out error by Pradere, who threw it past Krebs which enabled Cody Jones to score from third base. R.J. Gordon had tried to get in a rundown, but it was poorly executed by both Wooster and Pradere, who had Jones out by 10 feet at the plate.
Wooster made it 5-2 when it doubled in two runs.
The score remained that way until the Senators stormed back in the seventh.
In the second game, Allen and Hunter Powers were locked in a great duel. Powers retired 11 of the first 13 (through four innings) while Allen allowed five baserunners in that same span.
Allen helped himself with a single to start the fifth and Holton followed with a single. A botched pick-off throw by Powers put runners on second and third. Moyle walked to load the bases, and Jace Keema followed with a groundball to short which was misplayed, allowing Allen to score the game’s first run. Pradere blooped a two-run single to right for a 3-0 lead. Pongasi singled back up the middle to score Pradere and Keema to make it 5-0.
Wooster retaliated with its only run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when Andrew Marable reached on an infield single and scored on Tyler Black’s single.
Wooster never threatened in the last two innings. Allen finished with a 5-hitter and six strikeouts.
“I just focused on throwing a lot of strikes,” Allen said. “It (the curveball) was a little off at the start of the game, but it came back.”
“Brandon threw a fantastic game,” Manoukian said. “He’s a senior, and he stepped up. With Joe (Nelson) out, it was nice to get a complete game out of him.”
