2nd baseman Riley Navarro makes a diving catch and play to first in an 11-12 All-Star matchup against Reno Continental Thursday evening at Governor's Field. The Carson All-Stars won the game 7-1 and play South Tahoe Friday at 5:30pm.
Eddie Tierney is hands down the best player in Carson City Little League, and he emphatically proved that yet again on Thursday night.
Tierney pitched no-hit ball for four innings before yielding a homer to Mason Strait leading of the fifth, as the 11-year-old right-hander finished with a 2-hitter to spark Carson City to a 7-1 win over Reno Continental in a 12-year-old elimination game at Governors Field.
The win was Carson’s third straight after two straight losses, and sends the locals into tonight’s third-place game against South Tahoe which knocked off Carson, 9-8, earlier in the tournament. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.
Tierney retired six straight to open the game, gave up a walk and then retired four straight before Straight connected. He retired six of the last seven he faced, and threw just 67 pitches.
“Eddie pitched a tremendous game against a really good hitting team,” Carson City manager Dave Navarro said. “That’s what he did during the season, and that’s what he doing now.
“I’m really proud of this team. When we lost (second loss to South Tahoe) they could have put their heads down and quit. They wanted to get to Friday and play for the consolation championship. That’s a tribute to these kids. We hit the ball well tonight, pitched well and played good defense. This is who we really are.”
Tierney, who struck out seven and walked one, said he knew he had a no-hitter.
“Me and my teammates weren’t talking about it,” Tierney said. “I threw a couple of curves and a couple of change-ups, but mostly fastballs.”
The Carson star said he knew Strait’s ball was out as soon as it was hit.
By that time, Carson had rolled to a 7-0 lead, and the long ball played a key role in the offense.
Kobe Morgan gave Carson a 1-0 lead in the second with a solo shot over the right-centerfield fence, and Tierney helped his own cause with a towering solo homer in the fourth to make it 2-0. Carson added another run in the fourth when Chase Wixon’s one-out single scored Tyler Gurrieri, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
The locals put it out of reach with four more runs in the fifth.
Justin Nussbaumer reached on an infield single, moved to second on a single by Tierney, and both runners scored on a hard double to right by Brian Guthrie to make it 5-0. After a strikeout, Ethan Foley blasted a two-run homer to finish Conner Capurro’s day on the mound.
“Every game somebody steps up and gets a big hit,” Navarro said. “Ethan had been struggling at the plate, so it was good to see him come through.”
Guthrie went 3-for-3 to lead the offense, while Tierney and Nussbaumer each added two hits.
Morgan, who started the first South Tahoe game and pitched 4.1 strong innings, is expected to be today’s starting pitcher. He allowed three runs, one earned, in that contest which eliminated Carson from title contention. So, Carson has a little score to settle tonight.
