Dodgers beat Cardinals for Carson City Majors title

His hit propels Dodgers to Majors City championship

Tyler Germain singled with one out in the bottom of the fifth to snap a 5-all tie and give the Dodgers a 6-5 win over the Cardinals in the Carson City Little League Major Division championship game Friday night at Governors Field.

The win gave the Dodgers a sweep. They also won the regular-season championship.

The Dodgers led 5-3 after four innings thanks to a two-run homer and two-run double by winning pitcher Casey Martensen. However, the Cardinals tagged Martensen for four straight hits in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 5.

Kyle Navarro sliced a triple to right to start the fifth, and after Tanner Hunt struck out, Germain singled to center to break the tie. Luke Pedersen, who started the inning on the mound, struck out the next two hitters.

The Cardinals looked like they were going to break through in the top of the sixth after Tyler Gurrieri tripled to right-centerfield. Pedersen followed with a groundball to third. Nate Hurt looked Gurrieri back, but threw high to third. Gurrieri broke for home, but was thrown out on a nice throw by Hunt. Pedersen went to second on the throw home.

Dillon Damico grounded back to the box, allowing Pedersen to take third on the play. Connor Lampert grounded out to second against reliever A.J. Kunter, who took over for Martensen, who threw the maxiumum 85 pitches he was allowed.

The Dodgers took a quick 2-0 lead in the first when Riley Navarro singled with one out and scored ahead of Martensen’s homer to center. Damico, the Cardinals’ starter, retired the next two hitters.

The Cardinals made it 2-1 in the top of the second when Ashton Davenport doubled and scored when Zack Forbis’ groundball was misplayed. Martensen struck out two of the next three hitters to limit the damage.

The winners added two more in the bottom of the second when singles by Hurt, Leo Hall and a walk to Kunter loaded the bases with one out. After Riley Navarro popped to second, Martensen helped his cause with a ringing double to right-centerfield to make it 4-1.

The Cardinals fought back with two runs in the top of the fourth thanks to two errors, a double by Forbis and a run-scoring infield out by Will Breeding.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ashton Davis singled, moved around to third on a wild pitch and infield out, and scored on Riley Navarro’s infield single.

That set the stage for the wild fifth inning that saw Lampert and Davenport hit back-to-back doubles with Forbis and Breeding following with singles to tie the game at 5.

JUNIORS: Yankees 17, Astros 2

The Yankees exploded for nine second-inning runs en route to an easy win over the Astros. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

The Yankees scored one in the first, nine in the second, one in the third, five in the fourth and one in the fifth. The Astros scored one each in the second and third innings.

Matt Gunkel, Vernon Painter, Brandon Browning and Gryphon Matthies each had run-scoring hits in the second inning. Zack Glanzmann finished with three hits unofficially, while Browning and Matthies added two each. Gunkel, Painter and Adam Daniels also hit safely.