Carson 12s win District 1 opener

His home run lifts 12-year-olds to comeback victory

Carson City’s 12-year-old all-stars shook off a bad case of the nerves to beat Reno Continental, 8-7, Thursday night in an opening round game of the District 1 tournament at Governors Field.

Eddie Tierney came through with a two-run go-ahead homer in the fourth to wipe out a 7-6 deficit, and Kobe Morgan pitched 2.1 innings of great relief to pick up the win.

Carson plays Reno National tonight at 8 in a winner’s bracket game.

“We were just nervous,” said Carson head coach Dave Navarro. “We’ve been practicing for 10 days. We were ready to go today at 3. We were amped up.”

And, it showed.

Carson made four errors in the first inning behind starter Brian Guthrie, who allowed just one hit and four runs.

Guthrie got three of those back when he bombed a three-run homer to right-center field to make it 4-3 after one.

An unearned run in the second and a solo homer made it 6-3 in the top of the third.

Carson tied the game at 6 thanks to run-scoring doubles by Tierney and Kyle Navarro plus a single by Guthrie, who finished with four RBI.

Kyle Stagliano came on to relieve Guthrie to start the fourth.

Stagliano retired the first two batters, but three straight walks and a passed ball put Continental ahead, 7-6.

In the bottom of the fourth Justin Nussbaumer reached on a one-out error and was forced at second by Kobe Morgan. Tierney followed with his game-winning blow.

““Eddie is our rock,” Navarro said.

“We know we can depend on him if we need a big hit. When he goes, we go.”

Morgan, who got the last out in the fourth, breezed through the fifth and struck out the side in the sixth.

Tierney, Guthrie and Kyle Navarro had two hits apiece.

10s come from behind to win

Trailing 6-0 early, Carson City scored 11 unanswered runs to grab a 12-7 win over National Providence Thursday night in a winner’s bracket game at Governors Field.

Now 2-0 in tournament play, the locals play Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“I think we came out unprepared,” head coach Terry George said. “Coming back from six runs isn’t easy. We needed to play as a team. I’m proud of my boys.”

Carson scored four in the second and added seven in the third to take control.

Anthony Planeta led the offense with two hits, while Quentin Beck, Aiden Serda, Devon Sanchez, Ian Fontaine, Cooper Eaton and Aaron Mastrain all had hits in the big inning.

11s shut down by Continental

Matt Capel and Luke Metzger scattered six hits as Continental turned back Carson, 5-1, Thursday night.

The locals are off until Sunday when they play at 7:30 p.m. Carson drew a first-round bye in the tournament.

Capel worked the first 5.2 innings, and then turned the ball over to Metzger, who got the final out of the game. Carson hurt itself at the plate, stranding eight baserunners and going 1-for-7 with two outs.

Reno took a 2-0 lead in the first as Jake Woodhead and Capel hit back-to-back doubles to account for the first run. Ashton Pearson’s infield out drove in the second run.

The winners added two more in the second, as Andrew Pelfrey reached on an error, moved to third on Cannon Stewart’s double. Woodhead drove in both runs with his second double of the game.

Carson scored its only run in the third, and it should have been a bigger inning.

Luke Pedersen reached on an error, moved to second on a passed ball, took third on a single by Max Gunkel and scored on a single by Ashton Davenport.

Cameron Boeckman’s infield single loaded the bases, but Capel struck out Tanner Hunt looking and pinch-hitter Trey Thomas swinging to end the mild uprising.

Continental scored a run in the third to take a 5-1 lead, and then withstood threats in the fifth and sixth to win.

Davenport led Carson with two hits, while Gunkel, Boeckman and A.J. Kunter added one each.