Despite an impressive power display by Jared Barnard, the Carson Blue Jays dropped their season finale, 11-9, to the Redding Tigers at the Reno Knights July 4th Tournament on Sunday at Ron McNutt Field.
The loss ended Carson’s summer season at 20-15.
“I didn’t expect this team to get to 20 wins when we started the season,” Carson coach Bryan Manoukian said. “We really came together as a group. Overall, it was a good summer.
“The last three days were a product of being at the field for 10 to 12 hours a day (field prep and playing), and we got tired.”
Not Barnard.
The senior-to-be showed some power that nobody had seen much of the high school season. His three-run homer in the first gave Carson a 3-0 lead, and his two-run double in the fourth helped give the Blue Jays a 6-1 advantage.
“I have no idea,” smiled Barnard when asked where the power surge came from. “I felt good at the plate. That is the first homer I’ve hit in high school. It felt good coming off the bat. The second one (the double) I didn’t even watch.”
“He hit the ball well in Idaho,” Manoukian said. “During the high school season, we were working with him and being able to turn on the ball and hit it into the gap.”
Barnard’s power display went for naught, because for the second straight day, Carson’s bullpen was unable to hold a lead.
Starter Reese White left with a 3-1 lead after his three-inning stint. Relievers Josh Ingram, Gryphon Matthies, Garritt Benivedez and Ben Nelson gave up 10 runs and seven hits in the final four innings.
“The bullpen is definitely a concern moving forward,” Manoukian said. “Our bullpen wasn’t very good this summer. We can’t hit guys and walk guys. We can’t be throwing strikes on 0-2 pitches. It can’t be a hittable ball.”
Redding took control of the game with four in the fourth inning as two runs scored on a Teigen Key passed ball and throwing error, and two-run hits from Jakob Weiser and Daniel Duarte keyed a five-run sixth and gave the Tigers a 10-6 lead.
The Blue Jays roared back with three in the sixth, closing to 10-9.
Reliever Michael Hall plunked Joe Tonino to start the inning. Abel Carter’s groundball was thrown high to first, putting runners at first and second. A walk, a passed ball, a single by Landon Truesdale and run-scoring fielder’s choice later, Carson had scored three times.
The Blue Jays lost a potential chance to tie the game with one out when Barnard hit a fly ball to right. Good, who had driven in a run with a fielder’s choice, tagged up and raced to third. Redding shortstop Daniel Duarte, cut the throw off and fired to first base to nab Truesdale, who had started toward second when the right fielder threw toward third.
Nelson came on in the seventh and allowed a run, albeit unearned, on just one hit.
Carson made things interesting in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs on singles by Key, Nelson and Glanzmann. Tonino grounded into a 5-2-3 double play, and Carter rolled out to second to end the game.
