One thing is evident through nine Northern 4A baseball games. Carson High’s baseball team can swing the bat.
The Senators pounded out 13 hits, including three each by Joe Tonino and Jared Barnard, and two more by red-hot Abel Carter, to rally for an 8-6 win over North Valleys Monday night at Ron McNutt Field.
The teams will conclude their series today at 3:45 at North Valleys. Colby Zemp takes the hill for Carson, which is 5-4 in league play.
“In my opinion, we aren’t hitting on all cylinders yet,” said Carson coach Bryan Manoukian. “We have four or five guys every game that do well, and it’s not always the same guys. We haven’t had a game where everybody has hit.
“If we continue to stick to the game plan, which is take what the defense and pitchers give us, we’re going to score (more) runs. We have always had trouble with North Valleys. They are scrappy and play us really tough.”
Carson rebounded from a 4-0 first-inning deficit and faced a 6-5 deficit in the fifth before scoring three in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead for good.
Landon Trusedale started the game-winning rally in the fifth with a single to left. The Senators loaded the bases with walks to Delsin Roberts and Teigen Key. After a strikeout, freshman Kobe Morgan walked , tying the game at 6. Carter followed with a shot up the middle, scoring Roberts and Key for a two-run lead.
Carter has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, hitting .567 in that stretch. He has been a terror at the top of the order. Not bad for batting lead-off for the first season in his career.
“It’s been a little bit of an adjustment,” said Carter, who is used to hitting more in the middle of the order. “I’m seeing the ball really well. I’m trying to see more pitches (to help other hitters), but still trying to stay aggressive.”
“The best thing about Abel is that he’s been consistent getting his barrel of the bat through the zone,” Manoukian said. “He has been aggressive, and his approach has been really, really good.”
Carter admitted he was a little surprised the team has hit so well this year.
“We’ve hit the ball well,” he said. “We worked really hard in the summer and off-season on our hitting.”
Manoukian said he was concerned when North Valleys scored four in the first off Vernon Painter, who threw just 83 pitches in stopping Spanish Springs in his last outing.
Painter retired the first two hitters he faced on just two pitches, but then gave up five straight hits, four coming on two strikes.
“You can’t give up seven hits in the game when you have two strikes (on the hitter),” Manoukian said. “He did a good job throwing strikes, he just wasn’t able to finish off hitters.”
Carson matched North Valleys’ four-run outburst in the first with four of its own, three coming on Key’s three-run double off the left-field fence.
The Senators took a brief 5-4 lead in the second on Barnard’s single. North Valleys went ahead 6-5 with single runs in the third and fourth, setting the stage for Carson’s comeback.
SOFTBALL
Fernley sweeps Dayton
FERNLEY — The Vaqueros sent Dayton down to their first two losses of the season, 9-1 and 12-4, in a doubleheader Monday afternoon.
The teams will complete the three-game series today.
The third inning proved to be the undoing of Dayton in both contests.
In the opener, Fernley scored five time in the third to take control of the contest. Dayton scored its only run of the game in the fifth inning.
Marissa Hein went 2 for 3 to lead Dayton’s offense, while Tamia Powell and Julie Rogacs added a hit apiece. Powell drove in Dayton’s only run.
In the nightcap, Fernley scored six times in the third. Dayton answered with three in the fourth, but Fernley scored three more times to take control. Five Dayton errors led to six unearned runs.
Hein added two more hits to lead Dayton. Rogacs had a hit and two RBI and Alaura Greenwalt added a hit and RBI. Elizabeth Vincent and Powell also hit safely in the second game.
