Carson Fitness ninth at NSA national tournament

Carson Fitness placed ninth in the National Softball Association Western Men's "D" World Series last weekend in St. George, Utah.

Carson Fitness won four of six games including one 9-8 upset over Joshua's of Las Vegas.

"When we beat Joshua's, we established ourselves as a contender," Fitness pitcher Guy Rocha said. "We were an unknown quantity, but by the end of the tournament we were considered one of the top teams."

The Fitness is a Carson City Division I slow-pitch team and the only Northern Nevada team to play in the tournament. Las Vegas fielded a dozen teams.

Carson Fitness won its first game on Saturday by a 16-5 score over Who's Left of Orem, Utah. The Carson team played its second game against Joshua's, then lost 5-4 to Lazy K, of Laverkin, Utah.

"It was a tough game," Rocha said. "It broke my heart. I had pitched a no-hitter going into the bottom of the seventh. We had them on the ropes."

On Sunday, Carson Fitness topped Conklin Brothers, of Sunnyvale, Calif., 8-7 and pulled an easy 16-9 victory from Provo Land and Title, of Provo, Utah, before losing its final game 30-19 to HNSW of Centrailia, Wash.

"They are the Washington state champions," Rocha said. "At one point we were down 23-7 and came back. They were very tough. They had a lot of young baseball players."