It just didn't come together for the Carson High School baseball team on Saturday.
The Senators got some hitting and defense, but fell short with pitching as they dropped a 14-9 verdict to Reno in the opening game of their Northern 4A doubleheader. Then in game two, Ken Heald pitched well for Carson, but Marc Kaiser and Derrick Cummings combined to pitch five-hit ball as the
Huskies won 6-3 to take a big step toward securing their second straight regular-season title.
Reno was outhit in game one but managed to parlay 13 walks into a victory at Ron McNutt Field. The Huskies collected a dozen hits in the second game, nine of which came in the fifth and sixth innings and resulted in six runs, as they rallied to win 6-3 in a battle between the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the conference.
The sweep boosted Reno to 20-2 with two conference games remaining, a Tuesday game at home against Hug and a showdown at second-place Galena on Thursday. Carson dropped to 14-7 and coach Ron McNutt made no excuses afterward.
"They've got a good ballclub and so do we; when you get two teams like that together, it's the little things that decide the ballgame," McNutt said.
Reno coach Pete Savage described the sweep as a team effort.
"It was a great team effort. We had some guys come off the bench and step up today," Savage said. "In that second game, Derrick Cummings came in to pitch when Marc Kaiser got tired and did a great job, and David Woods had the pinch hit double that sparked our offense."
Carson took a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning behind the one-hit pitching of Ken Heald, but then the Huskies exploded to score four runs on six hits. Woods ignited the rally when he delivered a two-run double into the gap in right-center to give Reno a 2-1 lead. Woods scored on Tom Taber's two-out double off the right field fence and then scored on John Fahrendorf's double.
The Senators answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but that's the extent of the damage they did against Cummings, who allowed three hits over four innings of relief to earn credit for the win.
Three Carson pitchers had trouble finding the strike zone in game one.
"We just didn't get it done on the mound in the first game," McNutt said. "We outhit them 12-8 and we give up 13 walks; you're not going to win many ballgames when you do that. We pitched behind on the count the whole game and you can't do that against a good ballclub like Reno."
Of the 13 Reno batters who walked, seven came around to score. As an omen of things to come, starter Chris Padgett walked the first two batters in the first inning, and both scored as Reno took a 3-0 lead.
Carson came back to score once in the bottom of the first and then tied the score at 3-3 in the second on Joe Mercer's line drive RBI single to right in the third.
It didn't take Reno long to regain the lead in the third when Taber drew a leadoff walk and scored moments later when the University of Arizona-bound Kaiser homered over the left field fence.
Carson never caught back up, although Nick Gitthens doubled three runs home in the fourth while Kleidosty and Mercer delivered doubles during a three-run sixth that kept the Senators close.
Carson hosts defending 3A state champion Bishop Manogue for a non-conference game Tuesday night at 7 p.m., followed by a twilight doubleheader at home against Sparks on Friday.