For the Carson High softball team, it was a frustrating day of what could have been.
In the battle for third place in the Sierra League, Carson dropped a doubleheader on Friday at home against Reno, losing the opener 3-2 and the nightcap 7-5.
The Senators outhit Reno 6-5 in the opener and 11-6 in the nightcap. But Reno won the first game on an unearned run and all seven of its runs in the second game were unearned.
Reno scored three runs in the fifth inning and three runs in the sixth after there were two outs and no one on in both innings. Carson led 4-1 going into the fifth.
But the young Senators did show the potential they have heading into the Northern 4A playoffs. Carson finished fourth in the Sierra League at 9-9 and will host High Desert League champion Reed at noon Thursday.
"If we can play like we did in the first game without any errors, I think we're a competitive team," said Carson coach John Sullivan, commenting on Friday's opener. "We just have to make the plays and not throw the ball away."
In the opener, Carson took a 1-0 lead in the first when Brittany Puzey tripled and scored on Kayla Dunn's double. The Senators tied the game 2-2 in the third when Puzey doubled and scored on Bethany Henry's single. But Reno scored an unearned run in the sixth.
Dunn allowed two earned runs while striking out six over seven innings. Puzey and Henry were each 2-for-3 and Talia Joyce added a hit for Carson. "We played real well in the first game," Sullivan said.
In the nightcap, Carson scored four runs in the fourth on the strength of Breezi Dyer's RBI single and Puzey's two-run single. In the seventh, Baylee Biber doubled and scored on Dunn's single.
Biber doubled twice, Lindsey Perondi went 2-for-4, Kaylee Risi and Dyer each went 2-for-2 and Mandy Carvin added a hit for the Senators.
Puzey didn't allow an earned run while striking out eight over seven innings.
"They both pitched really well and continue to pitch well," said Sullivan about Dunn and Puzey.