Carson leaves 13 runners on base in 8-6 season-ending loss to Reed

RENO -- The first inning of Carson High's last game ended with the bases loaded. So maybe it only makes sense that their season also ended with the bases loaded. It certainly summarized a season of what ifs.

Carson left 13 players on base, nine of which were in scoring position, as Reed moved on in the Northern 4A Regional Tournament with an 8-6 win on Thursday at Reno High's Zunini Field.

The Raiders (24-9) will play McQueen today at 3 p.m. at Carson High in an elimination game. The Lancers lost 9-6 to the Colts on Thursday. Carson finishes the season 23-13.

If Reed has the same timely hitting that doomed Carson, it should advance. The Raiders scored four runs in the fourth inning, capped off by No. 9 hitter Matt Medina's three-run homer that broke a 2-2 tie. In the first, Carson went up 1-0 on Murph Glover's RBI single, then went up 2-1 in the third after Owen Brolsma's solo homer. Those were the only two times the Senators led in the postseason.

"It was a good ball game," McNutt said. "We didn't boot the ball around or anything like that and our pitching was good. Our kids battled but we just couldn't put anything together when we needed to."

C.J. Lang put his team up 7-2 in the fifth with his 14th homer of the season, breaking a single season record at Reed. Brett Okimura added an RBI single that extended the lead. Still, the Senators battled back.

In the sixth, after Ben Moore scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded, Glover's two-run double which sliced into right field made it 8-5. Okimura replaced starter Joel Fountain and struck out Brolsma and got Rodney Black to ground out to end the inning.

In the seventh, Okimura walked Moore with the bases loaded, which scored Willie Bowman to make it 8-6. Lucas De Long, who was making only his second appearance of the season, replaced Okimura. With the bases loaded and two outs and a full count, Glover connected on a pitch that took off like his double in the sixth. The only different was the right fielder caught it. Just like it has all season, Carson just couldn't find that key hit it needed to.

Bowman went 3-for-4 with two doubles and Glover 2-for-5 with three RBIs to lead the Senators. Lang went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Raiders.

"You never know how a season is going to go," McNutt said. "We had some players back but it didn't work into the plans. When you leave that many guys on base and then they came up with big hits, you can kind of kiss the game goodbye."