Carson softball edges Dayton

After picking up three relatively easy wins earlier in the week, Carson High School softball coach John Sullivan welcomed a good test on Thursday afternoon.

The Senators scored three runs in the second inning and then added some cushion with four runs in the sixth on their way to a 10-5 non-league victory at home against Dayton.

It was a challenge John Sullivan welcomed after the Senators (4-1 overall, 3-1 Sierra League) defeated South Tahoe and Hug by a combined 44-6 score on Monday and Tuesday.

"It was good to see some competition," Sullivan said. "Dayton's got a good ball team. They'd do well in the 4A, and looking at some of the past scores, they've already beaten North Valleys and South Tahoe."

The bottom half of the batting order contributed nine hits for the Senators.

"Whether you win or lose ball games depends on how the bottom of the order hits. Today, we had almost all of our hits and RBIs from the bottom of the order, so I think that was real significant. And with the kids at the top of the order getting on base a lot, it was pretty much a team effort."

Kaitie Vidovich hit 2-for-4 from the No. 8 slot, including a home run to ignite Carson's four-run rally in the sixth inning. The senior hit a drive over the Greater Nevada Credit Union sign in right-center field.

"We've been working a lot on taking the ball where it's pitched and the girls did a good job of that today," Sullivan said. "We went the other way with a lot of our hits today."

Kelli Cahill hit 2-for-2 with a double from the No. 6 slot. Natalie Mandoki was 1-for-2 and Nichole Monge 1-for-1, both with doubles from the No. 9 slot. Bethany Henry was 2-for-4 from the No. 5 slot and Heather Diamond was 1-for-3 from the No. 7.

Henry also sparkled defensively with a diving catch of Rachel Hurt's drive into the right-center field gap in the fifth inning plus she threw out a runner at home.

Elizabeth Rankl also hit 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored while Lindsey Perondi walked twice and scored both times for the Senators.

Houk was particularly pleased with the offensive performance of the Dust Devils, who collected nine hits in the game.

"I was very pleased with the way they hit the ball today. We're tuning up for league and going up against good pitching like this only helps our confidence," said Houk, whose Dust Devils open their Northern 3A season Saturday with a doubleheader at home against North Tahoe. "We hit the ball hard today, and when you consider we're still still early in the season, this tells me we're only going to be hitting it harder later on."

Dayton was led by Lacy Taylor and Nicole Greer, who had two hits each. Jessie Ayers and Greer doubled to account for a run in the sixth inning. Keeli Garcia singled and scored in the seventh. Vienna Carita and Amanda Sbragia had hits for the Dust Devils in their two-run third.

Ambir Rackley started and pitched four innings to pick up the win for Carson, with relief help from Lindsay Farnworth in the fifth and Amanda Carvin in the seventh.

"Ambir had some trouble with her Achilles the first couple of weeks, but she's coming along," Sullivan said. "All three of those girls did a really good job today and that's good because we would like to rotate all three as we go along in the season."

Carson hosts North Valleys for a league doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday.