Chris Toto and Charles Geffert were both gone, as were the five other starters who helped Wooster win the Northern 4A championship and state title last season. But that didn't change how the Carson Senators felt about beating the defending zone champs 9-6 on Thursday at Carson High.
"It doesn't really matter," said junior Willie Bowman, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI double. "It was a good win. They took two out of three from Douglas, so we knew they could play. They're scrappy."
The Senators started the season slow offensively but that appears to be changing. They totaled nine hits against Wooster starter Trevor O'Sullivan and reliever Jose Silva, five of them extra base hits, including two triples. Carson exploded for 23 runs in two wins against South Tahoe on Saturday.
"It's kind of good just to hit anything. You take advantage of whatever you can," Bowman said.
Carson, which improved to 6-1 and remains a game back of undefeated Reno in the league standings, plays a doubleheader against the Colts on Saturday in Reno.
"I don't think we've been swinging it badly but we've had a few more strikeouts than we like," coach Ron McNutt said of team's hitting. "We're trying to cut down on that. I think the kids are having a good time with each other and hopefully we can go up there on Saturday and get two (games). We can't get one, we need two."
Jake Rasner picked up the win despite a sub-par outing. The 6-foot-5 sophomore walked four batters and hit three more and didn't have a strike out in 4 1/3 innings. Danny Rotter replaced him in the fifth with one out and the bases loaded. Rotter struck out Zach Bryson and forced Iain Dykins to ground out to end the inning and didn't allow a run in 2 2/3 innings. He got credited with the save.
"Danny Rotter did a great job," McNutt said. "And I told Jake that as a pitcher you're going to have games like this. Sometimes it doesn't go your way. But all he can do is come out again the next time and do better."
The Senators (11-3 overall) went up 2-0 in the first after an error scored both Jon Teeter and Owen Brolsma. O'Sullivan's three-run homer in the top of the second gave Wooster its only lead, 3-2, before Teeter scored Cameron Leck in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game. Neil Holmes' RBI double that scored Mike Handley later in the inning made it 4-3.
"I didn't know how the kids were going to come out today," McNutt said. "They worked hard at practice but you know how you can tell during the week how kids are feeling, I just wasn't sure how they would come out. I just told them that they (Wooster) are a scrappy club and they're a young team but they're going to get better."
The Senators scored four runs in the fourth to go up 9-4. Handley scored on an error, one of four in the game for the Colts, who dropped to 2-2 in the league. Brolsma, who went 2-for-4, and Bowman each added RBI singles in the fourth and Aaron Henry hit an RBI triple to left field that scored Bowman. Wooster scored two runs in the fifth off Rasner to make it 9-6 before Rotter came in and preserved the win.
Carson had eight players record a hit in the game. It had all nine players get at least one hit in A win over the Vikings. Ryan Henry is scheduled to start the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday. O'Sullivan went 2-for-3 with three RBI and Dykins was 2-for-4 for Wooster.
"We definitely want the sweep but you always want to get two out of three to stay up there (in the standings)," Bowman said.