With state player of the year Brianne McGowan injured and watching from a seat behind the backstop, the Wooster High School softball team appeared vulnerable coming into its doubleheader at Carson on Saturday.
So much for appearances. The three-time defending 4A state champion Colts responded to the challenge and swept both games from the Senators on an ideal spring day. They belted out 15 hits to win the opener 11-5 and then rallied to take game two 7-2 in a showdown between the top two teams in the Sierra League.
Wooster (19-3, 9-0 Sierra League) erupted to score five runs in the seventh inning, sparked by Andrea Lazzari's grand slam home run, to break up a 2-2 deadlock in the second game. Carson (7-4, 6-4) had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the game, but couldn't close the door.
"We gave them a run," Carson coach John Sullivan said. "We battled them twice. We had an opportunity to win that second game. I just think their experience showed at the end because they made the plays and got the hits when they needed them."
The sweep was impressive considering the Colts were without McGowan, an Oregon State signee and Nevada's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2002, who sprained an ankle playing basketball at school on Friday.
"She rolled her ankle playing in a pickup game of basketball," Wooster coach Dick Allen said. "She'll be back. We hope to have her back when we play Reno next Saturday."
At the same time, the Colts certainly showed they are more than a one-player team.
"I know the girls wanted to make a statement today," said Allen, who has eight starters back from the 2002 state championship team. "A lot of people say we aren't much without Brianne, but we have a good team. Sometimes you've got to play through adversity and today we showed some character, some guts and a lot of heart. It was a great team win."
Carson's Lindsay Farnworth pitched four-hit ball through six innings in her longest outing so far this season. It just wasn't enough.
The junior right-hander retired the first 11 batters she faced, five by strikeout, before Lazzari singled with two outs in the fourth inning and Jaclyn Picollo doubled down the left field line to tie the score 1-1.
The Senators came back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning when Heather Diamond hit a leadoff double and scored on a single to center by Kaitie Vidovich.
The Senators missed some opportunities, though. In the third inning, for example, Wooster left fielder Brittany Bennett threw out a runner at home to prevent Carson from taking a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, Liz Rankl singled and advanced to second on Lindsey Perondi's sacrifice bunt. Farnworth, who hit a three-run homer in the opener and had already driven in a run in the first inning of the nightcap, was walked intentionally. "When a kid has four or five hits and has been stinging the ball all day, you've got to walk her in that situation," Allen said. "You've got to go with the percentages."
Then, after Bethany Henry advanced the runners to second and third with a ground out, Diamond was walked intentionally to load the bases. Those were the only walks Wooster starter Jackie Millsap gave up in the game, but the strategy paid off when she got a ground ball out to end the inning.
Wooster tied the score 2-2 in the sixth on Picollo's RBI double and the Colts had the bases loaded with one out, but Farnworth escaped from the jam when Perondi caught a liner down the line at third base and stepped on the bag for an inning-ending double play.
The Senators weren't so fortunate in the seventh. Renee Fletcher slapped a single through the right side of the infield and Bennett reached on an error and Katie Stevens walked to load the bases. After Ambir Rackley came on to pitch in relief, one run scored on a fielder's choice that left the bases loaded, then Lazzari hit a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam.
Millsap earned credit for the win as she pitched the seven-inning distance for the first time this season. The sophomore right-hander allowed 10 hits but left 10 Carson base runners stranded.
Farnworth hit 3-for-3 and Perondi 2-for-3 to lead Carson offensively. The Senators finished with six hits in the first game, as Diamond and Rankl went 2-for-4 and Farnworth hit a three-run homer in the third inning.
Wooster scored six runs in the second inning to take a lead it never relinquished. Stevens, an all-state infielder, hit 3-for-4 and Picollo pitched a complete game to earn the win.
For Wooster, these were two big wins against a team that had won three games in a row and climbed into second-place in the league.
"Carson has a good club. They showed that when they beat Reno and Douglas this week," Allen said.
"We had a great week," Sullivan added. "Last week at this time, we were 1-1 against North Valleys and not even talking about the playoffs. We're in a much better position now, but we still have some big games coming up."
The Senators travel to Reno Tuesday to play North Valleys and then return home to face Douglas on Friday.