There's no denying it. This was a much anticipated baseball game between Carson and Wooster High Schools.
It was the first time that Jake Rasner, who transferred from Carson, would take the mound against his former teammates. It was also a chance for Scott DeFriez to show off his stuff against his friend and former teammate.
The two were locked in a pitchers duel for six innings before Carson finally got to Rasner in the seventh inning. Carson scored seven runs in the inning to break open a 2-1 game on its way to a 9-1 win on Thursday at Wooster.
The Senators also placed themselves in a three-way tie for second with Wooster and Douglas as all three teams are 6-1 in the Sierra League.
DeFriez was brilliant, pitching a four-hitter while striking out 15. He struck out the side in the first, struck out five of the first six batters he faced and had eight strikeouts through three innings. Carson also received key contributions from Royal Good and Kevin Schlange.
"A great performance," said Carson coach Ron McNutt about DeFriez.
"Two great pitchers on the mound," McNutt also said about DeFriez and Rasner. "Both did an outstanding job."
DeFriez admitted he had extra motivation going against Rasner. "I was real pumped up about that," he said. "Jake's a real good pitcher. He threw a great game, too. I just had everything going."
DeFriez admitted it was also a little awkward to go against Rasner. "I haven't pitched against him since probably Little League," he said. "He's a good guy, a great pitcher. It's fun."
The turning point of the game came after Jake's brother, Jesse Rasner, who also transferred from Carson, singled home a run to bring Wooster to within 2-1 in the sixth. DeFriez then gave up a deep flyball to left centerfield that had extra bases and a tie game written all over it. But Good, playing center field, raced back and made an over-the-shoulder catch to end the inning. Even McNutt couldn't contain himself after the catch, jumping up with his arm raised in the air.
"That was the play of the day right there," DeFriez said. "I thought that was way over his head."
"I thought the play of the game was Royal Good in center field," McNutt said. "It was just a great play and then he comes in and gets a big hit."
Schlange led off the seventh with a double and advanced to third on Jeff Hurzel's single. Good followed with an RBI single. After Eric Melendez singled, Hurzel scored on a wild pitch. Willie Bowman was intentionally walked and Cameron Leck's sacrifice fly scored Good to make it 5-1.
Mike Handley was hit by a pitch and Logan Parsley walked to force in a run. Schlange followed with his second hit of the inning, a two-run single and Dave Nelsen finished the rally with an RBI single to make it 9-1.
Schlange had three RBI as his groundball scored Handley, who had tripled, to give Carson a 1-0 lead in the second. Melendez singled and Bowman tripled to make it 2-0 in the second. Melendez, Handley and Schlange all had two hits for Carson.
CHS Notes: Carson will host Wooster in a doubleheader, beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday on Merk Human Night. Human, a longtime Carson baseball supporter died in 2001 and a scholarship fund that goes to Carson seniors has been established in his name. Proceeds from Saturday's games will go to the scholarship fund... While both sides showed good sportsmanship, apparently there was concern there may be some hard feelings between Carson and Wooster due to the Rasners transferring. A Wooster High administrator met with the coaches and umpires before the game and NIAA Commissioner Jerry Hughes was in attendance.
Contact Charles Whisnand at cwhisnand@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1214.