Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Carson's Wes Osmer pitches in the third inning against Fallon Monday afternoon at CHS.
Two spots. It may not seem like much, but it appears to have made a world of difference to Kevin Schlange.
The Carson shortstop started the season batting fourth. He struggled a bit early, and coach Steve Cook moved him up to No. 2.
Schlange homered twice against Hug over the weekend, and followed that up with two hits and four RBI to lead the Senators to an easy 10-0 nonleague win over Fallon Monday at Ron McNutt Field.
"I felt like I had to do too much," Schlange said. "I couldn't relax and hit the ball like I'm doing now. It's been working out for me. In the No. 2 spot, I feel like I just have to move them over and let the other guys do their jobs. I think it was a good switch by coach Cook."
Cook said he never lost confidence in Schlange.
"I knew he could hit," Cook said. "It's great to see him rebound. He's been doing well ever since I moved him. Our 1, 2 and 3 guys (Royal Good, Schlange and Logan Parsley) are doing well. Kevin did a great job in the Hug series."
Schlange helped the Senators score twice in the first when he reached on an error, stole second and went to third when the catcher's throw ended in center field. He scored when Parsley's infield roller was misplayed. Parsley scored on Murph Gardner's double.
In the second, Schlange clubbed a one-out, two-run single to make it 4-0. Adam Anderson drove in a run with a grounder to second to make it 5-0.
Schlange wasn't done. He doubled home Good in the fourth and later scored on a double by Parsley. A double by Anderson made it 8-0. Schlange made it 9-0 in the fifth with a sacrifice fly to the warningtrack in center where Fallon's Rick Cornu made a nice grab.
Fallon threatened to break the shutout against Nick Smallman in the top of the sixth when Cat Baker doubled to right with one out and moved to third on Andy Kamps' single. Smallman fanned Cullen Bryant for the second out, and then got Cornu on an infield roller.
Carson ended the game in the bottom of the sixth on the 10-run rule when Alex Tanchek walked with the bases loaded.
The Senators finished with 11 hits, two each by Good, Schlange, Parsley and Joe Skates.
Fallon coach Brad Barton said he didn't throw his best pitchers because the Greenwave has a three-game series against McQueen this weekend.
Barton was disappointed with his team's offensive showing against Carson starter Wes Osmer, who worked the first three innings, and Smallman, who worked two innings and Skates, who worked the final inning.
"Cat Baker got two hits, and that was about the only highlight of the game," Barton said. "We've been so inconsistent. The first two games we scored eight runs against good pitching and then scored 10 the next game. Then we got shut out by a crummy pitcher.
"Carson is a good baseball team. They have speed on the basepaths and speed in the outfield."
The Senators are on a nice roll with two wins over Fallon and three over Hug in the last seven days.
Right now, the Senators' main concern is the health of Osmer, who has been pitching with pain since hyperextending his left elbow during the Carson Preseason Tournament. He is expected to see a doctor today, and he could very well miss a start or two.
Against Fallon, Osmer didn't throw hard, but hit his spots well. He fanned two and walked one and allowed one hit.
"It (the elbow) is still tender," Osmer said. "I just tried to throw a lot of strikes. I didn't want to throw my hardest. It was tender from the beginning. I'm hoping to be able to throw this weekend."