Carson National 9-10s win again

RENO - When Joe Tucker and his merry band of Carson National 9-10-year-old Little League All-Stars come to town, one might as well throw the book out the window.

The No. 9 hitter has the green light on 3-0. The cleanup hitter squeezes in a run. The Nationals' aggressive style of play led to a wild 15-10 win over Reno American West on Tuesday in the District I Tournament at Washoe Fields. The win gave the Nationals a 3-0 record in pool play and clinched a spot in the single elimination quarterfinals, which begin on Friday. But the Nationals still have one huge game left in pool play, as it will play Reno National at 8 p.m. today in a showdown between 3-0 teams.

A win would give the Nationals a more favorable seed in the quarterfinals. "It should be a good game," said Tucker, the team's manager. "I'm glad it's at night."

Tucker wasn't always satisfied with his team's play in the 11 a.m. game on Tuesday that was played in 90-degree plus heat on the field. Tucker thought his team could have played better defensively, but he took it all in stride.

"This is not a morning team," he said. "I don't think they had their coffee and donuts this morning.

The thing we forget is they're 10-years-old and they're still chasing butterflies. But when they get to the plate, they swing the bat."

The Nationals swung the bats right from the start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning and then was able to hold on the rest of the way. Gehrig Tucker went 4-for-4 with three doubles and a walk and T.J. Thompsen also hit a two-run home run. Thompsen pitched five innings for the win as well, striking out six.

Tucker led off the first with a double and Thompsen reached on a fielder's choice. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, but then Tucker made a mental mistake when he didn't tag up on Cody Schmidlin's line out to left.

Tucke made up for the mistake when he stole home on a delayed steal. After Jay Milligan walked, Jacob Roll belted an RBI double to make it 2-0. Two more runs scored on a groundball and an error.

Chase Banta followed with an RBI triple. Tristian Bakkedahl, the No. 9 hitter, swung away on a 3-0 pitch and fouled it off before drawing a walk. Tucker then hit an RBI double and Bakkedahl scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-0.

In the bottom of the first, Tucker picked off a runner at first to help Thompsen escape a jam. Reno struck for three runs in the second, but with one out and a runner at third, Thompsen escaped the jam without any further damage.

The Nationals went up 12-3 in the fourth. Tucker doubled and scored on Thompsen's single. Schmidlin doubled and Thompsen scored on an error on the play. Milligan, the No. 4 hitter, then laid down a butn to score another run and Nate Cotroneo followed with an RBI double. Michael Patrick doubled and scored on an error to make it 12-3.

Thompsen escaped another jam in the bottom of the fourth after Reno had scored two runs and had the bases loaded with no outs. But Thompsen struck out the next two batters and got a popup to end the inning without any more damage.

After Tucker walked, Thompsen homered to give the Nationals a 14-5 lead in the fifth. Reno made it interesting by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 14-9.

In the sixth, Bakkedahl and Tucker singled and Thompsen and Schmidlin both walked to force in a run. After catching five innings, Tucker closed it out on the mound, allowing an unearned run in the sixth for the final margin.

Thompsen and Roll both had two hits. "This team, all they do is hit," manager Tucker said.

9-10s

SOUTH TAHOE 14, CARSON AMERICAN 13

South Tahoe scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth for the win. "Tough loss, real tough loss," Carson American manager Jim Andrews said. "I'm proud of them either way."

Carson American fell to 1-2 and will need to beat Sparks Centennial on Thursday to have any chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.

Chase Blueberg went 3-for-3 with a double, Jace Zampirro had three hits and two runs, Ronny Orzalli had two hits and three runs, Chazz Nystrom had two hits, including a double, and a run, Zach Andrews and Ben Allbritten each had a hit and a run, Zak Harjes had a hit and Josiah Pongasi walked three times and scored once.

10-11s

The Carson National 11-year-old all-stars pulled out a thrilling 11-9 win over Truckee late Monday. Hunter Hand, Kyle Brown and Logan Krupp each had an RBI in the ninth to give the Nationals the win.

Hand was 2-for-3 with five RBI and Holcomb was 2-for-2 with two RBI. Holcomb also pitched three strong innings. Zac Hudson had a hit and pitched two strong innings and Charlie Banfield went 2-for-4 and pitched the ninth for the win.

Krupp had a triple and Luke Barulich and Billy Gouldart added a hit. Danny Bacon, Willy McDonald, Jacob McClelland, Matt Nolan and Dillon Winkleman all played well defensively.

On Wednesday, the Americans lost to North Tahoe 6-3 to drop to 1-2. North Tahoe broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth. A highlight came for the Americans when Krupp at shortstop threw to Hudson at first, who threw to Banfield at third to complete a double play.

Hand was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, Krupp was 2-for-3 with an RBI, Winkleman doubled, Banfield went 2-for-4 and Hudson, Danny Bacon, Goularte, Holcomb and Nolan all had a hit.