Reno American West pitcher Kyle Pruneau had a hot hand and some early offensive help and the combination was a bit too much for Carson American in the single-elimination championship bracket.
Although Carson lost, 5-3, it didn't go away quietly in the Nevada District 1 Little League 11-12 All-Star Tournament game Saturday at Governor's Field.
With two out, Nicholas Domitrovich on second and Connor Beattie at the plate, the Americans had a chance to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Beattie took a mighty cut at Pruneau's 3-2 offering, but ended up being strikeout victim No. 5 rather than the tying run.
"(Pruneau) threw it as hard as he could and Connor swung as hard as he could, and today the pitcher won," said Carson American coach Jim Blueberg, whose team finished the tournament 4-1. "That kid threw a great game. What can you say. That's the thing with single elimination. That kid was on and we couldn't hit him until the end."
Although Pruneau was denied the shutout by Carson's sixth-inning rally, he pitched a complete game, allowing six hits and three earned runs.
Carson committed a pair of costly baserunning errors in the first inning. After second baseman Brock Pradere hit a ground-rule double to open the game, he was caught between second and third by Pruneau.
Center fielder Dylan Sawyers was safe at first on a fielder's choice, but was caught stealing second.
"The pitcher (Pruneau) throwing out (Pradere) at third, that was a great, heads-up play," Blueberg said. "That goes to show you that that pitcher knows what he's doing. On that delayed steal (by Sawyers), that was my fault. We ran ourselves right out of the game."
Reno American West jumped up on Carson starter Domitrovich's first pitch, when shortstop Logan Comphel took the offering for a ride over the center-field fence.
RAW sent eight batters to the plate in the first and got two more runs on Kody Reynolds' and Pruneau's RBI-singles for a 3-0 lead.
Domitrovich went 11/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. Cole Dufresne came on in relief in the second, but gave up a two-run dinger to Tyler Fritsen in the third and lasted just over 2/3 of an inning.
Beattie pitched a scoreless 2 1/3, allowing two hits, and Blueberg got the final two outs to close for Carson.
Down 5-0 in the sixth, Carson American showed signs of why it had been able to score 65 runs over 18 innings earlier in the tournament. Pradere, Sawyers and first baseman Tim Baylor hit singles to load the bases with one out.
Domitrovich ruined Pruneau's shutout with an RBI-single and Bryan Sommers followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. Baylor scored on a passed ball to get Carson to within two, but Pruneau got the better of Beattie to quell the rally and end the game.
"That's why you never quit," Jim Blueberg said of the comeback attempt. "We were one swing of the bat away from tying the game. Anything can happen. Connor took a great cut on it. It was a tough loss for a good team. We just couldn't get it going early."
Reno American West (4-1) will play Carson Valley today at 4 p.m. on Field 2 at Governor's Field.