Carson 15s come back for win

If Tyler Simms doesn't yet have a nickname, he could always try "the Fire Extinguisher."

With his Carson 13-15 team leading Elko 9-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning of the opening round of Saturday's State Babe Ruth Tournament at Governor's Field, Simms came in for reliever David Perce and was down two balls to David Lostra with Bryan Greenan on first.

Although Simms, a 15-year-old pitcher for Carson High School, ended up walking Lostra, it was what he ended up doing on his next nine pitches that earned him a save and his team a win.

Simms threw three pitches to Dalton Stull and struck him out looking. Three more pitches and Chris Pearson was headed back to the bench, having struck out. Three pitches and three strikes later, Francisco Ortiz had fanned and Carson was victorious.

"Unbelievable," Carson coach Trent Osmer said of Simms' nine-consecutive-strike performance. "That's why we put him in there. We were tired of the walks. We were helping them (Elko) out too much. I know it's the first game of the tournament and I know the adrenaline is up. And I knew Tyler Simms could come in and throw strikes."

So could Perce, who relieved starter Tyler Smith in the fourth inning. Perce struck out five batters, allowed one hit and walked five in a scoreless three-plus innings of work.

"Kudos to our pitching," Osmer said. "Perce for coming in and closing the door and Simms for coming in and closing the game. It was a sweater. They (Elko) played real good. Their coach tried to tell me they were no good. They had us sweating the whole game. And..."

Osmer paused for effect.

"I didn't screw it up," Osmer said with a playful slap to the arm. "I knew these kids would play. They played seven solid innings and never gave up."

Carson jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, but gave three back in the bottom half. Elko would go ahead, 5-4, in the third, when center fielder Zach Smith doubled in a run and later scored following a pair of Carson errors and a Dalton Stull fielder's choice.

Elko's lead swelled to 6-4 in the fourth, when Brett Pickett got his team's only hit off Perce, an RBI-single to right.

Carson third baseman Cody Barr scored on an error to make it 6-5 in the fifth, as Elko failed to have a backup for its catcher on a rundown.

Carson rallied for three runs in sixth to give its pitching some room. After Konrad Perkins was hit by starter Brett Pickett's pitch, Jared Baxter reached first on a fielding error and Tommy Preston singled to load the bases and chase Pickett from the game.

Reliever Anthony Pawelek came in and got one out, but Barr hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Baxter, and Keith Jones brought in a pair of runners with a single past third base.

Baxter, who finished 1-for-4, singled in Simms in the seventh for a 9-6 lead.

Simms also went 1-for-3 and gave Carson a 2-0 lead in the first with a double down the first-base line. Dayton High's Perkins - who went 3-for-3 - followed with an RBI-triple, which scored two runners and gave Carson its 4-0 lead.

"I just got up there and hit the ball, tried to put it in play and make them (Elko) make plays, and do what Coach said," said the 15-year-old Perkins, who also had two singles.

Osmer walked over and took a look at the brawny Perkins' arm, where he took the sixth-inning pitch.

"He did a great job," Osmer said. "Is your arm broken?"

"No," Perkins said with a smile.

"Good. Then you can play tomorrow."

Osmer credited his team and center fielder Eric Murphy for their clutch hitting before moving on to other concerns.

"I know whoever we play tomorrow, we're gonna have a game on our hands," said Osmer, whose team will face the winner of the South Reno-Reno West game, the result of which wasn't available at press time. "Cody Barr is our Game 2 pitcher. He's another pitcher who throws a lot of strikes."

Carson will find out if Barr and the rest of its team is up for the challenge today at 7 p.m., at Governor's Field, No. 1.