Carson 15s eliminated from state tournament

Over the last two days whenever the Carson 15-year-old Babe Ruth all-stars needed to make a crucial play when they needed on defense or come through with a clutch hit at the right time, it was just wasn't meant to be.

For the second straight night, Carson was plagued by critical errors and missed chances in an 11-5 loss to South Tahoe in the State Tournament at Governor's Field. Carson was eliminated from the tournament with the loss.

"These are a great bunch of kids," Carson manager Trent Osmer said. "I think Carson City can be proud of these boys."

One inning in which Carson struggled defensively cost it on Sunday in a loss against South Reno and it happened again against South Tahoe when one bad defensive inning led to five runs that gave Tahoe a 6-2 lead. Carson then couldn't score when it loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the third inning.

"I just think we played a little bit tight," Osmer said. "The automatic out we needed we just weren't getting it. We just didn't get the hit when we needed that hit."

Starter Tyler Smith worked through a rocky first for Carson with minimal damage. Smith walked the leadoff batter, but he was wiped out when he was thrown out trying to steal second by catcher Keith Jones.

Smith went on to give up three straight singles that gave South Tahoe a 1-0 lead. But Smith induced a popup and a groundout to escape the jam without any further damage.

In the second, Jared Baxter walked and Tom Purcell singled. Both runners moved up on a passed ball. Baxter scored on a balk and Purcell scored on an error to give Carson a 2-1 lead.

But then came the fateful bottom of the second. Two walks and three errors helped South Tahoe take a 6-2 lead. The damage would have been worse but Baxter from left field threw to Eric Murphy at shortstop, who threw a perfect relay to Jones to cut down a runner trying to score.

In the third, Carson missed a golden opportunity when it loaded the bases with noe outs. Joel Morris came in to strike out the side.

Carson loaded the bases with no outs again in the fourth after Tom Preston, Murphy and Tyler Simms all singled. Cody Barr followed with an RBI single, but after Murphy was waved home by Osmer, he was cut down trying to score.

It was another key play because Kyle Price walked and Cody Swanson hit a two-run double to make it 6-5 before Morris got the last out in the inning.

Max Simonian's two-run triple gave South Tahoe an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the fourth. David Perce came in and alloweed Morris' sacrifice fly that made it 9-5.

Another error helped South Tahoe take an 11-5 lead in the sixth. With runners at second and third and no outs, Perce got a popup, a strikeout and a flyball to end the threat without any more damage.

Osmer praised the play of his bench, including Price, who also doubled, and Swanson. Price played much of the game with a bloody face after sustaining a cut when he slid into third.

"He had blood going down his face," Osmer said. "I was really proud of him. He's a hard working kid. I have a lot of respect for him."

Carson received a boost from its bench after it fell behind 6-2. "I think I should have got them in earlier to be quite frank," Osmer said.

Perce allowed one earned run and struck out three over three innings while Murphy had two hits. Morris went five innings for the win, striking out seven.

SOUTH RENO 4, CARSON 14S 3

Carson had the tying run at second in the seventh before being eliminated in the State Tournament at Elko. Tyler Hutchins went 2-for-4 with a double, Brooks Hutchins when 2-for-4 with two RBI, Anthony Torkeo had a hit and an RBI and Justin Allbritten, Craig Newsome, Brett Allen and Dom Mariani all added a hit for Carson, which finished postseason play at 4-2. Allbritten and Brooks Hutchins each pitched three innings.