MINDEN - Things couldn't have gone much better for Carson freshman pitcher Cassie Vondrak in her Sierra League debut Thursday afternoon at Douglas High School.
Unfortunately for Vondrak and the rest of the Senators, things did go just a little better for Douglas senior Mitzi Olsen.
Vondrak struck out eight and walked just two while carrying a no-hitter into the fourth inning, but Douglas capitalized on an infield error in the bottom of the fourth to claim a 1-0 win in the league opener for both teams.
Douglas sophomore Lauren Hoppe belted a double to center to lead off the fourth and was sacrificed to third by Jolie Kizer. She scored what would be the game's only run after Tisha Luken dribbled the ball down the line where it was bobbled, allowing Hoppe to score before Luken was thrown out at first.
It was the lone blemish on what was otherwise a solid game for both teams defensively.
Douglas' Tisha Luken made a number of handy plays at shortstop for the Tigers and Olsen pitched a two-hitter, striking out six and walking none.
Carson's Sarah Evans and Candice Rutledge had the game's only other hits.
The Senators threatened to take the lead in the top of the third after Evans singled to center and stole second with one out.
Rutledge then reached on an infield error by the Tigers, which allowed Evans to go to third with two outs, but Olsen induced a grounder to short to end the inning.
Neither team had any other runners advance past second base in the game.
Douglas improved to 1-0 in league play and 2-2-1 overall while Carson dropped to 0-1 overall and in league play.
"A fantastic performance from her," said Carson coach Scott Vickrey about Vondrak. "We're real happy with our freshman's performance. We didn't hit the ball quite as well as I would have liked to."