Carson baseball beats Reno

RENO - It was a big day for Carson High's baseball team.

Prior to Thursday's regular-season home finale against Reno, Carson honored its departing seniors and retired the numbers of former CHS greats Darrell Rasner and Dusty Bergman, both currently pitching for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers.

The Senators then went out and did what nobody else has been able to do in the Sierra League this year - beat the Reno Huskies.

Jack Jacquet scattered seven hits, and Brooks Greenlee and Josh Caron homered to lead the second-place Senators to a 6-3 win over first-place Reno Thursday afternoon at Ron McNutt Field.

The teams close out the regular season with a game at Reno today at 3:30. Kyle Mandoki is expected to start against Bryan Carano.

"It feels real good," said Greenlee. "I've been waiting for this game all season. All the other teams are just a steppingstone. It feels great to win our last home game of the season."

Reno coach Pete Savage wasn't a happy camper as he trudged off the field. His teams have run the table before, and he was hoping they could do it again.

"I don't think it's ever good to lose," he said. "It came down to one thing. They played good defense and we did not. You can't make four errors and expect to win. We gave them too many free bases."

The Senators spotted Reno a 1-0 first-inning lead and then roared back with three in the second.

With one out, Caron pounded a homer over the left-centerfield fence, tying the game at 1.

Reno pitcher Glenn Wallace plunked Jeremiah Teeter, who stole second and went to third when Wallace tried to pick him off. Neither the second baseman or shortstop went to cover the bag, allowing Wallace's throw to sail into center field. T.J. Hein dropped down a suicide squeeze bunt to score Teeter. Hein was safe when third baseman Alex Gardner threw the ball away at first. Sean Costella followed with a sacrifice bunt and then Royal Good singled home Hein.

"Josh Caron sparked us," Carson coach Steve Cook said. "He's been hitting well when he's not pitching. His swing is starting to come around a little bit."

Reno got a run back in the third after two out when John Rice walked and moved to third on Davis Banks' single to left. Teeter tried to throw out Rice at third, but his throw short-hopped Costella and went out of play, allowing Rice to score.

The Senators won their second straight inning, scoring twice for a 5-2 lead.

Wallace hit Logan Parsley with a pitch to start the inning. Tony Fagan forced Parsley at second base, but Tim Moore, trying to turn the double play, threw the ball away at first. Fagan reached second on the play and scored ahead of Greenlee's 400-foot bomb over the batting eye in center field.

'It was a fastball right around the knees," Greenlee said.

Banks relieved Wallace and retired the side without any further damage.

Carson tacked on another run in the fourth when Banks plunked Parsley with a pitch, moved to second on Fagan's single, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.

The four-run margin was more than enough for Jacquet, who breezed through the fifth and then worked out of a minor jam in the sixth before yielding an unearned run in the top of the seventh.

Jacquet, a senior, fanned two, walked two and hit a batter. He seemed to be tiring in the final two innings. He popped a blister on his pitching hand in the seventh, and the game was delayed for several minutes while he got his hand cleaned up.

"I was pumped, just knowing who it was," Jacquet said. "Definitely my slider was working good. After yesterday (when Reno clinched the title), we had to play for pride. We had to play for something."

Cook also saw Jacquet tiring, but he said the senior right-hander kept telling him he was OK.

"The last 1 1/3 innings, there was no way he was coming out," Cook said. "I kept asking him how he felt, and he kept saying he felt good. He popped a blister that last inning and pitched through it.

"He did a great job and beat a very good team, limiting them to seven hits. He had great control of all his pitches."

Cook said one key to Jacquet's success was his ability to limit damage by Rice and Banks, the Huskies' top hitters. They were a combined 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.

"That was really important,' Jacquet said. "You saw what he did yesterday (Rice homered)."