Reno is able to hang on

RENO - Down one day and up the next. That's been the story of the Reno Silver Sox in 2007.

This was one of those good nights, especially on offense.

Reno scored four times in the first inning and added three more in the fourth, but then had to hold off a big Orange County rally in the top of the ninth to grab a 10-9 victory Thursday night at Peccole Park.

Reno manager Les Lancaster loved the first eight innings, but obviously wasn't pleased that the Flyers whittled a 10-4 deficit to one run in the ninth before closer Eric Thomas finally shut the door.

"The offense had a good game," Lancaster said. "We got a lot of hits. We put a few crooked numbers up there in a couple of innings.

"When our offense gets shut down, the pitchers haven't gotten the job done except during the extra-inning game the other night."

The biggest hits came from Adam Amar, who made his only hit count, Juan Senreiso and Ryan Kowalski. All three had a hand in the four-run explosion in the first and the three-run uprising in the fourth.

Orange County ace Bud Fox was no mystery to the Silver Sox.

Victor Hall singled to lead off the first, but was thrown out at home trying to score on Maurice Cole's double. Senreiso followed with a single between third and short to give Reno a quick 1-0 lead.

That's when the game got interesting.

Kane Simmons drilled a hard one-hopper that struck base umpire Tyler Ramsey in the leg. At first, Ramsey called Senreiso out. Mike Done, who was coaching third base, argued the call, and Ramsey went to plate umpire Nate White for help. White correctly ruled that since the ball had not passed an infielder, the ball was dead, and Simmons was awarded first base and Senreiso second base. Orange county manager Garry Templeton argued the call, and moments after he left the field, pitcher Mike Natale was ejected for arguing the call from the dugout.

Amar followed with a two-run double for a 3-0 run lead. Fox, who appeared dehydrated, left the game. Andrew Soto entered the game. He walked Chuck Sindlinger, but Kowalski delivered a run-scoring single for the fourth run.

The Silver Sox made it 5-0 in the second when Hall walked, stole second and third, and scored on Senreiso's infield out.

Bret Levier made it 4-1 with a run-scoring single off Reno starter Adam Harendza, who won his first game of the year. David Nash, Reno's seldom-used catcher hit a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 6-1.

Harendza, who didn't walk a batter through the first three innings, walked two in the fourth and both scored on Buddy Morales' three-run homer that made it 6-4 in the top of the fourth.

Reno scored three times off Soto in the fourth to up its lead to 9-4.

Cole and Senreiso singled to start the inning. Cole moved to third on a wild pitch, but Senreiso was thrown out at second when he tried to move up.

Simmons followed with a run-scoring single, advanced to second when Amar's fly ball was mishandled. Simmons and Amar moved up on Sindlinger's infield out and both scored on a double by Kowalski, who finished with three RBI for the second straight game.

"I'm seeing the ball really well right now," Kowalski said. "I'm trying to let it get deeper and go with it (more).

"I'm not doing anything differently than that. I'm just trying to be aggressive and not get behind in the count."

That should have been enough, but it almost wasn't. Harendza pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth before departing after a 100-pitch effort.

"I thought Harendza did a good job," Lancaster said. "The inning where he gave up the three-run homer, he walked the first two guys that got on base. You can't walk people, especially in this park. He got a couple of double plays (first and fifth innings) when he needed to."

Joe Walentin took over in the seventh, and was three outs from his first save of the season, when he lost his command.

Walentin walked the first two batters he faced in the ninth before giving up a three-run homer to Garry Templeton II to make it 10-7. David Bacani reached on an infield hit, and that was it for Walentin.

Thomas came on and gave up a two run-scoring singles before Mark Okano rolled out to short to end the game.

Notes: The four-game series continues tonight at 7 with ex-Carson High star Dusty Bergman (5-4, 3.46) opposing Mike Natale (4-4, 3.34) ... Orange County's Morales extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a three-run homer in the fourth ... Reno's Hall has reached base in 40 straight games, dating back to July 11... Two Orange County players - pitcher Natale and shortstop Bret Levier were ejected by White and Ramsey.