If the Carson High softball began to think it was a little better than it actually was, the Senators got the wakeup call they needed and responded with a clutch effort.
Carson trailed 1-0 going into the sixth inning in the opener of its doubleheader on Saturday at Wooster, but came back for a 5-1 win. The Senators (13-0, 6-0) rode the momentum of its opening win, taking the nightcap 19-0.
In the opener, the Senators rallied in the sixth when Candice Rutledge singled, moved to second on Abby Rankl's sacrifice bunt, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Dacey Hassey's RBI sacrifice fly.
Carson scored four runs to take a 5-1 lead in the seventh. Loretta Cagle walked and moved to second on Kaitlin Burroughs' sacrifice bunt. Christa Casci and Rutledge followed with back-to-back RBI doubles. Hassey capped the rally with a two-run home run.
"I knew that if we could stay close, the way we've been hitting the ball... It was a good comeback for us," Carson coach Scott Vickrey said.
Cassie Vondrak was outstanding again for the Senators, going the distance for the win. Vondrak struck out four and scattered five hits. The only run was unearned as it came on the only error Carson made on the day.
Rankl and Rutledge each had two hits, Hassey had three RBI and Daria Leid, Nikki Keller and Loretta Cagle all added a hit.
Carson took command right away in the nightcap, scoring seven runs in the first. "We started back up where we left off," Vickrey said.
Hassey went 5-for-5 with two RBI, Casci ahd three hits, including a double, Rutledge had three hits, including a double, and three RBI, Rankl had three hits and three RBI, Keller had two hits and three RBI, Leid had a two-run double, Burroughs was 2-for-2 with a triple and an RBI and Sarah Evans and Vondrak each added a hit.
Keller was also outstanding on the mound, pitching a two-hit shutout while striking out five in the game that was called after five innings. On the season, Carson's pitching staff has an earned run average less than one.
"The pitchers did a phenomenal job hitting their spots," Vickrey said. "They're doing their job."
"They played good ball," Vickrey also said about his team's overall effort.
Carson will find out how really good it is this week when it takes on two of Northern Nevada's top teams. The Senators will host Reed at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and will begin a key three-game league series at Reno High at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
"We're looking forward to it," said Vickrey about this week's showdowns. "Reno's hitting the ball well, too, and their pitching's pretty dominant."
VIRGINIA CITY SPLITS
The Muckers (3-11, 1-1 in 1A league play) settled for the split, winning the opener 16-6 before losing a wild nightcap, 17-16 in 10 innings.
Brooke Bennett pitched a complete game five-hitter for the win in the opener. Jamie Lyle was 3-for-4 with three RBI, Megan Culleton was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Brooke Bonnett, Kelly Smiley, Krysta Olsen and Shaye Segale all added a hit.
In the nightcap, Culleton was 2-for-5 with an RBI, Olsen doubled and had two RBI, Segale and Bonnett each had three hits, Smiley had three hits and an RBI, Lyle walked five times and Esha Singh added a hit. Olsen pitched six innings and Bonnett finished up.
CHS JVS SWEEP
Carson (5-0-1 in league) won the opener 19-4 and the nightcap 13-3. Jaime Good was the winning pitching in the opener, striking out four over three innings. Natalie Morrow struck out four over two innings.
Tami Conn had three hits and two RBI, Brittany Duncan had three hits and an RBI, Tiffany O'Day had three hits and four RBI and Morrow had three hits, three RBI and a double. Belen Munoz also played well defensively.
Morrow was the winning pitcher in teh nightcap, striking out six over four innings. Jessie Sinclair pitched the last inning.
Conn had three hits and an RBI, Lisa Shores had two hits, including a double, and two RBI, Duncan had four hits and Rebecca Gansberg had three hits and two RBI.