Carson baseball falls to Galena

RENO - If the preseason is any indication, the Carson Senators baseball team will be happy when Galena Grizzlies pitcher Jacob Anderson begins his career at Nevada next year.

Anderson, who had three runs batted in and the game-winning home run in the eighth inning of Galena's 7-6 victory over Carson on Saturday, came back to haunt the Senators again Tuesday, this time in a 12-4 Grizzlies win in the Manogue Tournament at Manogue High School.

The senior helped lead a nine-hit attack for the Grizz, going 1-for-2 with 2 RBI. He also took the win on the mound, spreading out four unearned runs, six hits and two walks, while striking out six over five innings.

And he wasn't even 100 percent.

"The back of my shoulder was tight this morning," Anderson said. "I wasn't throwing as hard this game. I just tried to keep the ball down. It worked out."

In spite of committing four errors, things eventually worked out well for defending Northern 4A regional champion Galena, which improved to 6-0. The same couldn't be said for Carson, which lost another one of its starters to an injury before the game even began and gave up six runs in the first inning.

After losing senior Cody Bone with a season-ending broken finger in its opening game Thursday against Truckee, Carson saw shortstop Markus Adams go out during the pre-game infield warmup.

"I haven't made a call (to Adams) yet, but the rumor is his nose is broken," Carson coach Steve Cook said. "He had to get it stitched up. I know he'll be talking to me tonight to beg and plead to play tomorrow, but that's someone else's call.

"He's our emotional leader. We feed off him whne he's on. If he's not on, it's a little tough. You can tell we could've used him today, for sure. Right now, we're getting him healthy. Two seniors in (six days). Our (disabled list) grows every day. It was kind of an emotional exhale for us. We'll try and get him back in the lineup as soon as possible."

Carson starter Stephen Sawyers was also knocked out of the game early, but this was at least in the figurative sense only.

Sawyers - who lasted one-third of an inning - hit Galena's first batter - Eric Underwood - to start the game, then walked four consecutive batters to give the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead.

Galena senior catcher Max Landis followed with an RBI single and Bryan Pointer's sacrifice fly brought in Hess for a 4-0 lead for the Grizz.

Dustin Buttner relieved Sawyers (who was tagged with the loss after surrendering six runs - five earned - on one hit), but Luke Hess's fielder's choice scored Anderson to make it 5-0. After Stephen Biehle singled, a wild pitch by Buttner brought in Landis before the Senators escaped the inning.

Carson didn't do away, however. Second baseman Tommy Preston (1-for-2) doubled in Buttner and Matt Rutledge in the bottom of the second inning and an error by second baseman Biehle brought in Brett Valley and Kyle Stone in the third to make it 6-4.

Galena rebounded in the top of the fourth when Pete Lazzari scored on a wild pitch by Buttner and the Grizzlies tacked on five more in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

"You give up a six-spot in the first inning, it's tough to beat anyone - especially if you try to chase Galena down," said Cook, whose Senators fell to 5-3. "I think we showed good character. We put up a two-spot in the second and a two-spot in the third. We had some pitching breakdowns again. Steve Sawyers didn't start out well today.

"I think we'll get things worked out. If you don't come out ready to play, they'll put it on you. Hopefully the boys know you have to be ready to play from the first pitch to the last out."

Charles Price and Nolan Young pitched a scoreless inning for Galena, while Buttner gave up three runs, three hits and four walks in three innings. David Charles (three runs, four hits in two-thirds of an inning) and Rob Valerius (one hit in three innings) finished up on the hill for Carson.

First-year Grizzlies skipper Tom Flynn, who last coached at Wabash College (Ind.), said his job is fairly easy this year.

"I just have to keep them going in the right direction," Flynn said. "They've been well coached. They're fundamentally sound."

That was evidenced by Galena's balanced attack. Jake Hess went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI, Scott Underwood added 2 RBI on 1-for-4 hitting, and Landis (2-for-4) and Pointer each added an RBI to go with the pair from Anderson.

"I was seeing it pretty good," Anderson said. "Jake Hess is getting a lot of hits. It gets me more confident. With him hitting in front of me, it helps. Both teams came out and played hard. They walked four of our guys, which hurt them. The score doesn't show how close it was."

Asked to compare this team with last year's Grizzlies, who were the state runner-up, Anderson said he didn't have a feel just yet.

"I'm not sure. We've been different every time we've come out, but we've been consistent," he said. "If we swing the bats well, we have good defense and pitching - we'll be all right."

Galena will meet Damonte Ranch in a 1 p.m. game today at Damonte Ranch High School, where the Senators will face Reed beginning at 3:30 p.m. David Eller will start for Carson.