The Carson Blue Jays fell behind 8-0 in the first four innings and dropped a 13-7 decision against the Redding Rattlers in an elimination game at the Sun Devils-Carson 4th of July tournament at Ron McNutt Field.
The injury plagued Blue Jays went 0-5 in the event.
Redding jumped out to an 8-0 lead, scoring one in the first and third innings, and four in the second and fourth innings. Starting pitcher Nick Domitrovich was hit in the hip by a line drive and left after two innings of work. He already had been battling nagging knee injuries. Of the four runs Domitrovich allowed, only one was earned. A dropped pop-up led to three unearned runs.
Adam Whitt pitched the third for the Blue Jays. He allowed a run, as Redding upped its lead to 5-0. The Rattlers tacked on three more against Carter Nuckols, upping their lead to 8-0.
It looked like Carson was headed for a mercy rule loss, but the locals bounced back with three in the bottom of the fourth and four in the bottom of the fifth to close to 8-7.
In the fourth, Colby Blueberg doubled home Austin Pacheco, who had reached on a double. Rory Petersen and Nuckols added run-scoring hits to complete the surge.
Blueberg continued his hot hitting in the fifth when he doubled in three runs. he scored on another run-scoring single by Petersen to make it 8-7.