For four innings, the Carson Little League 10-11-year-old all-stars struggled mightily at the plate.
The last three innings was a completely different story. Carson erupted for 10 of its runs and all 12 of its hits in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to grab a 12-5 extra-inning win over Reno National on the opening night of the District 1 All-Star Tournament at Governors Field.
The win sends Carson into a winner's bracket match-up with South Tahoe, which received an opening-round bye. First pitch is at 8 p.m. today.
Catcher Bryce Moyle, the smallest player on the field, swung the biggest bat for Carson. He went 3-for-3 with a double, solo homer and grandslam. He also reached base and scored his first two times up after being walked and hit by a pitch. Kyle Krebs went 2-for-5 and Jesse Lopez went 2-for-3. Tez Allen went 1-4, but drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh.
"Their first pitcher was one of the best in Northern Nevada," said Carson manager Kinkade DeJoseph, referring to Reno starter Austin Whan. "He did a good job. We battled and got his pitch count up.
"Bryce is the smallest kid, but he's got the biggest heart. He did a nice job hitting the ball. He came through when we needed it. He also did a nice defensive job behind the plate."
Leading 5-4 entering the sixth, Reno pushed across the tying run to force the game to extra innings.
Tyler Black drew a two-out walk, was wild-pitched to second by Jayden DeJoseph and scored on Jeremy Watland's game-tying double. With the count 3-2 on Max Richman, the elder DeJoseph removed his son from the mound and went to Allen. The move was made because DeJoseph can now come back one day sooner than if he had continued to pitch.
Allen walked Richmond and then intentionally walked Whan to load the bases. Allen left the bases jammed when he struck out Drake Vestbie.
That set the stage for the wild seventh inning.
Krebs singled, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a single by Jace Keema and scored on Allen's single to snap the 5-all tie. Lopez followed with a bloop single to right to load the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Nolan Hogan forced Keema at the plate for the second out.
That brought Stuart McElhany who reached on an infield single to drive in Allen for a 7-5 Çarson lead. That set the stage for Moyle, who got Carson's first hit of the game, a solo homer in the fifth. This time he drove a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right-centerfield for a grandslam to make it 11-5. DeJoseph singled and eventually scored on an error to complete the seven-run explosion.
The homers by Moyle were the first two of his Little League career.
"I'd hit one in practice before, but never in a game," Moyle said. "The first one I knew was gone. The second one I thought was going to hit the fence."
Allen set Reno National down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the win.
Both DeJoseph and Allen pitched well in relief of starter Krebs, who departed after 3.2 innings because he'd reached the 85-pitch rule. The duo combined to allow just one run and three hits in 3.1 innings of work.
"Jayden and Tez did a great job," the elder DeJoseph said. "I thought Kyle threw well. He just missed his spots. He settled down after the first inning (30-pitch inning)."