Carson 14s reach state finals

GARDNERVILLE - Carson City's Babe Ruth 14-year-old all-star squad finds itself one win away from a second sraight state title after knocking off South Reno 3-2 Wednesday night at Lampe Park.

The victory sends Carson into the finals Saturday at 1 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. Tonight, Reno West plays Sparks for the right to play South Reno on Friday. Carson's opponent will come from the Friday game.

"It's hard to say who we'll face. Reno West, Sparks and South Reno are all very competitive teams. It will come down to who has the best pitching."

The game was tied at 2 entering the bottom of the seventh after South Reno had scored a run on two hits off winning pitcher Luke Maher, who took over for Jace Zampiro.

Dominic Norton singled and came around to score on Gehrig Tucker's walk-off triple.

Zampiro took a shutout into the top of the sixth before giving up

an unearned run, and was replaced on the mound by Luke Maher, who finished the sixth.

Carson scored two in the bottom of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead.

Maher drove home T.J. Thomsen with the first run, and then with Maher on third and Cody Schmidlin on third, Carson worked a double steal to score its second run.

South Reno collected two hits in the seventh, tying the game at 2 against Maher, setting the stage for Tucker's heroics.

"This was kind of the same game we played last year against them," Thomsen said. "Both teams played errorless ball. It was fun because we all know each other (through travel ball). We're all good friends."

Carson got two hits from Maher and one each by Chase Blueberg, Tucker and Norton.

If Carson wins Saturday it will advance to the West Regionals in Surprise, Ariz. starting Aug. 2.