Cody Farnworth, Carson Blue Jays coach, wants Drew Moreland to take on a bigger role next spring during the high school season.
Farnworth wants Moreland to be one of his main starters, not just a spot starter and reliever like he was this year.
"I thought Drew threw well; the best I've seen him throw this summer," Farnworth said. "We're going to need him next spring. He's going to have to step up. If he continues to throw like he did tonight, he will help us tremendously."
Moreland allowed just one earned run and five hits in six innings of work in the second game of Monday's doubleheader against the McQueen Royals, but still took a 4-1 loss. McQueen won the opener 7-0.
Carson returns to action at 7 p.m. today against Galena. The teams will play a nine-inning game instead of a doubleheader.
Moreland, who fanned six and walked two before turning the ball over to Chance Quilling, was pleased with his effort.
"I thought I threw well," Moreland said. "I threw hard, and it felt good coming out of my mind. For the most part we made plays in the field.
"I'm fine either way coach decides to use me," Moreland said. "I've mostly been a reliever, so if he wants me to start I can flip the switch. It's a different kind of mentality (between starting and relieving). When you start a game you have to come out mentally prepared for everyone in the order. When you relieve by the time you come into the game you know who is able to hit and who isn't able to hit."
Moreland said he's always welcomed the pressure that comes with being a reliever.
"I don't throw that hard, so I'm going to be throwing a lot of breaking balls no matter what I do."
Whatever he threw against McQueen worked. The Royals didn't hit a lot of balls hard.
Moreland's teammates gave him a 1-0 lead in the first when Brock Pradere reached on an error and scored on Rory Petersen's single to left-centerfield.
McQueen went ahead 2-1 with an unearned run in the second and an earned run in the third.
In the second, Anthony Calton reached on an error and scored on a single by Robbie Higley. In the third, leadoff hitter Nate Agliolo walked and eventually scored on Calton's single.
McQueen added another run in the fifth, also unearned. Moreland tried to pick off Calton at first and threw it wildly. Calton took third on the play and scored on Higley's infield out.
Moreland's effort kept Carson in the game, but with a little better hitting, the Blue Jays could have made the game interesting.
The Blue Jays got a runner to second with two outs in the second but Jace Zampirro flied to center. In the fourth, Charlie Banfield was picked off second for the second out of the inning, and in the fifth Carson left a runner stranded at third.
"We're not stringing hits together," Farnworth said. "We have to learn from it. That's the key."
Carson has been using wood bats all summer for two reasons - to get ready for next year when the bats will be less lively and to get ready for a season-ending tournament in Idaho.
"We have to keep working on our hitting," Moreland said. "It (using wood) is an excuse. We've been using wood since the start of the summer, and we hit the ball well early."
In the opener, Carson made four errors and managed just four hits off the lefty Calton who went 6.1 innings before coming our of the game.
McQueen got to Carson starter Gehrig Tucker for two runs in the second, third and fourth innings, the Royals made it 7-0 in the top of the fifth.
Carson had three opportunities to score, but was unable to break through.
In the fourth the Blue Jays had runners at second and third, but Casey Wolfe struck out to end the inning. In the fifth, Pradere, who had two of Carson's four hits, flied out to center to end the inning with Cody Schmidlin at third. With one out in the seventh, Carson loaded the bases on three walks, but Zampirro struck out and Pradere grounded to short to end the game.