Carson drops 10th straight; Banfield shines

It was, without question, Charlie Banfield's best game of the summer. No, make that the year.

Banfield threw five solid innings, made a nice defensive play at third base in the last three innings of the game and was responsible for Carson's first two runs Tuesday night.

Despite Banfield's effort, the Galena Black Sox sent the Carson Blue Jays to their 10th straight loss, 5-3, at Ron McNutt Field.

The Blue Jays, who haven't won since June 14 against Douglas, hope to snap the losing streak at 3 p.m. today when they host Reno.

"The kids are battling now," Carson coach Cody Farnworth said. "It's what we were hoping to see. We got good pitching by Banfield and I thought Tyler (Valley) came in and did a good job.

"Charlie pitched tonight instead of just throwing. We need him to be a pitcher. If he, Wolfie (Casey Wolfe), Drew (Moreland) and Nick (Domitrovich) come through we'll have four starters next year and that would be very good."

And, let's not forget Jace Zampirro and Valley, both of whom have shown potential at various times this summer. Chance Quilling has shown good velocity, but just needs to be more consistent in terms of location.

Banfield allowed three runs, two earned, over five innings. After the game he wasn't sure where this performance ranked, but he was pleased with himself.

"I didn't want to give up that jack (homer to Cole Fenner) in the first inning," Banfield said. "It was a fastball. I left it up in the zone. That team swings it well."

Banfield yielded a double and then gave up the homer to Fenner, he retired the side without any further damage.

Banfield himself got one of the runs back in the bottom of the first. With two outs, Rory Petersen singled, went to second on a passed ball, stole third and scored on Banfield's triple to right-centerfield off Galena starter Drew Brown.

The Blue Jays tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the fourth when Banfield hit a one-out single and scored on Wolfe's double that one-hopped the fence in right-centerfield.

"I just tried to relax and hit the ball," Banfield said. "I've been trying to clear my head a lot and not think about it (hitting)."

The tie didn't last long, however.

Galena went ahead 3-2 in the fifth when Jorge Medina walked, stole second and went to third when Petersen's throw went into centerfied. Banfield got the next two outs, but Zack Parkinson's groundball was mishandled by Cody Schmidlin, allowing Galena to go ahead 3-2.

Banfield went to third base, and threw out Medina on a nice play in the seventh.

"I'm getting more comfortable," Banfield said. "I'm getting more playing time this summer and that's helped me out,"

The Black Sox made it 4-2 in the eighth when Fenner singled, Parkinson walked and Ryan Ford singled to drive in a run. Andrew Hunter bunted the runners over, and Valley struck out Beau Cullen and retired Michael Jones on a groundball.

Carson had a chance to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the inning when Quilling and Brock Pradere singled with one out. Ford, who relieved Brown, fanned Petersen and Banfield to end the inning.

Schmidlin relieved Valley and gave up Galena's last run in the top of the ninth.

Carson had a chance to tie the game in the ninth when Wolfe singled and moved to second when Dion Copoulos waked. Drew Moreland was safe on an error, loading the bases. After Gehrig Tucker popped up, T.J. Thomsen followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Wolfe. Ford fanned Quilling to end the game.