Can I just start by saying kudos to both Douglas and Carson high school rooting sections for showing up Friday and supporting their respective teams.
I certainly wish there would be more crowds like that at every home game. For some reason, students have made a point to stay away much of the time. It seems like the only two games that draw are the Winter Fest and Douglas games.
Granted Friday's game wasn't an artistic game by any means, but rivalry games never are. For some reason, those games end up being very physical.
Carson has taken huge strides in the last week with solid performances against Hug, Galena and Douglas. The Senators could have won the Hug and Douglas games very easily.
The Senators are still 1-11, but they are showing signs of improvement, and that's the key. Carson returns nine players next year, including Rafe King, Sage Smith, Bruce McIntosh and Matt Nolan.
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The Nevada Bighorns, a local collegiate baseball team, will return to play home games at Western Nevada College. A year ago, the Bighorns played most of their games at Governors Field.
The Bighorns, coached by Dennis Young, are in their seventh year of existence. The team will draw players from Texas, Washington, Virginia, Arkansas, Kansas and California.
With that in mind, the Bighorns are looking for host families to house their out-of-area players during the summer. Young said he expects to have between nine and 15 out-of-area players.
Those interested in being a host family please contact Mike and Mary Petterson at 775-882-4450 or 775-882-5833. There will be a host family meeting on Feb.18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Plaza Hotel.
The Bighorns also have slated a board meeting for that night, too, for anybody interested in getting involved.
Players usually start arriving the last week of May and the season runs until the first week of August.
The Bighorns will be holding their annual golf tournament April 14 at Eagle Valley Golf Course. The cost is $75. For more information, call 882-4450 or 882-5833.
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Nice to see Nevada put together a nice win streak. Part of it is the cupcake schedule and part of it is improved play. Another part is that Utah State is having a rare down year. That always makes the road to the top easier.
Of course 15 straight wins means zilch if you don't finish the job and win the conference tournament. If Nevada wins the regular-season title but gets beat in the semis, don't assume that's good enough to get to the NCAAs. If Nevada wins the WAC, I would see them being an 11th or 12th seed.
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Any student-athletes at Carson who received questionnaires at the start of the season from th Appeal, we need them e-mailed back to us immediately. Please send them to sports@nevadaappeal.com.