RENO - It was a bizarre game that ended on a bizarre note.
After a combined 16 walks, four hit batsmen, nine errors and only two scoreless half innings, Carson High won its 4A opener over Wooster, 16-15, Tuesday afternoon.
The win evened Carson's record at 3-3 overall. The teams conclude their two-game series Thursday at Ron McNutt Field at 3:45 p.m. weather permitting. Jace Zampirro, coming off a nice start against Spanish Springs last week, will get the call on the mound.
There were three lead changes in the last two innings of what was a sloppy, yet exciting game.
Carson took the lead for the first time, 14-11, in the sixth on the strength of a six-run outburst led by Chase Blueberg's two-run single. The Colts bounced back with four in the bottom of the sixth to take a 15-14 lead only to see the Senators score twice in the top of the seventh on an error and sacrifice fly by Dion Copoulos.
Carson coach Cody Farnworth inserted Casey Wolfe to start the seventh, and he yielded a lead-off triple to Alfonso Alvarez. With the infield pulled in, Wolfe retired J.J. Harloff on a roller to short and Matt Bowers on a pop-up to the catcher. With Sam Klippenstein at the plate, Wolfe uncorked a wild pitch. Catcher Rory Petersen fielded it cleanly off the cement and got the ball to Wolfe. The Carson pitcher threw the ball to third baseman Gehrig Tucker, who tagged out Alvarez after a brief rundown to end the game.
"I just listened to everybody yelling," said Petersen, who hit two doubles in the game. "I got back there as fast as I could and made a good throw to Casey."
Petersen said the Senators never got down and just kept battling.
"The kids competed to the end," Farnworth said. "It was a long game and I didn't think we were ever out of it. They gave us some openings and we took advantage of them (of Carson's 16 runs, only nine were earned). It was kind of sloppy. But it is a win.
"It comes down to pitching. Twelve (9 walks and 3 hit batsmen combined) is tough to overcome. A lot of the problems are mechanics. We have to get a lot better pitching. Carter (Nuckolls) came in and got a couple of outs (and the win)."
Nuckolls got the last two outs of the sixth to pick up his first win of the season.
Charlie Banfield started, and struggled from the outset. He was replaced in the third after throwing 57 pitches and allowing five runs, walking four and hitting two batters. Cole Dufresne and Tyler Valley followed, neither having much success.
Fortunately, the offense was able to contribute some timely hits.
In the fourth when Carson tied it up at 6, Nick Domitrovich and Petersen delivered run-scoring hits.
The clutch hitting and patience at the plate continued in the sixth.
Domitrovich walked, moved to second on an errant pick-off throw and scored on Petersen's second double of the game. Petersen moved to third on a bunt single. Gehrig Tucker was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Copoulos walked to force in a run to make it 11-10. Blueberg put Carson ahead 12-11 with his single. Drew Moreland and TJ Thomsen walked, the latter's walk forcing home a run. Brock Pradere hit into a double play to score Blueberg to make it 14-11.