Carson softball team unable to hold onto 4-0 lead

Carson High’s softball team started fast with a four-run first inning against Reed, but then along came Jackie Sertic, and poof went the Senators’ offense.

Sertic, the Raiders’ hard-throwing right-hander held the Senators to three hits over the final 6.1 innings as Reed posted a 6-4 come-from-behind win in a crossover game Thursday at Carson High School.

Carson, tied for fifth place entering the day, dropped to 3-8 in league. The Senators have a doubleheader Tuesday at Douglas, an away game at Spanish Springs next Thursday and a home doubleheader against Galena a week from Saturday. Carson coach Shelby Tuttle thinks that three wins will get the Senators into the playoffs.

“I think three wins will get us in the four hole,” Tuttle said. “It could come down to that doubleheader against Galena.”

One thing is certain, Carson can ill afford to let four-run leads slip away if it wants to make the postseason.

Carson started with a bang against Megan Dettling, who struggled out of the gate.

Dettling walked three hitters uncorked a wild pitch and gave up two hits, a single by Bailey Allen and a two-run single by Michelle Perry. The blow by Perry made it 4-0 and knocked Dettling out of the game. Sertic entered the game after Perry’s hit and got the last two outs of the inning.

That was the extent of the Carson offense. The Senators had only three hits the rest of the way and only once threatened to score on Sertic. That threat came in the second when Allen singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kandis Tuttle and to third on Jen Purcell’s infield out. She was left stranded when Becka Breuer struck out to end the inning. Sertic retired 19 of the 22 batters she faced, including eight strikeouts

“We hit their starting pitcher well,” Tuttle said. “Sertic has a nice rise and change-up, and our hitters didn’t adjust. We had trouble hitting her before. I think we got three hits the last time we faced her. She is one of the top pitchers in Northern Nevada.”

“Megan just struggled, which is uncharacteristic of her,” said Reed coach Jon Wunder. “That’s the nice thing about having two good pitchers. If one isn’t on, you can count on the other one to come in and do the job. Jackie did a good job of shutting their offense down.”

Reed started nibbling away against Purcell, scoring one in the second, three in the fourth and one each in the fifth and sixth.

“I told the kids to work at getting the runs back one at a time and we’d get back into the game,” Wunder said. “I’m pleased with the way we played.”

Kiara Shirley, Reed’s No. 8 hitter, drove in the run in the second. Sertic and Marriah Levesque stroked run-scoring singles in the fourth to make it 4-3, and a passed ball tied the game at 4. Lindsay Yeerman put the Raiders ahead to stay in the fifth with a single that followed an error by Perry with one out. Chelsea Cummings, the No. 9 hitter, singled off Breuer to drive in the game’s final runs.

The bottom four hitters in Reed’s order — Yeerman, Britni Greninger, Shirley and Cummings — went a combined 7-for-12 with four runs scored and two RBIs.

Allen led Carson with two hits, while Tuttle, Aubrey Northrup and Perry added one each.