Carson City Little League’s 9-10 and 10-11 all-star squads kept their championship hopes alive with wins in the District 1 Championships at Governors Field on Friday.
The 9-10 squad, thanks to a combined seven RBI from Eddie Tierney and Kyle Navarro, rolled to a 9-3 win over Sparks National. In the 10-11 game, Carson scored five in the second and nine in the third en route to an easy 14-1 four-inning win over Sparks National.
Both teams return to action today in the double-elimination event. The 9-10 squad plays at 10:30 a.m. and the 10-11 squad plays at 1:30 p.m. The 11-12 squad opens tourney play tonight at 7:30.
The younger Carson team fell behind 2-0 in the first thanks to a two-run double by Ike Hopper, but Sparks managed just two baserunners the rest of the game.
Carson scored five times in the second thanks to two walks, a hit batsman, singles by Isaac Nelson and Tierney, and a double by Navarro. The hits by Tierney and Navarro scored two runs apiece.
Sparks cut the deficit to 5-3 in the fourth when Hopper hit his second double of the game, moved to third on Grant Larson’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Taylor Dickson’s roller to short.
After squandering scoring chances in the third and fourth, Carson put the game away with four runs in the fifth off reliever Nico Reis.
Ethan Foley walked with one out, and was replaced on the basepaths by Ashton Davenport, who advanced to third on an infield out and scored on a single by Justin Nussbaumer. Kobe Morgan singled Nussbaumer over to third, and Tierney followed with his second single of the game to score Nussbaumer and send Morgan to third. Tierney moved to second on a wild pitch, and Navarro followed with his second two-run hit of the game.
Navarro was also solid on the mound, allowing just a run and hit in his relief stint. He retired the last nine hitters he faced.
Navarro led the offense with three hits, while Tierney and Morgan added two apiece.
In the 10-11 game, Carson left the bases loaded in the first, but produced 14 runs in the next two innings.
Starting pitcher Diego Lopez pitched 2.1 scoreless innings before giving way to Justin Stevens, who threw just 20 pitches so he could return today. Braxton Carter got the final two outs of the game.
Zak Houghton doubled home Tim Jones with the game’s first run, and Lopez made it 3-0 with a two-run double. Max Fontaine followed with a run-scoring single and moved to second on the play when the ball was bobbled in center. Fontaine moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Carter groundball to second base.
Houghton , who went 3-for-4, homered to lead off the third, extending Carson’s lead to 6-0. The next three hitters walked, and then Sparks made back-to-back errors to make it 11-0. Jacob Green delivered a run-scoring single, Houghton was safe on an error that allowed another run to score, and Fontaine hit a run-scoring single to complete the barrage.
Sparks finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Brenden Domenici singled, moved to third on a double by Daniel Hill and scored on an infield out.
Fontaine complemented Houghton’s offensive display with two hits of his own.