Carson High shortstop Bailey Allen watches her throw to first after making a diving stop last season.
A veteran team can often times play over mistakes. A young team can’t.
That was the case Saturday when three key errors and a baserunning mistake cost Carson dearly in a 6-3 nine-inning loss to North Valleys in the first game of a Northern Division I softball doubleheader at Carson High School.
The Senators gave up 11 in the first inning of the second game, and dropped a 23-11 decision. The game was stopped after five innings on the 10-run rule.
“We played a pretty good seven innings (in the first game),” CHS coach Shane Quilling said. “We’re not good enough, however, to give away runs. We gave up one in the first and we made a couple of mistakes in the top of the ninth. We had a baserunning mistake in the seventh that was our bad.
“We’re hitting the ball better, and we’re getting better at fundamentals. North Valleys is a good team; a solid team.”
Carson tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the seventh, and should have won it had it not been for the baserunning gaffe.
Nicole Brown walked and advanced to second when Lauren Lemburg reached on an error. Brown, for some reason, broke for third base and was thrown out for the first out of the inning.
After Camiell Simpson flied out, Terryn Earle singled to left, advancing Lemburg to second. Elise Brady followed with a groundball that barely got past Bailey Nicholson at second base, and Lemburg scored the tying run. Gabi Winder was retired on a flyball to right to end the inning.
“She went on her own,” Quilling said after the game.
After a scoreless eighth inning, North Valleys took advantage of two more Carson mistakes to win the game.
Nicholson reached on Brown’s error, and stole second. Bailey McCusky singled home Nicholson to make it 4-3. Val Quam followed with a drive to right, which bounced in front of Gabi Winder and then got past her, allowing McCusky to score to make it 5-3. After two walks, Maddie Nicholson delivered a run-scoring single.
Nicholson allowed a walk to Brown and then struck out the next three hitters to end the game.
Lemburg allowed 11 hits, but certainly deserved a better fate.
“She is pitching better, believe me,” Quilling said. “She pitched good enough to win the game. She does a good job.”
North Valleys scored an unearned run in the first when Jamie Romero singled home Caitlyn Wood, who reached on an error by Brown. The Panthers added a run in the second when Hope Allen doubled and scored on a doubly by Hayley Collins.
The Panthers gave back both runs in the second when Wood threw away Sarah Runge’s two-out groundball.
North Valleys went ahead 3-2 in the fifth on Woods’ blooper over short. The damage could have been worse, but Allen made a diving stop on Quam’s groundball to save two runs. Carson tied it in the seventh on Brady’s hit.
In the second game, North Valleys scored in all five of its at-bats. The Panthers scored 11 in the first, four in the second and fifth, one in the third and three in the fourth.
Lemburg was pulled after facing five batters in the first. Allen came in to finish the inning, and Lemburg finished out the game.
Carson hit the ball well in the second game, collecting 16 hits.
Simpson went 4-for-4, while Allen went 3-for-4. Runge, Brown, Lemburg and Brady all had two hits.