Shortstop Connor Pradere turns a double play in a game against Damonte Ranch on Tuesday.
RENO — The third time was the charm for the Carson Senators.
The Senators left the bases jammed in both the third and fourth innings against Damonte Ranch, but they came through in the sixth and seventh innings.
Bryce Moyle hit a bases-loaded triple in the sixth to snap a 6-all tie and spark the Senators to a 14-9 win over the Mustangs in a key Northern Division I battle Tuesday afternoon.
The win gives Carson a 13-4 record and a second-place tie with Reno. Carson holds the tiebreaker advantage over the Huskies based on its season sweep earlier in the year. The Mustangs dropped to 11-6. Galena still leads the pack with its 15-2 record. Carson gets a chance for a series sweep Thursday at 6 p.m. at Ron McNutt Field with Trevor Edis on the mound.
Carson trailed 6-5 entering the sixth, as the Mustangs had scored twice in the second, third and fifth innings.
Kyle Krebs walked against Damonte starter Jacob Applebach and moved to second when reliever Weston Lord walked. With Jace Keema at the plate, Lord tried to pick off courtesy runner Kyle Gagnon at second. The throw was wild and got by centerfielder Ryan Riggle, allowing Gagnon to score the tying run. Been moved to second on the play. Keema was safe on an error, Been holding at second. Both runners moved up on Abel Carter’s sacrifice bunt.
Zac Ukitis came on to pitch to Joe Nelson, who lifted a pop fly that was misplayed for an error, loading the bases. Moyle followed with a deep flyball to the gap in right-centerfield, scoring all three runners and giving CHS a 9-6 lead.
Moyle said he didn’t feel any pressure with the bases jammed for the third time in the game.
“The pressure was off when we scored the tying run before that,” Moyle said. “I was just trying to hit a fly ball (to score a run).”
Ukitis walked No. 9 hitter Jesse Lopez and leadoff hitter Connor Pradere to load the bases. Cody Azevedo hit a sacrifice fly to right to make it 10-6, capping the five-run inning. Carson had only one hit in the inning.
“We’ve been fortunate to move 90 feet without getting a hit,” CHS coach Bryan Manoukian said. “We don’t need a hit to score a run. I was a little worried because we had squandered so many opportunities. It was something we addressed after the game.”
Damonte Ranch wasn’t through, however.
After retiring the lead-off hitter, reliever Joe Nelson gave up a one-out single to Ukitis. After striking out Applebach, Tyler Oscarson hit a deep drive to right field. Moyle went back to the warning track, and had the ball in his glove briefly but when he hit the fence the ball popped out of his glove and over the fence for a homer to make it 10-8, Nelson retired the next hitter.
“I jumped and when I hit the fence it popped out,” Moyle said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever tried to rob anybody of a homer.”
Riggle came on in the seventh, and quite simply, didn’t get the job done.
Keema hit a one-out double and moved to third on Carter’s single. Starting pitcher John Holton was reinserted for Nelson, and he was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After Moyle struck out, Lopez blooped a two-run single to center to make it 12-8. Pradere walked and Azevedo and Krebs followed with run-scoring singles.
Krebs came in to close, and he allowed a run on four hits before striking out Ukitis and Applebach to end the game.
“John (Holton) was at his pitch count, an I want to keep all my guys fresh,” Manoukian said. “I got Joe an inning. I thought Kyle threw well though his line may not show that. Their hits found holes. They are a good hitting team.”
Manoukian admitted Damonte’s leaky defense (five errors) contributed heavily to the win. All five runs in the sixth were unearned.
At this stage of the season, sweeping series is nice, but it’s critical to come out with nothing worse than a split.
“Sweeps at this stage of the season are good,” Manoukian said. “I don’t think about that. I don’t focus on that. I think about what we need to do to win today’s game and not jeopardize the series. Obviously winning the first game and not getting swept is good.”
Douglas 9, Wooster 5
RENO — Kindel Isham hit a pair of doubles while Haden Keller collected a pair of hits and pitched six solid innings to help Douglas keep its playoff hopes alive with a win.
Douglas (10-16 overall, 6-11 league) scored five runs in the second inning to take a lead it never relinquished against Wooster (8-18, 4-13).
Keller allowed one run on three hits over six innings to earn credit for the win. The junior right-hander slammed the door shut on the Colts’ second inning rally when he got a strikeout to retire the side with the bases loaded. Jayden Foster pitched the final inning to close out the game.
The Colts left 10 base runners stranded.
Logan Weeks started on the mound for Wooster and allowed six runs (one earned) over five innings.