Junior Jared Barnard lays down a bunt for the Senators Thursday.
RENO — A ball that never left the infield was the turning point in Thursday’s Carson-Dayton game at the Reno Athletics Tournament.
With a runner at first and one out in a scoreless game, Landon Truesdale hit a slow roller to third. By the time third baseman Brady Engle played the ball, Truesdale was across first with an infield single. That hit led to three fourth-inning runs and a 4-1 Blue Jays win at Bishop Manogue.
Carson returns to action for two games Friday, playing at 1 and 3 p.m.
“That play made it a different ballgame,” Carson coach Bryan Manoukian said. “It allowed us to get three runs, and we were fortunate to get one more after that. Their pitcher (Trevor Burrows) I thought did a good job. He changed speeds and threw strikes when he needed to.”
“It was a tweener hop,” Dayton coach Mike Burrows said. “It really changed the momentum of the game. I don’t think they had squared anything up (until after that infield hit). I thought Trevor had a good outing. That inning he wasn’t staying ahead of the hitters, and he was forced to come in with his fastball, and he paid the price when he missed his spots.”
Through the first three innings, it was Burrows and Carson’s Jared Barnard dominating on the mound.
Burrows struck out six and walked one in the first three innings, doing a masterful job on the mound mixing up his pitches. Barnard, using a good breaking ball, allowed just a Jake Madson single through the first three innings.
Dayton threatened in the fourth, putting runners at first and third with no outs. Isaac Von Schoff lofted a blooper over first base. Carson second baseman Kyle Glanzmann made the catch and fired a strike to home to nail Justin Schmidt, who had walked to lead off the inning. Barnard walked Cole Purdy, but retired Daniel Hastings to end the inning.
Burrows said he took the chance because his offense has been struggling a bit, and he knew runs might be at a premium against Carson.
“I was hoping he’d throw it away,” Burrows admitted. “We have to get going offensively. We have to find a way to get our JV kids (that have moved up to varsity) confidence at the plate.”
That set the stage for Carson’s big inning. The Blue Jays exploded for three runs and five hits against Burrows. Barnard helped himself with a run-scoring single, Teigen Key had a sacrifice fly and diminutive Tim Jones delivered a key two-out run-scoring single to make it 3-0.
“I had to go away from my curveball,” Trevor Burrows said. “I was excited to pitch this game.”
Dayton threatened again in the fifth. With two outs and a runner at first, Burrows drilled a ball to deep left Joe Tonino tracked down to end the inning.
The Smoke finally scored in the sixth when Justin Schmdt doubled and scored on two infield outs, the second by Von Schoff, to make it 3-1.
Carson tacked on its final run in the bottom of the sixth when Glanzmann hit a run-scoring double to right..
Colby Zemp threw a scoreless seventh in relief of Barnard.
“My curveball was working really well,” Barnard said after his six-inning effort. “I was able to put it where I wanted to, and I was able to throw it as much as I wanted.”
“Jared pitched well,” Manoukian said. “He was able to make big pitches when he needed them.”