The worst winter and spring in recent memory has played havoc with baseball teams throughout Northern Nevada, especially young and inexperienced teams like Carson High.
The Senators have younger players either starting for the first time or playing bigger roles than in the past, and the lack of quality practice time has shown in the first six league games of the season.
Errors have plagued the Senators throughout their first six games, and seven errors led to five unearned runs in their 10-3 loss to Reed on Thursday at Ron McNutt Field.
The loss dropped Carson to 2-4 in league play while Reed improved to 3-3. The Senators have three days of practice before leaving for the Bay Area for a series of non-league games. Carson will play Northgate, Berean Christian and DeAnza. There may also be a possible fourth game.
“I’m happy with our pitching after six (league) games,” Carson coach Bryan Manoukian said. “Our offense and defense is below average. Our offense and defense has struggled, and it’s a direct correlation to lack of time on the field because of the weather. I think we had three days of practice before our first game. It is tough to take what you do in the cage into live action.
“It was a one-run game until that last inning when the wheels fell off. We were in it until the end, and we didn’t quit.”
Just like Wednesday, the Senators fell behind early to the Raiders, and it was the result of errors. Bryce Moyle had three wild pick-off throws on Wednesday, leading to three unearned runs, and CHS starter Ben Nelson had two miscues on Thursday which led to three Reed runs in the first two innings.
And, just as they did on Wednesday, the Senators battled back with three second-inning runs, tying the game at 3.
Colby Zemp doubled and reached third after back-to-back walks to Kahle Good and Jared Barnard. Brandon Gagnon walked, forcing in Zemp. After Landon Truesdale was retired, Jesse Lopez hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. Abel Carter tied the game moments later with a run-scoring single.
Reed threatened in the fifth against reliever Kyle Glanzmann, but a double play initiated by Lopez on a fly ball to center quelled the uprising.
The Senators weren’t so fortunate in the sixth as Ryan Murphy singled home Caleb Ariaz, who had reached on a double.
Carson got the tying run to second in the sixth, but Carter was retired on a sharply hit groundball.
Zemp, who had finished the sixth inning, ran into major problems in the seventh. He allowed three runs and three hits and left in favor of Cole McDannald without retiring a batter. McDannald gave up three runs, one earned, on one hit.
Cameron Beard picked up the win with six innings of relief. He fanned five, walked five and gave up three hits.
With inclement weather expected today and over the weekend, it’s unknown how much time Carson will get on the field before its trip. Manoukian is hoping for three solid workouts.
“After we come back, we’ll be on our normal routine where we practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” he said. “The weather has kept us off the field and forced us to shuffle games.”
MINDEN — Jayden Foster and Ayden Murphy combined to bang out eight hits and help spark Douglas to a come-from-behind 16-15 Northern 4A conference win Thursday against Spanish Springs.
Douglas (3-2 conference, 6-4 overall) came back from 10 runs down to win on Murphy’s two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning at Tiger Field.
Foster singled to lead off the Tigers’ seventh inning rally and Murphy finished off the rally with a drive off the left field fence as the Tigers won their third straight game.
Douglas scored five times in the third inning then added six more runs in the fourth to turn an 11-1 deficit into a 12-all deadlock.
Foster also pitched 3.2 innings of relief and allowed three runs on five hits to keep the Tigers in contention. Kindel Isham pitched the seventh inning to gain credit for the win.
Murphy went 4-for-5 with five RBI and Foster 4-for-4 with one RBI. Haden Keller went 3-for-4 and Isham 3-for-5 as the Tigers finished the day with 20 hits.
Josh Prizina, a University of Nevada signee, went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in the fifth inning that gave Spanish Springs a 13-12 lead. Tanner Smith hit 2-for-5 with a two-run double in the top of the seventh that put the Cougars on top, 15-14.
The two teams are scheduled to complete their two-game series Saturday at Spanish Springs (4-1, 8-2).
SOFTBALL
Spanish Springs 14, Douglas 4
A nine-run second inning put Spanish Springs in command on its way to a 14-4 win at home against Douglas on Thursday in Sparks.
The defending state champion Cougars went up 9-0 and then scored three times in the fifth inning to end the game due to the 10-run rule.
Mackenzie Brixey hit 2-for-3 with a triple and Amanda Hoffman 2-for-3 with one RBI to lead Douglas (2-2 conference, 3-7 overall) offensively. Kylie Swan also hit a triple for the Tigers.
Amidori Anderson hit 3-for-4 with a double and triple, plus she scored four runs for Spanish Springs (4-0, 7-2).
— Record-Courier Sports Editor Dave Price contributed to this story.