Carson 2nd baseman Nicole Brown nabs a grounder for the Senators during the first game of a doubleheader with Douglas Saturday.
MINDEN — A pair of seventh inning rallies were the difference Saturday when the Douglas Tigers walked off with a Northern 4A softball doubleheader sweep against Carson.
Bailey Walters slugged a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Douglas to a 10-8 win in game one. The second game saw more drama when freshman Kendal Moore hit her first home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning and Kettja Bennett ended it with a two-run single as the Tigers rallied for a 7-6 playoff-clinching win.
Douglas (8-12 league, 10-21 overall) earned the tie-breaker advantage over the Senators and secured the No. 7 seed into the region tournament this week in Reno. Carson (8-12, 9-21) is still headed to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. Carson will open in the region tournament on Thursday against league champion Reed at Bishop Manogue High.
Amanda Hoffman pitched the final 2.2 innings of the opener and came back with a complete game performance in the second game to earn both wins.
Carson had its opportunities in both games. The Senators were up 3-0 and sophomore pitcher Jailene Salciedo was working on a two-hitter through four innings in game two, and the Senators scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 6-3 lead.
And in game one, the Senators were unable to hang on after they scored six runs in the fifth inning to take an 8-5 lead. Douglas answered with two run in the bottom of the fifth, sparked by Kylie Swan’s RBI double and an infield hit that drove in another run. Alyssa Smokey blasted a home run to tie the score at 8-all in the sixth. Then Swan singled and scored when Walters hit her second homer of the game, a shot over the right field fence to close out the game.
Game two saw the Senators score three runs on five hits, all after two outs in the top of the seventh. Kassidy Cooley drove a single off the fence in right field, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored to break the 3-all tie when Faith Bigelow lofted a single over second base. Camiell Simpson lined a two-strike pitch into center field for another RBI single and Kailee Luschar slapped a single to left field to extend the lead.
The Senators had the bases loaded, however, they were unable to do any more damage when Hoffman retired the side on a strikeout.
Douglas responded in the bottom half of the inning. It all started when Moore, hitting No. 9 in the order, went the opposite way on a shot over the right field fence. Hoffman and Mackenzie Brixey reached base on back-to-back errors and Smokey loaded the bases on an infield hit that was stopped by a diving effort from Nicole Brown at second base. Next up, Casey Peck got down 0-2 on the early count, fouled off two pitches and lined a single into left field to make it 6-5. And then Bennett ended the game when she hit a full-count single down the first base line to drive Brixey and Smokey home.
Salciedo blasted a two-run homer over the center field fence in the fifth inning to give Carson a 3-0 lead. She also pitched the distance and allowed seven runs (two earned) on nine hits.