Junior Kassidy Cooley makes a play at first base Thursday against the Reno Huskies. The Senators won, 16-6.
Carson High’s softball team evened its Northern 4A record and swept the season series with Reno with a 16-6 victory Thursday afternoon.
All nine starters got at least one hit, as Carson used 16 hits and six Husky errors to roll to the mercy rule win. The game ended in bizarre fashion when Reno, with the game-ending run at third and one out in the bottom of the sixth, elected to throw out Lauren Hawkins at first rather than to attempt to extend the game by trying to retire Jailene Salciedo at the plate.
Carson improved to 4-4 in Northern 4A play, and can get over the .500 mark when it visits Galena for a doubleheader today (1 p.m.).
“They went up 2-0 on us (right away), but I thought our girls bounced back and did a good job,” Carson coach Carlos Mendeguia said. “That is a pretty good team over there, and Alora (Collins) does a pretty good job on the mound.
“Our approach at the plate is pretty good. This group has great hand-eye coordination and they are mentally tough. They want to win the battle up there. We want to have fun up there, but at the same time have some intensity. We are pretty disciplined up there, and we made them pay for mistakes.”
Singles by Alexia Young and Shelby Zucco plus a passed ball led to Reno’s first two runs off Salciedo, who scattered eight hits over six innings.
Collins could probably sue for non support, as her teammates made four errors that enabled Carson to put up the aforementioned eight spot in the bottom of the inning. Lauren Lemburg, Kedre Luschar and Alex Salciedo had run-scoring singles, and Kailee Luschar had a two-run single on her second trip to the plate in the opening inning.
After Carson wasted a lead-off double by Salciedo in the second, Reno trimmed the deficit to 8-3 in the top of the third on Chloe Yturbide-Reader’s run-scoring infield out.
Carson, however, matched that run with one of its own, and the damage could have been worse.
Kassidy Cooley and Nicole Brown singled to start the inning, and after Alex Salciedo lined out to third, Kailee Luschar walked to load the bases. Jailene Salciedo singled home Cooley, but Collins struck out Cam Quilling to end the inning.
Reno scored again in the fourth to make it 9-4, but Carson scored three in the bottom of the inning, two coming on a hit by Cooley and the other on a single by Kailee Luschar that made it 12-4.
Douglas 13, McQueen 3
Amanda Hoffman pitched a four-hitter and helped her own cause at the plate with a home run to lead Douglas to a 13-3 Northern 4A win at home against McQueen on Thursday.
Douglas (8-1 conference, 13-4-1 overall) scored five runs in the first inning then put the game away with three-run rallies in the fifth and sixth innings.
Chloie Pratt hit a two-run double in the first inning to open the scoring and ended the game with an RBI single in the sixth. Hoffman hit a solo homer in the third inning to extend the lead to 6-3 and added an RBI double in the sixth.
BASEBALL
McQueen hammers Senators
RENO — The Lancers exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth, and added five more in the sixth en route to a 17-10 win over Carson on Thursday.
Carson dropped to 6-5 in Northern 4A play. The teams conclude their two-game series Saturday at 11 a.m. at Ron McNutt Field.
The Senators used two four-run innings, one in the third and one in the fifth, to take a 9-4 lead.
Carson grabbed a 4-0 lead in the third when Abel Carter doubled to left and moved to third on a single by the red-hot Joe Tonino. Kahle Good walked to load the bases. Carter scored on a passed ball, enabling Tonino and Good to advance to third and second, respectively. Landon Truesdale walked to load the bases. Delsin Roberts was hit by a pitch to score Tonino. Walks to Colby Zemp and Josh Buchan forced in the final two runs of the inning.
Leading 5-4, the Senators tallied four more in the fifth. The rally started when Buchan walked with one out and moved to second on Carter’s single. Tonino was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Good followed with a two-run single to make it 7-4. A single by Truesdale made it 8-4, and Good scored on a passed ball to complete the outburst.
The Lancers scored eight for a 12-9 lead. The big blow was a grand slam by Mason Winship, who had a run-scoring double earlier in the contest.
Good, Carter and Tonino all had two hits for Carson.
Reno 16, Douglas 0
Mickey Coyne and Sawyer Jaksick slammed three-run homers in the first and second innings to put Reno on track to a 16-0 victory at home against Douglas on Thursday afternoon.
David Ruiz doubled, Garrett Damico reached on a bunt single and Coyne followed with a three-run homer to right field as the Huskies vaulted to a 3-0 lead. Jaksick slugged a three-run homer in the second inning to make it 10-0.
The game was called after three innings due to the 15-run mercy rule. Reno (10-1 league, 18-3 overall) extended its win streak to five straight games and remained alone on top of the Northern 4A standings.
Douglas (4-6, 6-9) collected four hits, including doubles by Ayden Murphy and Sean Dunkelman.