Carson High catcher Bryce Baker dives to tag McQueen’s Reece Davis during a Class 5A league game between the Carson Senators and the McQueen Lancers at Carson High School Tuesday night.
Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage
Carson High baseball had been rolling along through five innings of work Tuesday night against McQueen.
A 2-2 contest headed into the sixth turned in favor of the Lancers in the top of the seventh after McQueen’s first five batters of the inning reached base.
The three runs the Lancers pushed across in the top half of the seventh were enough to secure a 6-4 win in Carson.
The Senators were able to take a 4-3 lead through six, but the middle of McQueen’s order got the final say.
The Lancers started the inning with a single followed by back-to-back walks before Bryson Horton flipped the score in favor of McQueen with a two-run double.
A RBI single off the bat of Reese Davis served as the scored final tally of the contest.
“We can’t walk guys in the seventh. If we walk guys, they are going to score. They can hit and they are a really good team,” said Carson head coach Bryan Manoukian. “When you give them free passes, it’s going to come back to bite you.”
Senators’ swing things in the sixth
The bottom of the sixth was Carson’s chance at grabbing a win at home.
Trailing 3-2, Carson led off the inning with a single up the middle from Kobe Morgan.
Jose Fausto got on with a walk as well, bringing up the top of the order for the Senators.
Justin Nussbaumer walked to load the bases and Dillon Damico drove in both Morgan and Fausto with a two-run single.
Damico’s base knock put Carson in front 4-3, after an out on the base paths in front of him ended the frame.
“For us, right now, that was a big deal,” said Manoukian. “We’ve been struggling offensively. So for our guys to continue to grind and battle to win a ball game, that’s something we have to build on.”
Though Carson couldn’t secure the win in the seventh, it did get some excellent innings from its pitching staff.
Jade Stotts got the starting nod for the Senators and went five innings with seven strikeouts and just two earned runs for Carson on the bump.
Stotts now has 15 strikeouts in 12.1 innings of work.
Though McQueen left with a win, Maoukian will at least take the good with the bad in the middle of the shortened regular season.
“You can’t walk guys when you battle back and get the lead like we did,” Manoukian said.
UP NEXT: Carson (3-5) gets Thursday night off before traveling to Bishop Manogue (2-0) for a Saturday doubleheader.
