Carson High catcher Corine Doran trots home after hitting the walk-off game-winning home run against Reed in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader. Doran has two homers on the year and leads the Senators with a .538 batting average.
Photo by Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage.
Carson and Reed softball came into Tuesday’s doubleheader neck-and-neck with each other in the Class 5A North league standings.
Both teams sat at 5-4 in league play and a sweep one way or the other would give one team a monumental leg up over the other.
The two squads ended up splitting the doubleheader in an unusual way as Reed won the first contest, 13-0, in five innings by run rule.
The Senators didn’t roll over as their bats completely changed tune at the dish in the second contest.
Carson took the second half of the matchup, 17-7, in six innings.
“They (Reed) played good ball. They beat us in all three aspects of the game in the first one,” said Carson head coach Scott Vickrey. “We want to be seeded as high as possible when we go into regionals and the second game was really important.”
The biggest difference for Carson between the two contests was obvious – plate discipline.
In the first game, Reed’s hurler Camryn Altimus held the Senators to two hits and struck out four.
In game two, Carson tallied 20 hits and chased Altimus from the circle in the second inning with six runs scored, three of which were earned.
Three different Senator batters had four-hit performances in the second half of the doubleheader.
Caydee Farnworth and Shannen von Duering both went 4-for-5 at the top of the lineup with five total RBIs between the two.
Isabella Reyes was 4-for-4 with an RBI while Corine Doran and Kayce Johnston combined for another five RBIs.
In the second inning, von Duering doubled in a run to give Carson a 3-0 edge.
After Doran walked to load the bases, Johnston cleared them with a triple to the right field fence.
A sacrifice fly by Kiele Franco gave Carson a 7-0 lead after two innings.
In the bottom of the third, Johnston cranked her eighth home run of the year out to center field, which came off the bat as a no-doubt long ball.
Johnston is now inside the top 10 in the state of Nevada with her eight home runs this season.
“In the second game, we wanted it bad. We were kind of just on it,” said Johnston. “I think I’m just seeing the ball really well. I’ve been working and doing hitting lessons and my swing has just come so far.”
Vickrey has referred to Johnston’s swing this season as ‘picturesque.’
Reed was able to cut it back to 12-7, but Carson ended the second game with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to reach the run rule.
Sofia Morrison, von Duering and Farnworth each drove in a run on singles before Doran stepped to the plate and launched a walk-off, two-run shot over the center field fence.
“It was something about us in the first game, we just weren’t energized,” said Vickrey. “We still made mistakes (in game two), but credit to the girls for turning it around in the second game.”
UP NEXT: Carson (10-10, 6-5) will welcome in third-seeded McQueen (13-12, 7-4) Thursday for a 3:45 p.m. start where the Senators will have another shot to try and jump up in the seeding conversation for the regional tournament.
“That game is going to be huge,” said Vickrey. “We got to go get them and then we have to take care of what we need to take care of on our end.”
Class 5A softball league standings
1. Spanish Springs, 10-0
2. Douglas, 8-1
3. McQueen, 7-4
4. Carson, 6-5
5. Reed, 6-5
6. Reno, 5-5
7. Damonte Ranch, 3-6
8. Galena, 1-9
9. Bishop Manogue, 0-11
Editor's note: For more on Kayce Johnston's swing improvement at the plate, check out Saturday's Nevada Appeal.
