Carson baseball routs Damonte Ranch

RENO - Thanks to his team losing several games to Northern Nevada's inhospitable weather, Carson coach Steve Cook still doesn't have a good handle for where his Senators are at for this time of year.

But judging by Carson's performance Thursday at Damonte Ranch High School, at the very least Cook has reason to be cautiously optimistic.

The Senators played well in all phases of the game - from the plate, from the mound and in the field - and took a 10-0 Sierra League win over the Mustangs to improve to 8-1 overall and 6-1 in league play.

Starting pitcher Josh Caron pitched a one-hit complete game shutout, senior second baseman Logan Parsley bashed two home runs, junior catcher Brooks Greenlee added another round tripper and the Senators had 13 base hits to improve their road record to 3-1 on the season.

Caron (3-0), who struck out eight, lost his bid fo r a no-hitter with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning, when left fielder Chad Mitchell hit a slow roller to shortstop for a single.

Until that point, Caron had hit one batter with a pitch in the second, walked two others in the fifth and another reached first base in the fifth on a fielder's choice.

"You try not to think about it, but sometimes it slips into your mind," Caron said when asked if he was thinking about the potential no-hitter.

"I was (thinking about it)," interjected Parsley, who was munching on a post-game snack.

Caron smiled before coming clean.

"I definitely did," said Caron, a senior. "It was a tough way to lose a no-hitter. The hitters all did their job today. They did extremely well for their pitcher. This guy jacked two bombs."

"This guy" would be Parsley, who was stinging a bit from being dropped from the No. 3- spot, to the No. 6.

Parsley, who finished 4-for-4, with 4 R BI, hit one ball an estimated 360-feet - over the left center field wall - to bring home right fielder Jack Jacquet to up Carson's lead to 6-0.

Parsley added a single-run shot - this one about 330 feet - over the left field fence for a 7-0 lead.

Both homers came off of Mustangs starter Matt Gardner, who gave up 12 hits in his 6 1/3 innings, including all 10 runs (nine of them earned).

"It's about time," said Parsley, who deflected credit to Caron for the win. "He (Caron) made it easy. He did all the work."

Although the weather wasn't ideal - it was cold, cloudy and windy - Caron said it was a good day to pitch.

"It was great weather compared to what we've been pitching in - blizzards lately," the 17-year-old Caron said. "My arm felt good. We came in and didn't underestimate our opponent. It worked out well."

Indeed it did.

After center fielder Royal Good singled to lead off the game, Greenlee (2-for-4, 2 RBI) walloped a two-run shot over the left field wall for the early lead.

Parsley led off the second with a single and reached home for the 3-0 lead on a T.J. Hein triple. Good, who finished 3-for-4, knocked in Hein with a double for a 4-0 lead.

After Gardner left in the seventh with the bases loaded, reliever Cody Stevens threw a wild pitch and pinch runner Markus Adams crossed the plate to make it 8-0. Designated hitter Tony Fagan hit into a fielder's choice, allowing pinch runner Bryt Lewis to reach home and Parsley capped off the scoring with another RBI-single.

"Today it seemed like we were chomping at the bit to play baseball, with the weather the way it is," Cook said. "We were coming off the Hug series (winning one in Carson, two at Hug) and were feeling good about ourselves. We wanted to play McQueen (which was canceled due to bad weather on Tuesday) to see where we are at."

Cook said this also led to a lineup change. Greenlee and left fielder Jeremiah Teeter (1-for-4), normally hit sixth and seventh, respectively. Teeter batted second and Greenlee third, on Thursday.

"Josh set the tone on the mound today - an infield hit after six and a third," Cook said. "We had a couple balls hit right at us. We played solid baseball behind Josh."

Cook said his team's litmus test will come Saturday, when it hosts Damonte Ranch for a doubleheader at Ron McNutt Field, beginning at 10 a.m.

"When you play a team three times, you see where you are at - definitely," Cook said. "We'll see their whole pitching staff. Damonte is an upper-echelon team in the Sierra League. They'll be in there, fighting for the playoffs. They've had these kids for a couple of years. That we put a 10-spot up on them, I was surprised. I was happy about that.

"But I'm still not satisfied. We've got to come out Saturday and do it again. A split Saturday and all of the work we did today will be wasted."

It's a challenge that Parsley is looking forward to.

"We can't back down and take it easy," Parsley said. "We have to come out like we did today. We have to put a hurting on someone."