Cardinals split in wood bat tournament

Appeal Staff Report

The Carson Cardinals have gone 1-1 in their first two games of the Los Angeles Wood Bat Tournament.

The Cardinals opened with a 13-6 loss against Loyola of Southern California on Wednesday before coming back to beat Narbon of Southern California 6-2 on Thursday. The Cardinals will finish pool play against Redondo of Southern California today and depending on the results of other games, the Cardinals could have a chance to advance to the championship bracket.

Against Narbon, Matt Rutledge and Manogue's Tim Lewis each hit solo home runs, David Charles and Brett Valley each added RBI singles and Tommy Preston executed a squeeze bunt for an RBI. Manogue's Ben Hewson pitched a complete game three-hitter, striking out eight.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Loyola, but Loyola took advantage of 13 walks to take control of the game. Loyola scored seven runs on just one hit in the second inning.

Among the offensive leaders was Colby Blueberg, who doubled. Charles and Tyler Smith also had solid outings on the mound in relief.