Carson baseball wins two more

The Carson High baseball team has done a nice job of taking care of business and not being overcome with the anticipation of an early season showdown tonight.

Carson won two more games on Friday in its preseason tournament, beating Lowry 10-0 and Fernley 14-1. And the Senators still have one more matter to deal with as it faces Lowry again at 4:30 p.m. at Ron McNutt Field.

But then comes the game that everyone has been waiting for as the Senators will face defending Northern 4A champion and NIAA 4A state runner-up Galena at 7 p.m. at McNutt Field.

In a tongue-in-cheek way, Carson coach Steve Cook tried to play down the matchup as much as he could, noting his team had to concentrate on the Buckaroos first. "Then I forget who we play at 7," Cook said jokingly.

Cook is well aware what his team is facing. "Of course 7 o'clock is the ultimate test," he said.

If Carson (4-0) continues to play the way it did on Friday, no matter the opponent, Cook will be pleased. "I was very happy with the way we played," Cook said. "I was very, very happy."

Dustin Buttner threw a two-hit shutout while striking out five against Lowry in a game that was called after four innings due to the 10-run rule. David Eller then threw four strong innings in a complete game effort against Fernley.

"We've got guys getting on base," Cook said. "We've got guys getting pushed across. Right now our pitchers are throwing strikes."

Against Fernley, Carson took a 4-0 lead in the first on Rob Valerius' two-run single and RBI singles by Brett Valley and Buttner. Zack Carrick's RBI double pulled the Vaqueros to within 8-1 in the second.

But in the bottom of the second, Carson struck for four more. After Paul Cagle's RBI single made it 6-1, Matt Rutledge raced all the way home on his shot off the right field fence for a two-run, inside-the-park home run that made it 8-1.

The Senators scored six more runs in the third. After Cody Barr's two-run double, Cagle followed with an RBI sacrifice fly. After Stephen Sawyers walked, Valley hit an RBI single to make it 12-1. Then after David Charles was hit by a pitch, Buttner belted a two-run double to make it 14-1.

Buttner, Valley and Rutledge all had two hits for Carson. Neil Kendricks, Miguel Ovies and Chris Luna all added a hit for Fernley.

CARSON 10, LOWRY 0

The Senators jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first. Barr hit an RBI double and Markus Adams had an RBI single during the rally.

Drew Good was hit by a pitch to force in a run and make it 6-0 in the third. In the fourth, Valley's two-run single made it 8-0. Brooks Hutchins followed with an RBI sacrifice fly.

Then Tommy Preston reached on an infield single and Valley scored on a throwing error on the play to end the game. Kyle Stone and Rutledge each added a hit for Carson.

"Right now I think we're just happy to be playing baseball," Cook said. "It doesn't matter who we play against. Not a bad two days to start the year."

CHS JVS 10, FALLON 7

Cameron Mayville was 4-for-4 and Connor Beattie, Dom Mariani and Jeff Davies all had two hits for Carson (3-0). Clay Holton allowed four runs over five innings for the win.