Senators starting to find groove

Carson rolled over Sparks 12-2 in five innings Tuesday evening at Ron McNutt Field in a non-league game.

The Senators needed only 11 hits, taking full advantage of the stolen base and timely hitting with runners in scoring position, pushing runners across the dish in four of the five innings.

The offense allowed Carson coach Cody Farnworth to make liberal use of his roster using 15 players during the game.

"We really don't have a set lineup yet, and the kids know that. If you're hot, you're gonna play," he said.

Carson started the barrage with two runs in the bottom of the first. First baseman Nick Domitrovich drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Railroaders' Kirk Putnam. Chance Quilling singled to score Domitrovich. He then stole second before scoring on Colby Blueberg's single.

Sparks looked to keep the game close by manufacturing a run in the top of the second. Joe Christ led off with a sharp single between third and short. Leonel Abundis followed with a bunt for a base hit. Christ, however, was caught off of the bag at second. Abundis managed to score though, advancing to second when Carson pitcher Daniel Gall hit Ivan Trujillo. The Railroaders' center fielder Andrew Garcia then singled, scoring Abundis to pull Sparks within one at 2-1.

The Carson club had an answer, however, as catcher Bryce Altus and third baseman Brock Pradere led off the bottom half of the second with back-to-back singles. Right fielder Shea Bondi advanced the runners with a slow roller to third. Domitrovich went down swinging, but Austin Pacheco picked him up with a hard single to center, scoring two. The single extended the lead to 4-2.

The final run for the Railroaders came with one out in the top of the third as firstbaseman Dakota Bailey launched a towering homer to straight away center off of Gall. Sparks would only send eight batters to the plate in its final two at-bats.

Carson scored three times in the fourth. Pacheco drew a two-out walk and went to third on an errant pickoff throw to first. Rory Petersen stroked a double into the left field corner. Blueberg greeted Sparks' relief pitcher, Martin Jordan, with a long ball of his own, going deep to right center, giving Carson a 7-2 lead.

The Senators took advantage of three hits, two walks, and an error to score five times in the fifth and end the game by the 10-run rule.

Dylan Sawyers led off with a sharply hit ground ball to third that went off the fielder's glove into left. Sawyers stole second before Altus drew a walk. Sawyers then stole third before Drew Moreland singled, scoring Sawyers. Moreland would get erased at second on Connor Beattie's ground ball up the middle. Pacheco followed with a single, scoring Beattie and Moreland. Petersen walked and Blueberg singled, scoring Pacheco. Petersen would score the game's final run when Blake Plattsmier doubled.

Blueberg finished 3-for-4 at the plate, with four RBIs and one run scored. Pacheco ended 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Starting pitcher Gall gave up two runs on three hits and struck out two for the Senators. Austin Pacheco came on in the fourth, fanning two while giving up two hits.

Afterward, Farnworth had a lot to be upbeat about.

"The last couple series, we've been hitting the ball pretty well," he said about the offense. "Colby did a good job, jumping on the first pitch and taking it out. That's nice to see."

And Defense.

"No errors. That was huge for us too."

Carson, at 4-6 in the Northern Sierra League (7-8 overall), has four non-league games to help it prepare for the play-off push, before finishing with three games against Bishop Manogue and three against South Tahoe.

Next up, the Reed Raiders, currently fifth in the Northern 4A-High Desert League. That game is set for 5 p.m. today at Ron McNutt Field.

"We're going to split pitchers tomorrow. We're going to see if we can continue to take a couple steps forward, instead of backward," Farnworth said. "We're not close to making the playoffs yet. It's going to be a battle. That's what we're getting geared up for."

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On Monday, Carson defeated North Valleys, 3-0. Adam Whitt pitched six innings, allowing one hit. He struck out seven and walked three. Connor Beattie finished off the game throwing one inning of one-hit ball.

The Senators were led at the plate by Shea Bondi, who went 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Nick Domitrovich went 1-for-2 with an RBI, Colby Blueberg was 2-for-3 with a double and Brock Pradere went 2-for-2.

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JV BASEBALL

CARSON TOPS WOOSTER

Zack Harjes pitched a complete game leading the Senators to a 10-5 win over Wooster at the Manogue tournament on Tuesday.

Harjes gave up five runs on seven hits while striking out nine.

Offensively, Casey Wolfe led Carson with a 4-for-4 game scoring three runs and driving in two. Bruce McIntosh was 1-for-1 with a three-run double. Dion Copoulos was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Tyler Valley added a triple for the Senators, who improve to 12-6 overall and 8-4 in league. They return to action at 3:30 p.m. today vs. Reed at the Manogue Tournament.