baseball

Hello everyone! As most of you know for the past four months I have been extremely busy with the WNC Baseball season that can be heard live right here on Carson Now every weekend. Well, the regular season is coming to a close this next weekend and WNC still has a shot at the SWAC Championship and bringing the postseason tournament here to Carson City. We hit the road to Twin Falls, ID (one of my favorite stops) to take on the College of Southern Idaho.

This WNC team has battled all year long and has really come on strong as of late.

Western Nevada College freshman outfielder Jake Bennett couldn’t have dreamed for a better situation to step to the plate in the ninth inning on Saturday afternoon.

With the Wildcats trailing rival College of Southern Nevada 3-2 and Joey Crunkilton on first base with one out, Bennett launched the first pitch from Josh Nuernberg over the right-field fence for a dramatic 4-3 comeback victory for WNC at John L. Harvey Field in Carson City.

Kansas Wesleyan’s Daria Leid has been selected as the AstroTurf-KCAC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts in helping the Coyotes to a 4-0 record last week.

Leid, a senior from Carson City, Nev., went 2-0 on the week, as Wesleyan beat Friends 3-2 behind her complete game performance and beat Bethel 10-0 in a run-rule shortened game on Saturday in Newton.

Against Friends, Leid held Friends to just three hits and two runs, while striking out six as KWU beat the Falcons 3-2. Friends batted just .130 as a team in the game, well below their season average of .329.

The Sausage Factory in Carson City, celebrating its third season as the official hot dog vendor of the Reno Aces, is giving away six tickets to Wednesday night's Aces game against the Las Vegas 51s.

Little was going right for Western Nevada College in the second game of a baseball doubleheader Saturday in Carson City. The Wildcats’ bullpen was struggling to throw strikes, helping Colorado Northwestern build a 6-1 lead.

With ace Ben Wright frustrating Wildcat hitters, it seemed as if WNC’s chances of staying in hot pursuit of Scenic West Athletic Conference leader Salt Lake City were dimming.

Western Nevada College took little time Friday afternoon to take control in the opener doubleheader of a four-game Scenic West Athletic Conference series against Colorado Northwestern Community College. In just one inning, the Wildcats established a 6-0 lead and never looked back.

The nightcap brought a closer contest, but WNC held on for a 6-4 win. The victories left the Wildcats in second place as the schedule nears tournament time, while the much-improved Colorado Northwestern team still sits near the bottom of the league.

It wasn’t the desired result Western Nevada College was looking for prior to a four-game Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball series showdown with Salt Lake, but the Wildcats did something no other team has done this season — win in Salt Lake City.

The Wildcats gained a series split by outlasting the Bruins 7-5 in the final game Saturday. Needing a doubleheader sweep to creep within a game of first-place Salt Lake, WNC wasn’t counting on a shaky defense hurting its cause.

Seeing their chances of winning the Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball title diminishing with a first-game defeat to Salt Lake on Friday, the Western Nevada College Wildcats pulled off a crucial 5-3 victory to stay in contention.

With Thursday's Reno Aces opener, baseball fans will again line the stands for peanuts, beer and a hot dog made exclusively here in Carson City.

For the third consecutive season The Sausage Factory is the official hot dog and sausage for the Reno Aces. Some 4,500 pounds of product were sent off to Reno last week in preparation of Thursday's opening day.

Jams don’t get much more stressful than the one relief pitcher Spencer Greer dealt with on Saturday afternoon at John L. Harvey Field in Carson City.

The Western Nevada College sophomore was protecting a one-run lead against College of Southern Idaho with the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.

With a base open, Greer instead focused on cleanup hitter R.J. Bush, retiring him looking at a third-strike curveball.

Through 13 innings of a Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader on Friday, College of Southern Idaho denied Western Nevada College from putting a crooked number on the scoreboard. But with one swing by Alex Fife that changed as his homer brought in three runs, helping the Wildcats to a doubleheader split.

Fife’s homer was part of a four-run seventh inning that snapped a 1-1 tie and propelled the Wildcats to a 5-1 victory at John L. Harvey Field in Carson CIty. The Golden Eagles won the opener 6-2 behind the pitching of southpaw Kolton Brost.

Nevada Wolf Pack baseball coach Jay Johnson isn't afraid at all to put a game in the hands of his Carson Connection, relievers Colby Blueberg and Adam Whitt.

Western Nevada College moved into second place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball standings by winning a four-game series from host College of Southern Nevada on Thursday and Friday in Henderson.

The Wildcats, based in Carson City, won the first three games of the series before the Coyotes edged WNC 4-3 Friday to deny a sweep. WNC improved to 7-5 in the SWAC, trailing only Salt Lake (11-2). CSN is 4-8 in conference play.

Carson Middle School's annual Chili and Bingo Night has become a cherished and favorite annual springtime Friday night Carson City family event.

With dozens of prizes up for grabs through bingo and raffle games, as well as a silent auction and the best homemade chili dished up in the state, Carson Middle School PTA organizers are hoping to make this year's March 28 event, the biggest yet.

The Western Nevada College Wildcats may look back to Friday, March 14 as a pivotal point in their season. Two dramatic walk-off victories gave the Wildcats a momentum boost that inspired them to workmanlike 17-2 and 7-5 nonconference wins over Mount Hood Community College of Gresham, Ore., on Saturday in Carson City.

The four-game sweep improved WNC’s overall record to 19-9 and righted the club after splitting four games the previous weekend at Colorado Northwestern.

The Western Nevada College baseball team turned turned two tight contests into victories with walk-off home runs on both ends of a doubleheader Friday afternoon in Carson City.

The Wildcats won 6-5 and 9-6 over Mount Hood Community College of Oregon. The series continues Saturday with a doubleheader at John L. Harvey Field beginning at noon.

The Western Nevada College Wildcats baseball team just won game one of a four game series against Mount Hood Community Community College 6-5, in 10 innings.

Game 2 begins at approximately 3 p.m. today, at John L. Harvey Field at WNC in Carson City.

Another doubleheader begins Saturday at noon.

Growing up in Carson City, first-year Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams didn’t spend time focusing on any major league heroes. He didn’t even watch a lot of the Saturday games on network TV.

Pitching decided the outcomes of a Scenic West Athletic Conference-opening baseball doubleheader Saturday at John L. Harvey Field in Carson City.

Freshman right-hander Max Karnos pitched a four-hit complete game to provide Western Nevada College with a 7-1 victory over Salt Lake in the opener, but the Bruins battled back for a 6-2 win in game two behind the stingy hurling of Jason Jourdan and Eric Carter.

“Salt Lake has a good team. We each won one; that’s about right,” WNC coach D.J. Whittemore said.

The Western Nevada College baseball team came out on top in the Scenic West Athletic Conference’s round-robin competition over the last weekend.

Now WNC, which improved to 11-5 overall, will play Salt Lake, the only team to beat the Wildcats in Henderson, on Saturday and Sunday, March 1-2, at John L. Harvey Field. The conference-opening doubleheaders begin at noon both days, weather permitting.

You can listen to the live broadcasts of the games right here on CarsonNow.org at the link below:

http://www.carsonnow.org/play-play-chris-graham

Saturday, I attended a funeral in a somewhat cheerful mood. It was a celebration of the life of Ralph Denny, Sr., and he would have wanted it upbeat.

Over 350 people filled Carson City’s First Christian Church’s sanctuary and foyer. Ralph was not a celebrity or public figure, and few such folks were there – just the heart and soul of our local communities in abundance.
He was a fine man with such a great and joyous impact over 50 years on so many folks that most came in the same mood as me: sad to see Ralph gone, but feeling so much richer for knowing him, and wanting to celebrate him.

Talk about having your back against the wall and responding. Western Nevada College trailed Colorado Northwestern 3-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday night in Henderson and still found a way to win.

After scoring 21 runs in their previous game, the Western Nevada College Wildcats ran into a pitcher on Friday that kept them off-balance.

Salt Lake Community College freshman right-hander Jason Jourdan checked the 14th-ranked Wildcats on two hits through seven innings en route to the Bruins’ 4-3 baseball victory in Henderson.

Western Nevada College clinched its third consecutive road baseball series victory by overtaking Riverside City College with a big seventh inning on Saturday in Riverside, Calif.

Spenser Dorsey’s two-run single highlighted a six-run seventh inning and Tony Roque knocked in three runs on two hits as 14th-ranked WNC defeated the Tigers 8-2.

By taking two of the three nonconference games from the Tigers, the Wildcats’ series victory follows triumphs at 10th-ranked Cochise and Pima.

Western Nevada College of Carson City took a one-run lead in the eighth inning, but Riverside rallied for a 4-3 baseball victory on Friday night in Riverside, Calif.

Pinch-hitter Paul Martinez tied the game with a run-scoring single in the eighth inning, and the Tigers won it when Jeremy Alderman’s first pitch on an attempted intentional walk with runners on third and second bases sailed to the backstop.

Western Nevada College became a different baseball club during the second week of the season, ironing out some issues on the mound and behind the plate. The result was capturing a 2-1 weekend series over 10th-Ranked Cochise College in Douglas, Ariz.

A Carson City man was arrested Friday on suspicion of felony child abuse. Terry Ray Kilfian was arrested in the 2200 block of Roop Street at 12:19 p.m.

According to the arrest report, Carson City Sheriff's Office deputies met with the 12-year-old victim who claimed his father punched him in the face, then kicked him on the side in his ribs. The child had visible injuries to his neck, face and ribcage, according to the arrest report.

Clinging to a one-run lead with the bases loaded and no one out on Sunday afternoon, the Western Nevada College baseball team had one goal — avoid a sweep on their opening weekend.

Freshman pitcher Dylan Francis complied, retiring the next three South Mountain College hitters to preserve the Wildcats’ 7-6 victory in Phoenix, and a 1-2 weekend.

“Making the pitches he made with the bases loaded was really remarkable. He deserves a ton of credit and praise for his effort,” said WNC coach D.J. Whittemore.

The WNC Baseball program has been given the "go ahead" by the school and is holding a month-long fundraiser/giveaway in February for WNC students. The team will be selling raffle tickets for just $1.00 each or 25 tickets for $20.00. At the end of the month, they will draw one winner who will get $1,000 towards their own tuition costs.

The National Junior College Athletic Association has named Western Nevada College to its Top 20 preseason baseball poll.

WNC's Carson City team is ranked 14th in the poll, which was released on Monday. Earlier this year, the Wildcats were rated 16th by College Baseball Newspaper in its preseason poll.