Carson hosts Reno today

Reno High School has stood as the team to beat in Northern 4A baseball all season.

Not surprisingly, the defending zone champion Huskies are out front in the conference regular season race with their 18-2 record (20-2 overall), but the third-place Carson Senators would love nothing more than to make a statement today when they host Reno in a doubleheader. Action begins at 10 a.m. at Ron McNutt Field.

"This is a real big week for us," catcher Joe Mercer said after hitting 3-for-4 with a double, home run and four RBIs in Carson's 11-4 win against Douglas on Thursday in Minden. "Reno is important to us. We owe this team a little payback from last year."

The Huskies handed Carson three straight losses last season, including a 10-5 zone tournament setback. Reno eventually reached the 4A state tournament finals before losing to Durango.

The Senators are currently 14-5 in conference, 15-6 overall coming into today.

"Every game is big," Carson coach Ron McNutt said. "We've won nine of 12 games now and we're improving in different areas. We have two weeks before zone now and we're hoping to have everything all ready by then."

Eight teams will open up in the zone tournament on May 3 at Carson High School.

Randy Loff (5-1) scattered seven hits, walked only one and struck out two en route to the complete game victory at Douglas on Thursday.

Reno features University of Arizona signee Marc Kaiser, although the ace pitcher came up on the short end of a 4-2 score against Wooster this past Tuesday. The senior right-hander allowed four runs and faced runners on base in all seven innings - Douglas stranded nine, five of which were left in scoring position.