A late seventh inning rally fell just short as the Carbon Lady Dinos opened the 2023 campaign with a 6-4 loss at the hands of the Hurricane Tigers Thursday afternoon in Hurricane.
Trailing 6-3 entering the seventh frame, the Lady Dinos chopped the lead to two as Makayla Scovill doubled on a fly ball to center field, scoring Brielle Sandoval and advancing Reese Ardohain to third base. With no outs and the tying run in scoring position, the Lady Dinos popped out three straight at bats to end the game.
Kylan Sorenson led the way for Carbon as she finished 1-3 at the plate with two RBIs. Gabby Vasquez dominated in the box as she ended 3-4 with one run batted in. Scovill finished 2-3 with one RBI.
Carbon managed to jump out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Vasquez hit a one out single to score Ardohain. Moments later Scovill crossed home plate off a line drive double from Sorenson that was sent to left field.
The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the third when Hurricane plated three runs. Carbon managed to limit the damage as Scovill fanned Hurricane’s Austin Terry with bases loaded and two outs.
The Tigers added three more to their total in the ensuing inning, taking advantage of two Carbon errors. Hurricane carried a 6-2 lead into the fifth inning, where Carbon would add one more run to set up the exciting finish.
Scovill was tagged with the loss on the mound for Carbon despite a solid performance. Pitching all six innings in a complete game effort, Scovill allowed 12 hits and just four earned runs, while also striking out seven batters.
Carbon finished with nine hits as a team, but two costly errors played a huge factor in the season opening loss.
The turn around for Carbon will be fast as the team will play three games on Friday and two more on Saturday in a busy weekend in St. George.
Friday’s first game will come at 1:00 pm against Cyprus. The team will return to the field at 5:00 pm to meet Pleasant Grove, before wrapping up the evening at 7:00 against Cedar City. Saturday’s two games will take place back-to-back beginning at 9:00 am against Union and Box Elder.