On Friday, the Carbon Dinos faced the East Leopards for the second time in four days, and this time around the result was very different, as the Dinos used a big second inning to take the 11-4 win on the road.
Last Tuesday, the Dinos welcomed the Leopards to kick off their home season at the baseball field at Carbon High School, and East came away with a 12-7 win. Carbon went on the road on Wednesday and defeated Hunter 14-0, and then they were ready to face the Leopards once again.
After starting out the first inning with back-to-back singles, Paxton Falk came up to the plate with one out and sent a line drive to the right fielder, bringing home Logan Bennett to get the Dinos on the board first, 1-0.
After keeping East off the board in the bottom half of the inning, the Dinos came up in the second, and the bats came alive. Kanyon Grant came up to the plate, sending a line drive to right, scoring Maddux Willson. Then, with two outs, Bennett came up to the plate and sent a double to left, driving in Jason Urbanik, a Jordan Nichols walk, and a Cash Withers single would bring Bennett home. Falk came up to the plate with two on, and Nichols would score on a steal of home, then Falk sent a single to second base, and Withers would come home to put the score at 6-0. Carbon would add one more run in the inning when a Brody Ware single drove in Falk.
Once again, the Dinos held the Leopards scoreless in the bottom of the second, and as the Dinos moved into the third inning, they were ready for more offense, opening up with a double and a single, followed by an Urbanik sacrifice fly that brought in Willson. Marcus Vigil stepped into the batter’s box next and sent one to right for another sacrifice fly, bringing Grant home to get Carbon on top 9-0.
In the bottom of the third, East would find their bats as they added two runs, but then it was Carbon’s turn to come back up to the plate in the top of the 4th. The Dinos started out the inning with three straight singles, but they also collected a pair of outs as Grant came to the plate and sent a triple to center, bringing home Ware and Willson and bringing the Carbon score to 11-2. East would add two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, but that would be as close as it would get with the Dinos taking the 11-4 win on the road.
Grant had a day for the Dinos, going 3-4 at the plate with one run and three RBIs. Bennett was 3-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Falk went 3-4 with a run scored and two RBIs, and Willson went 2-4, scoring three runs in the win.
Nichols got the start on the mound, going 4.2 innings, giving up four runs on four hits and striking out three. Logan Curtis came in to close things out and surrendered a pair of hits while striking out five.
The Dinos jump into region play this week as they take part in a home-and-away series with the Manti Templars.
On Tuesday, they will face the Templars on the field at Carbon High; game time is set for 3:00. Then, on Friday, they will be on the road to face Manti.