Lower Lake softball scores in every inning against Maxwell
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MAXWELL >> There are worse ways to open a season, that’s for sure.
The Lower Lake High School softball team left no doubt, beginning with a 12-run top of the first, that it was more than just a little bit ready to get the 2025 softball season under way Tuesday afternoon. The Trojans kept right on scoring before their 25-0 win over Maxwell was mercifully stopped after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
Mariah Bal, senior pitcher and slugger, tossed a one-hitter, struck out 13 and walked only one in her season debut. She also contributed at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. A year ago, Bal slugged a Lake County-record eight home runs while leading the Trojans into the North Coast Section playoffs.
The Panthers (0-1), coming off a 15-11 season last season when their roster was dominated by seniors, gave the Trojans (1-0) all kinds of help, not that they needed it with the veteran Bal leading the way. Lower Lake drew 29 walks and had only 10 hits, half of those by Bal and Aliana Barnes (2-for-3, 3 RBIs). The Trojans also stole 25 bases while their defense didn’t commit a single error.
Lower Lake scored in every inning. After the 12-run first, the Trojans added four in the second, two in the third, three in the fourth and four in the fifth.
Jamiya Lee-Ayers and Kierstyn Lambert each had one hit and three RBIs.
Lower Lake travels to Santa Rosa on Thursday to play Montgomery at 4 p.m.
