Clear Lake baseball closes Chico Tournament with 2-2 record; Knights drop first game
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CHICO >> Clear Lake gave Sawyer Smith an early lead to work with it and the junior pitcher went on to throw a complete game in a 10-3 victory over Del Norte in a final-round game Saturday at the Chico Tournament.
“The first inning he threw like 30 pitches, but he took control after that,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said of Sawyer’s seven-hitter that featured 10 strikeouts and two walks. He needed only 79 pitches to navigate the final six innings.
Clear Lake (3-2) completed the four-game tournament at 2-2, all of its games against much bigger schools.
“Teamwise, we came together,” Horne said. “It was a great thing to watch.”
After Del Norte took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Clear Lake pushed ahead to stay with two runs in the bottom half. The Cardinals added single runs in the second and third for a 4-1 lead. It was a 5-3 game going to the bottom of the sixth when they broke the game open with a five-run rally. The Cardinals were still batting in the sixth when the game was called because of a tournament time limit.
Clear Lake finished with nine hits and also stole nine bases. Jesse Hayes went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and two stolen bases while Ryken Villanueva went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Smith also had two hits.
AJ Bruch (four stolen bases), Johnny Gonzalez (three stolen bases) and David Cruz had the Cardinals’ other hits.
Horne also credited Jace Beard with two perfectly executed sacrifice bunts that moved runners up to second and third in the third and sixth innings.
The Cardinals are off until the Fort Bragg Tournament. They open against Arcata on Friday at 11 a.m.
In other non-league action Saturday:
Woodland Christian 14, Kelseyville 10
At Kelseyville, Kelseyville was one out away from a 10-9 victory in the seventh inning, but Woodland Christian rallied to tie the game and went on to beat the Knights in an eight-inning battle at Lloyd Larson Field.
“That’s one of the top four teams we’ve faced in the last five years,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said of the Cardinals, who improved to 5-1 while handing the Knights (3-1) their first loss of the season. “We gave ourselves chances to win. That was a good baseball game.”
Kelseyville took a 5-4 lead into a wild sixth inning that saw Woodland Christian score five times in the top half for a 9-5 lead before the Knights came right back with five runs in the bottom half for a 10-9 advantage.
The Cardinals were down to their last out with the bases empty in the top of the seventh when the No. 9 hitter in the lineup doubled. He scored on a blooper into shallow right-center field that barely eluded Kelseyville’s second baseman and shortstop, dropping safely as the tying run crossed the plate.
“They swing it from 1-9,” Shaul said of the Woodland Christian lineup when asked about the double that turned into the tying run.
Kelseyville had the potential winning run on third base with one out in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t get him home. A strikeout was followed by an intentional walk that loaded the bases, and a flyball to deep right field ended the inning.
Woodland Christian pushed across four runs in the top of the eighth to take the win.
Brock Barrick opened on the mound for the Knights and worked five innings, allowing six hits, four runs of which only one was earned, struck out five and walked two. Carson White, the third Kelseyville pitcher, ended up taking the loss. He relieved Gene Holdenried and worked the final three innings, allowing six hits and five runs with three strikeouts and two walks.
The Knights banged out 12 hits to Woodland Christian’s 15. Tyler Bryant went 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Reme Strong and Max Hommer both finished with two hits and two RBIs. Barrick and Holdenried also had two hits apiece. Barrick and White also had RBIs. Michael Dougherty (1-for-3) added a double.
“It was like a playoff game today,” Shaul said. “We did a lot of good things today against a very good team. We played a good game.”
Kelseyville travels to Arbuckle on Tuesday to play Pierce High School at 4 p.m. The Knights are also entered in the West Valley Tournament on Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.
