Brock Barrick’ one-hitter extends Kelseyville league winning streak to 33 games
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KELSEYVILLE >> Coming off a no-hitter in his previous outing, Kelseyville High School’s Brock Barrick shut out the St. Helena Saints on just one hit Friday as the Knights won 4-0 in North Central League I varsity baseball action at Lloyd Larson Field.
Barrick struck out 11 and walked three as Kelseyville improved to 2-0 in league play and 7-2 overall while also extending its NCL I winning streak to 33 games, which stretches all the way back late into the 2022 season (Barrick’s freshman year).
“He was cruising pretty good there,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said of Barrick, a four-year varsity veteran. “The score also doesn’t show how well we hit the ball. We hit six or seven lineouts.”
Kelseyville provided Barrick with the only run he would need in the bottom of the first inning, and it was Barrick who did the honors himself, driving home Reme Strong with a RBI single. Strong led off the inning with a single and moved up to second on a passed ball before scoring to make it 1-0.
The Knights added a run in the fifth when Brayton Thomas singled to open the inning and later scored on Strong’s sacrifice fly to center field.
Kelseyville tacked on two more insurance runs in the sixth on RBI groundouts by JD Smart and Thomas.
“That really helped out getting those two runs in the sixth,” Shaul said. “We could breathe a little easier.”
Kelseyville threatened on several other occasions, but a pair of double plays wiped out scoring opportunities, according to Shaul.
“We hit the ball very well,” he said.
St. Helena’s lone scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the second when a Saints runner tried to score all the way from second base on a ball hit deep into the hole at shortstop where Tyler Bryant threw him out at homeplate.
“They didn’t threaten again,” Shaul said of the Saints (2-2, 10-4).
Barrick and Strong each finished with two hits and a RBI. Thomas, Bryant Kyle Watkins and Max Hommer had the other Kelseyville hits.
Kelseyville has three league games on its schedule next week. The Knights are on the road Monday at Middletown (1-1), travel to Upper Lake (0-3) on Tuesday, and return home next Friday to play Clear Lake (2-1).
Whereas three games in a week would have been problematic because of not enough pitching in past seasons, that’s not the case for Kelseyville this year, according to Shaul.
“We’re pretty deep in pitching, so it shouldn’t be a concern,” Shaul said.
In other NCL I baseball action Friday:
Fort Bragg 7, Clear Lake 4
At Lakeport, Fort Bragg scored three times in the top of the sixth inning to snap a 4-all tie and beat the Clear Lake Cardinals. It was Clear Lake’s first league loss and snapped the team’s five-game winning streak.
Clear Lake (2-1, 7-3) erased a 2-0 deficit with a four-run bottom of the fourth inning. Fort Bragg tied the game with two runs in the top of the fifth.
Sawyer Smith took over on the mound in the top of the sixth with the score locked at 4. He took the loss after allowing Fort Bragg’s three runs in the sixth, which scored on a bases-clearing double. AJ Bruch worked the first five innings, allowing seven hits on four runs (two earned) while striking out nine and walking three. Smith struck out four and walked two in his two innings.
“It was a good, competitive game,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said. “We kind of got back on our heels defensively. We hit the ball hard, but right at people. It was just one of those games.”
Zane McAuley went 2-for-2 as Clear Lake finished with five hits. Jacob Horne (1-for-3, RBI), Johnny Gonzales (1-for-3, double) and Ezekiel Lopez also had hits.
Clear Lake returns to action Tuesday at home against Cloverdale before hitting the road next Friday to take on Kelseyville.
Middletown 8, Lower Lake 1
At Middletown, Jon Hawkins struck out 15 and allowed just two hits as the Middletown Mustangs evened their league record at 1-1 with a victory over the Lower Lake Trojans at Wes Martin Field.
Hawkins (1-for-3) also drove in a run for the Mustangs, who improved to 3-4-1 overall.
“Jon Hawkins carried the team today,” Middletown head coach Kyle Buckhorn said. “The kid is just a freak in a good way.”
Lower Lake (0-2, 0-6) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but Middletown pushed in front to stay with a five-run third. The Mustang added two more runs in the fourth and another in the sixth.
“I’m proud of the way the team hit in big situations,” Buckhorn said. “(Hunter) Karp and (Cody) Perez came up big.”
Karp went 2-for-3, scored twice and drove in two runs while Perez went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a two-run double. Johnny Finney added two more hits, including a double. Other hits went to Hawkins, Madden Sutton and Blake Costlow.
The game was temporarily delayed when the homeplate umpire took a foul ball off his mask and was airlifted from the field, according to Buckhorn.
“Please pray for him,” Buckhorn said.
Luke Campbell singled home Lower Lake’s run in the second inning. Eric Alonso had the only other hits allowed by Hawkins.
“They had some timely hits and we didn’t,” Lower Lake head coach Mike Huffman said. “We’re getting a little bit better each game.”
Middletown hosts Kelseyville on Monday and travels to Fort Bragg on Tuesday before returning home for a non-league doubleheader Friday against St. Bernard’s of Eureka.
Cloverdale 7, Upper Lake 0
At Cloverdale, the Upper Lake Cougars fell to 0-3 in league action and 3-6 overall after being shut out by the Cloverdale Eagles, who squared their league record at 1-1.
“We’ve got to start scoring some runs and getting the barrel of the bat on the ball,” Upper Lake head coach Don Meri said.
Upper Lake has scored just two runs in three league games. On Friday, the Cougars’ offense managed only three hits – singles by Landen Robinson, Mikel Compton and Mason Parker.
While there were a handful of scoring opportunities for the Cougars, they failed to cash in. The best one was in the top of the third inning when they loaded the bases with one out and had the heart of their batting order coming up.
A strikeout followed by popup ended the threat.
A line-drive double play snuffed out another opportunity.
“We couldn’t catch a break,” Meri said. “We didn’t play good, but we didn’t play ugly,” Meri said.
Starting pitcher Tyler Collins took the loss after working the first 2 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one. Kyler Brothers relieved and struck out six over the final 3 2/3.
The Cougars’ job doesn’t get any easier Tuesday when they host Kelseyville and its 33-game league winning streak. Upper Lake remains home next Friday to play Lower Lake.
