Kelseyville varsity softball completes 3-0 week with win over archrival Clear Lake
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KELSEYVILLE >> Ashlyn Wurm won her third straight start of the week as the suddenly red-hot Kelseyville High School softball team completed a most satisfying five days of competition with a 5-3 North Central League I victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals at Kelseyville.
After starting the season 0-6, including 0-2 in league play, Kelseyville improved to 3-2 in the NCL I standings and is sitting in third place behind St. Helena (5-0) and Cloverdale (3-1).
Kelseyville opened the week with road wins at Upper Lake, 15-2, and at Middletown, 13-4, before returning home to beat the Cardinals (1-3, 4-4).
“Ashlyn Wurm throwing her third game this week did well,” Kelseyville head coach Brittany Rumfelt said of the junior.
After working the first six innings and allowing all three Clear Lake runs and two hits with five strikeouts and six walks, Wurm gave way to reliever Morgan Rogers, who struck out two batters in the seventh.
Clear Lake did get the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh, but Rogers struck out the final batter she faced to end it, earning the save.
“AJ was very good,” Clear Lake head coach Scott Schaefers said of Wurm. “It was a well-played game. We cut down our mental errors and the physical ones. We communicated well.”
Kelseyville built a 4-0 lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and two more in the fifth. Clear Lake closed to 4-3 in the top of the sixth, an inning that featured a bit of controversy as Faith McIntire hit a deep drive to right field with two runners on base. While the ball appeared to clear the fence for a three-run home run, the umpire ruled it a ground-rule double, scoring two runs.
“Even their right fielder said it was a home run,” Schaefers said of McIntire’s blast. “I thought it might have bounced through a hole in the (temporary) fence, but I went out to argue it and there was no hole.”
While the ruling temporarily cost the Cardinals a run, Cali Albaum followed with a RBI single to score McIntire and make it 4-3.
“We ended up getting that run, so it didn’t hurt as much,” Schaefers said.
Kelseyville got one of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 5-3 game.
“Our bats started slow, but our desire to win finished the game and came down to a full team effort,” Rumfelt said. “Our defense is starting to get cleaned up with only one error.”
Rumfelt praised the play of shortstop Aubree Sperber, a freshman.
“She did great at shortstop,” Rumfelt said.
Another freshman starter, Jordyn Wurm, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Rogers went 2-for-3 with a RBI, Cali Schnabl added two hits, and Mati Mateer went 1-for-3 with a RBI. Kylee Denham also had a hit.
McIntire (1-for-3, double, two RBIs), Albaum (1-for-2, RBI) and Emily Gersalia (1-for-2), who had a hit and walked twice, had the Cardinals’ only hits.
Despite the loss, Schaefers said the Cardinals turned in a solid game.
“There were so many positives,” he said.
Rumfelt also likes the direction her young team (only one senior) is headed.
“I am so proud of these girls and what we can accomplish this year,” she said.
Kelseyville faces a big road test Tuesday at Cloverdale. Clear Lake is off until Friday at Middletown.
