Clear Lake sends 19 batters to the plate in second against M’town; Trojans, Cougars fall
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FORT BRAGG >> A five-run rally in the top of the seventh inning propelled the Kelseyville Knights to a 10-7 victory over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves Friday afternoon on the Mendocino County coast.
“Our bats took a while to warm up, but once they did, we were hitting the ball hard,” Kelseyville head coach Brittany Rumfelt said. “Everyone contributed one way or another and it is great watching them play as a team.”
Kelseyville (4-3 league, 4-7 overall) took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the fourth. Fort Bragg moved ahead 6-5 in the bottom half before adding another run in the fifth for a 7-5 lead.
Ashlyn Wurm replaced starting pitcher Morgan Rogers in the bottom of the fourth and ended up as the winning pitcher. She worked the final four innings, allowing three runs on one hit with four strikeouts and four walks. Rogers allowed four runs on five hits in her three innings, striking out two and walking one.
“Rogers did great pitching to start, and Wurm did great finishing,” Rumfelt said.
Kelseyville scored in the top of the third to go up 1-0 before Fort Bragg answered with four runs in the bottom half for its first lead of the day.
“Three of our four errors in one inning hurt us and shifted the momentum,” Rumfelt said of the Fort Bragg third. “But we got it back and finished the game strong to get the W.”
Mati Mateer (2-for-3), Aubree Sperber (2-for-2) and Ashlyn Wurm (2-for-4) led the Knights at the plate. Josie Keithly (1-for-4) drove in two runs and Jordyn Wurm (1-for-4) knocked in another. Rogers also had a hit.
Kelseyville opens the second half of its league schedule Tuesday in Lower Lake at 4 p.m.
In other NCL I softball action Friday:
Clear Lake 20, Middletown 5 (5 inn.)
At Middletown, the Clear Lake Cardinals sent 19 batters to the plate and scored 14 times in the top of the second inning while erasing an early 4-1 deficit against the Middletown Mustangs, who came out swinging the bat in the bottom of the first.
“They were knocking the hell out of the ball in the bottom of the first,” Clear Lake head coach Scott Schaefers said. “They smacked the ball around pretty good.”
Needing a good inning to steady themselves, Schaefers said the top of the second was all of that and more.
While turning the batting order over twice, Clear Lake (2-3, 6-5) built a 15-4 lead. Lindee Bingham batted three times in the second, walking and scoring in her first two plate appearances and making the final out in her third. The biggest blow was a base-loaded triple by winning pitcher Atiana Patino, who went 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs overall, including a double.
Patino also settled down after giving up four runs in the bottom of the first. She ended up with a five-hitter, striking out six and walking four. She certainly had plenty of support at the plate from her teammates. Faith McIntire went 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI while scoring three times, Ashlynn Cruz went 2-or-4 with two RBIs, Cali Albaum (1-for-4) drove in four runs, and Karsyn Greer went 1-for-1 with three walks, a double, three RBIs and four runs scored. Hailey Perez added two hits and a RBI. Bingham (1-for-3) and Emily Gersalia (1-for-3) each had two RBIs.
Middletown (2-5, 5-7) was without its two top pitchers – Taluelah Madrid and Brooklyn Wood – because of injury, which left the Mustangs totally exposed, according to head coach Bob Gunion.
“We started with the freshman starter for our JV team, Ashley Thompson,” Gunion said. “She pitched well, but with six errors and only four hits (of offense), it was hard to stay with a good Clear Lake team.”
That Clear Lake also received 10 walks and had four batters hit by pitches didn’t help Middletown’s cause either.
The Cardinals were in a bit of personnel pinch as well as they suited up only nine.
Both teams are home Tuesday. Clear Lake hosts league-leading St. Helena while Middletown draws Cloverdale.
Cloverdale 7, Lower Lake 3
At Lower Lake, Cloverdale pitcher Charlotte Burchett held nemesis Mariah Bal to no hits and the Cloverdale Eagles snapped a 3-3 tie in the later innings to beat the Lower Lake Trojans.
What a difference a year can make.
Bal owned Burchett and the Eagles a year ago, blasting a pair of home runs in each of two league meetings. On Friday, Bal went 0-for-4 and struck out three times as Burchett worked the first four innings for the victory. Camryn Bird earned the save with three innings of three-hit relief, with four strikeouts and no walks.
Aly Aguirre (2-for-3) homered for Lower Lake, a two-run shot to left-center field in the bottom of the second inning that gave the Trojans (2-3 league, 4-8-1 overall) a brief 2-1 lead.
“She crushed it,” Lower Lake co-head coach Julie Jackson said. “She hit the ball well today. She’s seeing the ball really good.”
Cloverdale came back with two runs in the top of the third to go up 3-2. Lower Lake pulled even with a run in the bottom half and the score remained tied at 3 until Cloverdale pushed ahead to stay with a run in the fifth. The Eagles added another run in the sixth and two in the seventh against Bal, who struck out 12 but also walked six.
“I don’t think she gave up more than one earned run,” Jackson said. “We made a couple of errors early that killed us. Mentally we let some things go that also hurt.”
Bella Sanchez went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to power the Eagles while Lexie Hernandez and Camryn Donahoo blasted triples.
Cloverdale improved to 5-1 in league play and 13-1 overall, its only loss to date an 11-1 setback to the league-leading St. Helena Saints (7-0).
Leanne Ortega went 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI for Lower Lake while Heidi Ortega went 2-for-4.
The Trojans split their league meetings with Cloverdale a year ago before upsetting the Eagles 5-3 in the opening round of the sectional playoffs.
“We know we can do better against them next time,” Jackson said. “There are still a lot of games left.”
Lower Lake hosts Kelseyville on Tuesday while Cloverdale visits Middletown.
St. Helena 15, Upper Lake 0 (5 inn.)
At Upper Lake, Ada Blanton’s one-hitter carried the St. Helena Saints to a perfect 7-0 first half in league play.
Yadira Beecher (1-for-2) had the only hit for the Cougars (1-4, 4-5).
Blanton struck out six and walked none. Losing pitcher Aimee Schaefers struck out seven and walked one.
“St. Helena has a great team with great batting and great sportsmanship,” Upper Lake head coach Janice Klier said of the Saints, now 13-4 overall.
Journey Penterman went 3-for-3 with two triples and three RBIs for St. Helena while Tahlia Smith went 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI.
Upper Lake travels to Fort Bragg on Tuesday while St. Helena visits Clear Lake in Lakeport.
Smith tossed a no-hitter against Fort Bragg earlier in the week. Blanton was credited with a no-hitter against Upper Lake by the St. Helena scorekeeper, but Upper Lake’s home book was the official book on Friday.