Knights keep rolling in league play as Cardinals come up short in Fort Bragg; Cougars fall
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LOWER LAKE >> Three hit batsmen and a walk, all coming with the bases loaded, rallied the Lower Lake Trojans to a 9-8 walk-off victory over the Middletown Mustangs in North Central League I varsity baseball action Tuesday in Lower Lake.
Middletown (2-7 league, 4-12-1 overall) appeared on its way to a win with an 8-4 lead going to the bottom of the sixth inning and Jon Hawkins dealing on the mound for the Mustangs.
“That’s the second time we’ve faced him this season,” Lower Lake head coach Mike Huffman said. “I was hoping we were going to miss him this time. He’s a hell of a pitcher.”
Hawkins gave up two runs in the sixth as Lower Lake (3-6, 3-10) crept to within 8-6. The junior began the seventh inning and got one out before running into the 110-pitch limit. Blake Costlow relieved, struck out the first batter he faced for the second out, but then couldn’t find the strike zone, hitting three Trojans and walking another, all with the bases loaded. While two of those runs were charged to Hawkins, the tying and winning runs were Costlow’s responsibility.
“I’ve never seen that,” Huffman said.
Adrian Negrete was hit by a pitch that drove in the winning run, that after going 3-for-3 with a double in three RBIs.
“We were both kind of in the same spot,” Huffman said of the nine players Middletown suited up, just one less than the Trojans.
Luke Campbell pitched two innings in relief of Lower Lake starter Zach Jones, who worked the first five innings, to notch the win. He also went 1-for-4 with a RBI. Jordan Rohrbacker didn’t have a hit but did drive in two runs. Ashton Hartmann, Eric Alonso (double), and AJ Myer (1-for-1, RBI) had Lower Lake’s other hits.
Costlow went 3-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs for the Mustangs, Hayden Xavier went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Landon Pisaro went 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Cody de Jong also had a hit.
Middletown beat Lower Lake 8-1 on April 4 in Middletown. Since then, the Mustangs have dropped fourth straight and eight of nine.
Both teams return to action Friday as Lower Lake visits St. Helena and Middletown hosts Fort Bragg.
In other NCL I action Tuesday:
Fort Bragg 6, Clear Lake 3
At Fort Bragg, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves swept the season series from Clear Lake, jumping out to an early lead on a Carter Killion grand slam and never looking back.
Clear Lake, now 6-3 in league and 11-5 overall, lost 7-4 to Fort Bragg on April 4 in Lakeport.
“Really, we just painted ourselves into a corner with a couple of free bases, a hit by pitch, and the (Fort Bragg) kid put a good enough swing on the ball to get it out to give them the lead,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said of Killion’s second-inning grand slam.
“Offensively, we left too many guys in scoring position and had too many empty outs,” Horne said. “It was the difference in the game. I have to do a better job.”
Added Horne, “This is our third or fourth loss in a winnable game, and I will take the blame for that.”
With starting catcher Zane McAuley unavailable, the Cardinals went with sophomore Dalton Harris behind the plate.
“I do want to commend my sophomore for stepping in and doing a solid job behind the plate,” Horne said.
Jesse Hayes continued to his hot streak at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs. Sawyer Smith and Ryken Villanueva added two hits apiece. Jacob Horne, David Cruz and losing pitcher AJ Bruch also had hits.
Bruch allowed seven hits and all six Fort Bragg runs in 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and two walks.
Giancarlo Diaz went 2-for-2 for the Timberwolves.
Fort Bragg (8-2, 14-3) opened its league schedule with four straight victories, lost back-to-back games to St. Helena and Kelseyville, but has won four in a row since then to take over sole possession of second place in the NCL I standings.
Both teams are on the road Friday. Clear Lake visits Cloverdale while Fort Bragg plays at Middletown.
Kelseyville 5, St. Helena 1
At St. Helena, Kelseyville scored three times in the top of the first inning while riding the arm of ace Brock Barrick to a 41st consecutive league victory.
The Knights (10-0, 15-3) added single runs in the second and third innings and held a 5-0 lead until St. Helena (6-4, 14-6) scored in the bottom of the sixth.
Barrick needed only 97 pitches to navigate another complete game. He scattered four hits, struck out eight and walked three.
Kelseyville’s eight hits were divided among seven players. Gene Holdenried went 2-for-3 with a RBI. Barrick (1-for-3), Carson White (1-for-4) and Brayton Thomas (0-for-2) also knocked in runs. Other hits went to JD Smart, Kyle Watkins, Max Hommer and Reme Strong.
The Knight have a magic number of two (any combination of Knights wins or Fort Bragg losses) to clinch no worse than a tie for a third straight league championship. They’re guaranteed an outright league crown if they win three of their remaining four.
Cloverdale 19, Upper Lake 3 (5 inn.)
At Upper Lake, a nine-run second inning propelled the Cloverdale Eagles past the Upper Lake Cougars, leaving Upper Lake at 0-10 in the league standings and 3-13 overall.
“We just need to start making some plays,” Upper Lake head coach Don Meri said. “We’ve got to make some adjustments.”
Losing pitcher Tyler Collins lasted only 1 1/3 innings.
Mikel Compton and George Rahmer both went 1-for-2 with a RBI for Upper Lake. Collins and Jimmy Sanchez had the Cougars’ other hits.
Upper Lake scored single runs in the second, third and fifth innings.
There was one positive thing during the game, according to Meri.
“Our young kids who came into the game made some nice catches in the outfield,” Meri said.
Cloverdale is now 3-6 in league and 5-9 overall.
Upper Lake gets no break from the league schedule Friday when it travels to league-leading Kelseyville. Cloverdale hosts Clear Lake.
