Kelseyville clinches third straight undisputed NCL I championship with 11-4 home win
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KELSEYVILLE >> Kelseyville High School capped three years of North Central League I varsity baseball dominance Friday afternoon with an 11-4 victory over the Cloverdale Eagles at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville.
Kelseyville’s win coupled with St. Helena’s 5-3 victory at Fort Bragg assured the Knights (12-1 league, 17-4 overall) a third straight undisputed NCL I championship, during which time they’ve gone 42-1. They close out the 2025 regular season Tuesday at home against Fort Bragg (10-3, 16-4).
“It’s a good testament to the kids,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said, especially eight seniors, a handful of which have been varsity players since their freshman year. “It’s a good group.”
The eight seniors will be honored Tuesday before the Knights’ last league game, ironically enough against a Fort Bragg team that had hoped to force a final-game showdown at Kelseyville, but the St. Helena Saints threw a wrench in those plans Friday on the Timberwolves’ homefield. Two of Fort Bragg’s three losses have come against the Saints (9-4, 17-6), the other to Kelseyville, a 3-0 Knights win April 18 in Fort Bragg.
While it doesn’t matter now, at least in regard to the completed league race, what the Knights do on Tuesday against Fort Bragg, it could still be a tremendously important game for Kelseyville in terms of seeding for the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs.
“I still see it as a must-win,” Shaul said, pointing out the similar overall records between the two schools, not to mention that seeding committees tend to lend extra weight to how a team finishes the season, and a loss would be the Knights’ second in their last three games.
“We’ve won the championship but now we want to do something in the playoffs,” Shaul said. “We need to start playing our best.”
The Knights certainly didn’t bring their A game against Cloverdale as the Eagles were as close as 7-4 until Kelseyville scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to put it away.
“That was more us than them,” Shaul said of why the game remained close into the late innings. “We played OK, but we weren’t as sharp as we need to be.”
Kelseyville wasted no time getting the jump on the Eagles (3-9, 5-12), sending 12 players to the plate and scoring six times in the bottom of the first inning.
“I thought we were on a real good roll, but we got quiet after that, had some bad at-bats, and didn’t do much,” Shaul said.
Cloverdale scored its first two runs in the top of the third. After Kelseyville picked up a run in the fourth to go up 7-2, the Eagles came right back with two runs in the top of the fifth to close to 7-4.
Tyler Bryant, the first of three Kelseyville pitchers, worked three innings for the victory. He allowed two hits, two runs (one earned), struck out four and walked one before giving way to Brayton Thomas. JD Smart worked two shutout innings for the save after inheriting a 7-4 lead in the top of the sixth. He allowed one hit, struck out two and walked two.
The Knights collected seven hits at the plate, two each by Brock Barrick, who doubled twice and drove in a run, and Bryant, who doubled and knocked in three runs. Smart went 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Carson White (1-for-3, RBI) and Gene Holdenried (1-for-4) also had hits.
GAME NOTES: Shaul said there is a possibility that Kelseyville might play a non-league game with Healdsburg before the official end of the regular season on May 17. The at-large and seeding meeting is May 18 … It’s a pretty good bet the NCL I’s top four teams – Kelseyville, Fort Bragg, St. Helena and Clear Lake – are moving onto the North Coast Section playoffs, Kelseyville, Fort Bragg and St. Helena in Division 4 and Clear Lake in Division 5. First-round games in Division 5 are Tuesday, May 20, while first-round Division 4 games are Wednesday, May 21 … Sectional playoff games run through the end of the month followed by the NorCal Regional playoffs June 3-7.
