Zane McAuley homers, has another five-RBI game for Clear Lake; M’town tops Upper Lake
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LOWER LAKE >> Teams coming off big wins have a tendency to take a step back in their next game, but not the Clear Lake Cardinals.
“I was kind of worried about a letdown game after Tuesday (Clear Lake beat Kelseyville 9-8 to snap the Knights’ 42-game league winning streak), but the boys came out banging,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said following a 15-0, five-inning victory over the Lower Lake Trojans on Friday afternoon in Lower Lake.
Clear Lake (9-3 league, 14-5 overall) sent nine players to the plate in each of the first two innings while building a 10-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Jesse Hayes led off the first, second and third for the Cardinals.
“We were even hitting hard outs,” Horne said as the Cardinals banged out 12 hits, four for extra bases, including a three-run home run to left field off the bat of Zane McAuley during a four-run third inning that pushed Clear Lake’s lead to 14-0.
“A no-doubter,” Horner said of the 2-1 pitch McAuley tied into and sent sailing over the fence. “He crushed it.”
McAuley (2-for-2) drove in five runs for the second straight game.
Winning pitcher AJ Bruch allowed just two hits, singles to Adrian Negrete and Ashton Hartmann, while shutting out the Trojans (4-8, 4-12). He struck out eight and walked one. Zach Jones started for Lower Lake and took the loss.
Clear Lake received offense from up and down its lineup. Johnny Gonzales went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, Bruch went 2-or-3 with a double and RBI, and Sawyer Smith went 1-for-2 with two RBIs. Jacob Horne added a double while Ryken Villanueva and Hayes also had hits.
“Not a good day, but they’re a good team,” Lower Lake head coach Mike Huffman said. “They really work the count.”
Clear Lake has two more league games remaining, both at home. The Cardinals host Middletown on Tuesday and play Lower Lake again on Friday. Lower Lake is at Cloverdale on Tuesday and at Clear Lake on Friday.
In other NCL I action Friday:
Middletown 14, Upper Lake 8
At Upper Lake, winning pitcher Cody Perez went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a RBI as the Middletown Mustangs snapped an eight-game league losing streak with a victory over the Upper Lake Cougars.
Middletown (3-10, 5-14-1) hadn’t won a league game since beating Upper Lake 10-5 on April 15 in Middletown.
“Perez had a great game at the plate and he actually pitched well,” Middletown head coach Kyle Buckhorn said.
Perez worked the first four innings for the win, allowing six hits, five runs (one earned) with five strikeouts and four walks.
John Finney went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs while Jon Hawkins went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Hayden Xavier also had three hits. Cody de Jong, Blake Costlow and Austin Davis also had hits.
Like Middletown’s Perez, Upper Lake starting pitcher Tyler Collins also had a good day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a RBI. Jerod Rosales (2-for-5) and Mikel Compton (2-for-4, RBI) each had a pair of hits. Jimmy Sanchez went 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
“Tyler Collins had a good day, hit the ball hard,” Upper Lake head coach Don Meri said.
Upper Lake (0-13, 3-16) held a 5-3 lead until Middletown surged ahead with a four-run fourth inning against Collins. The Mustangs added three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to go up 13-5.
Upper Lake closes out its season Tuesday at St. Helena. Middletown finishes up on the road Tuesday in Lakeport against Clear Lake.
