Mustangs rally in top of the seventh to beat Upper Lake in other NCL I action
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LOWER LAKE >> What a week for the Clear Lake Cardinals, who ended a decidedly up-and-down four straight days of North Central League I softball games with a 17-7 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans on Friday in Lower Lake.
Clear Lake opened the week with a 5-2 home win Tuesday over Kelseyville, lost 14-1 at Cloverdale the next day, fell 12-2 on Thursday at Upper Lake, and bounced back Friday to 10-run the Trojans in five innings.
Pitcher Atiana Patino started three of those four games, pitched in all four, finished the week with a 2-1 record and topped things off Friday by smacking a grand slam during an eight-run Clear Lake sixth inning that increased the Cardinals’ lead to 17-3.
“What a gutsy performance by her,” Clear Lake head coach Scott Schaefers said of Patino, who allowed only two earned runs against Lower Lake while striking out three and walking one. “She pitched a lot this week and hung in there all the way.”
Patino also carried the day at the plate for the Cardinals (4-7 league, 8-8 overall), going 2-for-4 with the grand slam against the Trojans.
“I thought it bounced over the fence and was a ground-rule double,” Schaefers said. “But the umpire kept circling with his finger and she kept running around the bases.”
Despite the final score, Schaefer said the Cardinals didn’t hit the ball especially well, but they were the recipients of 11 walks, and what hits they did have were “timely ones,” according to Schaefers.
Hailey Perez went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and Cali Albaum went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Cardinals. Ashlynn Cruz added two hits and a RBI. Faith McIntire (1-for-4) and Lindee Bingham (1-for-3) also knocked in runs.
Lower Lake (6-6, 8-11-1) lost its third straight in league play. Heidi Ortega went 1-for-3 with two RBIs for Lower Lake while losing pitcher Crystal Pepper and Kerrington Snyder both went 1-for-3 with a RBI. Leanna Ortega, Kierstyn Lambert, Jamiya Lee-Ayers and Brialyn Anderson also had hits.
“Their catcher (Leanna Ortega) is a little bit of a stud,” Schaefers said. “She made some nice throws.”
Schaefers also gave high marks to the play of Lower Lake’s infield.
Clear Lake finishes up league play next week with three more games, all of them at home – Tuesday against Middletown, Thursday against Upper Lake and Friday against Lower Lake. The Trojans finish with two road games – Tuesday at Cloverdale and Friday at Clear Lake.
In other NCL I action Friday:
Middletown 6, Upper Lake 4
At Upper Lake, the Middletown Mustangs scored four times in the top of the seventh inning to beat the Upper Lake Cougars and snap an eight-game league losing streak.
Similar to the first game played between these two teams – Upper Lake won 8-7 in nine innings April 15 in Middletown – this one was another thriller.
“What a game!” Upper Lake head coach Janice Klier said. “I thought we were going to go into extra innings again.”
Middletown (3-10, 6-12) trailed 3-2 entering the seventh inning. After taking a 6-3 lead in the top half, Upper Lake got one of those runs back in the bottom half.
“It was a (scoreless) pitching duel up to the sixth inning,” Middletown head coach Bob Gunion said.
Ally Cherry tripled and Thali Rodriguez doubled for Middletown. Ashlyn Rhodes went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for Upper Lake (3-8, 6-9). Ava Witter went 1-for-3 with a double and RBI.
Winning pitcher Taluelah Madrid struck out eight and walked none. Losing pitcher Aimee Schaefers struck out 11 and walked two.
Cloverdale 16, Kelseyville 7
At Kelseyville, a tight game through five innings got away from the Kelseyville Knights in the sixth and seventh as the Cloverdale Eagles pulled away for the win.
Cloverdale had a 7-5 lead before scoring five times in the top of the sixth and four more times in the seventh.
“The score doesn’t show it, but I am proud of the girls,” Kelseyville head coach Brittany Rumfelt said. “The things we have been working on were successful today and have shown progress for our program moving forward.”
Bella Sanchez went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead Cloverdale (10-2, 18-2).
Morgan Rogers went 2-for-2 with a RBI to lead the Knights (6-7, 6-11) while Josie Keithly went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Jordyn Wurm knocked in two runs.
Kelseyville closes out its league and regular-season schedule Tuesday at home against Fort Bragg at 4 p.m. Also on Tuesday, Cloverdale hosts Lower Lake at 4 p.m.
