Too many free bases, errors come back to haunt Kelseyville against Willits
By Brian Sumpter
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KELSEYVILLE >> If only …
If only the Kelseyville Knights, well on their way back from a 4-0 deficit and trailing just 4-3 after scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth and once in the sixth, could have just held serve in the top of the seventh against the Willits Wolverines on Tuesday evening, they may have been playing for a section championship Friday.
With momentum clearly on their side after Jordyn Wurm doubled leading off the sixth and scored a short time later on a Willits error, you had to like the Knights’ chances going to the bottom of the seventh with the top of its batting order coming up.
Unfortunately for the Knights, a defense that served them so well as they fought back from a 4-0 deficit totally abandoned them in the top of the seventh, as the Wolverines pushed three runs across the plate and then held on for a 7-5 win in the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division 6 softball playoffs at Kelseyville.
In upsetting the top-seeded Knights (8-12), the fifth-seeded Wolverines (15-9) advance to the Division 6 championship game Friday against St. Vincent in Petaluma. No. 2 seed St. Vincent routed Tomales 14-3 in the other Division 6 semifinal Tuesday.
“We didn’t show up ready,” Kelseyville head coach Brittany Rumfelt said of her team’s slow start against the Wolverines. “They wanted it a little more than us,” assistant coach Jeff Bour added.
“We gave away too many free bases,” Rumfelt said of the 11 walks issued by Kelseyville pitching, not to mention a hit batsman and numerous fielding errors, the worst offenders being four errors committed by four different players in the top of the seventh.
Willits took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third without benefit of a hit. The first five Wolverines to bat in the inning all walked, the first four against starting pitcher Ashlyn Wurm, who departed the game trailing 1-0 and with the bases loaded an no outs. Her relief, Morgan Rogers, walked the first batter she faced, forcing home a run, then Rogers hit Chloe Wright, which brought home another run for a 3-0 Willits lead. The bases were still loaded with no outs when the Knights caught a bit of a break as Abigail Sherf blooped a popup behind the outstretched glove of second baseman Mati Mateer for what would appeared to be, at the very least, a RBI single. Instead, the umpires invoked the infield fly rule. Sherf was out but the runner from third raced home when the ball hit the ground, and the other runners moved up a base.
On the verge of breaking the game open, Ava Dockins-Kline hit a flyball to Kylee Denham in right field as the runner at third tagged up. Denham’s throw home arrived in plenty of time as catcher Jordyn Wurm applied the tag for an inning-ending double play.
Kelseyville got its first hit of the game to open the bottom of the third when pinch-hitter Josie Keithly reached on an infield single to shortstop. She promptly stole second before moving to third on a groundout, but the Knights left her stranded there as the next two Knights failed to deliver – a popout to second base and a flyball to center field.
The Knights turned a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play to end the top of the fourth. They got out of another jam – this time with Willits runners at first and third and one out – in the top of the fifth, this time on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play as Rogers struck out Wright while catcher Wurm whipped a throw down to third base to pick off the runner there.
Kelseyville finally got on the scoreboard with two runs in the fifth. Cali Schnabl walked, stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. Kylee Denham singled to left, stole second and third, and was later awarded home plate while sliding back into third base and being obstructed by the Willits third baseman.
Rogers pitched out of a mini-jam in the top of the sixth, stranding Willits runners at first and second. In the bottom half, Wurm doubled to the fence down the left-field line and moved to third on a flyball out by Gemma Lewis, scoring on an error as the ball was returned to the infield. Schnabl followed with a two-out double that hopped over the fence in right-center field, and she promptly stole third base. With the tying run just a few feet away, Keithly grounded out to third base, Ava Holmen fielding the ball cleanly and throwing a strike to first base to end the threat and keep the score at 4-3.
Its lead down to a single run, Willits desperately needed an insurance run or two in the top of the seventh, especially with the top of Kelseyville’s batting order due up in the bottom half
Alexandra Ramos hit a routine grounder to third base that was mishandled for an error, and moments later Wurm’s errant pickoff throw to first base allowed Ramos to advance to second. Rogers picked up a huge out by striking out Willits pitcher and cleanup hitter Lisa Arkelian, but Holmen reached on an infield single just in front of the plate. Rogers’ throw to first base was too late, but Ramos got hung up between second and third. The throw back to third base was offline for another error, allowing Ramos to continue home as Holmen advanced to second.
Wright followed with a shot down the left-field line that ended up against the fence for a double, driving in Holmen to make it 6-3. After Sherf struck out, Dockins-Kline hit a grounder to shortstop that was mishandled for an error and ended up in left field, Wright scoring.
Those three insurance runs became huge in the bottom half as the Knights, their season on the line, made a valiant comeback attempt. Denham led off with a walk and stole second and Mateer reached on an error, putting runners at first and third. Mateer then stole second. Denham scored on a wild pitch as Mateer took third, and another wild pitch brought home Mateer. One out later, Wurm’s soft liner into right field for a single turned into a double when the Wolverines were slow in returning the ball to the infield. Arkelian stopped the bleeding at that point, getting the final out on a called third strike, her 10th strikeout of the game.
The Wolverines finished the game with just three hits – one each by Arkelian, Homen and Wright – while the Knights collected five hits. Besides two doubles by Jordyn Wurm and another by Schnabl, Keithly and Denham had singles.
Rogers pitched five innings in relief of Ashlyn Wurm and did a good job, with plenty of help from her defense, in keeping the game within reach after Willits went up 4-0 in the third inning.
“She did come in and pitch well,” Rumfelt said of Rogers, who struck out five, walked four and allowed no earned runs.
“We just couldn’t make big plays when we needed it,” Bour said.
The Knights went 7-7 in league play, qualifying for the postseason in their final regular-season game, a 10-8 home win over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves. The young squad graduates just one player, Schnabl.
“All in all a great season for a rebuilding program,” said Rumfelt of her first season as the Knights’ head coach. “We came into the season looking to rebuild, so it really wasn’t about the wins and losses. We started cleaning up skills first, but the attitude and effort took a little longer to come around. We’ll build on that going into next season.”
NOTES: Kelseyville’s pursuit of its first section title in softball since 2000 will have to wait at least another season, though it’s hard to image the Knights ever having a better chance than this year. A Division 4 team by North Coast Section classification, the Knights caught a huge break when they were dropped into Division 6 for the playoffs. Along with Willits, they were one of only two Division 4 teams to be placed in the Division 6 field, and the only NCL I team, a bracket filled with Division 5 and 6 teams … Willits’ opponent in the Division 6 championship game, St. Vincent, has won four section titles in softball, the last time in 2013.
