Willits spoils Lower Lake’s season opener with 17-3, five-inning victory
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UPPER LAKE >> Aubree Sperber went 3-for-4 with a triple and a solo home run to help lead Upper Lake to a season-opening 8-7 win over Calistoga in non-league softball action Tuesday afternoon in Upper Lake.
Upper Lake (1-0) pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh to snap a 7-7 tie and win the game.
“We have a really young team this year with only one senior,” Upper Lake head coach Janice Klier said. “However, we have a lot of talent in this young group and are excited to rebuild our softball program with this stellar group of athletes.”
Sperber, who transferred from Kelseyville to Upper Lake at the end of the basketball season, homered in the third inning and tripled in the fifth. She was one of two Cougars with three hits, joining teammate Addison Vipond (3-for-4, RBI). Kaylin Smith went 2-for-2 with a RBI while Jordyn Parker and Rilee Sperber both went 2-for-4.
Bella Stillman, working the final four innings in relief of starter Aubree Sperber, was the winning pitcher. Stillman struck out eight and walked none in her high school debut. Sperber struck out seven and walked three over the first three innings and did not allow a hit.
Camila Martin, Kayla Edwards and Ava Witter also drove in runs for the Cougars.
Upper Lake returns to action Friday in Willits at 3:30 p.m.
In other softball action Tuesday:
Willits 17, Lower Lake 3 (5 inn.)
At Willits, Lower Lake pitching struggled in the team’s season debut as the Willits Wolverines 10-runned the Trojans, scoring 10 times in the bottom of the fourth to break open a 7-2 game.
“I saw a lot of good things,” Lower Lake head coach Julie Jackson said of her team’s initial effort in 2026. “The score doesn’t reflect all of it. We need to clean up some things with our pitching.”
Losing pitcher Madelyn Garner worked the first three innings, allowing seven runs on four hits with three strikeouts and five walks. Six of the runs were earned.
Lower Lake (0-1) jumped on top with a run in the top of the second, but Willits answered with three runs in the bottom half and four more runs in the third inning to go up 7-1. The Trojans added single runs in the fourth and fifth.
“It’s still super early,” Jackson said. “We’ve just got to get in and do the work in practice.”
Among the highlights for Lower Lake were the play of senior third baseman Jamiya Lee-Ayers and freshman shortstop Eden Sparks, who made her high school debut, stealing a base and scoring a run on a Grace Reyes RBI single in the second inning.
“She looked very good,” Jackson said of Sparks, who had a big year for Lower Lake’s junior varsity basketball team during the winter season.
Added Jackson, “We had some good swings and good defensive plays.”
One of those defensive plays was a catch in left field by Marlene Jack.
Reyes ended up 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Heidi Ortega (1-for-3) drove in the other Lower Lake run while Ayers and Kerrington Snyder both went 1-for-2.
The Trojans are off until next week when they play three games in two days up north. On Friday, March 13, Lower Lake plays at St. Bernard (10 a.m.) and McKinleyville (3 p.m.). On March 14, the Trojans visit Ferndale.
