Upper Lake varsity baseball team drops five-inning game to South Fork
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PETALUMA >> AJ Bruch’s RBI triple and Ryken Villanueva’s long sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 5-5 tie and lifted the Clear Lake Cardinals to a 7-6 victory over the Eureka Loggers in the consolation semifinals of the 30th annual Al Rabinovitz Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Petaluma.
Clear Lake dropped 6-0 decision to Ukiah earlier in the day during opening-round action at Santa Rosa High School. The Cardinals (4-4-1) played Analy High School for the consolation championship Wednesday morning in Sebastopol.
Zane McAuley worked 6 2/3 innings in relief to earn the victory against Eureka. He allowed two runs, both unearned while striking out three and walking four.
“He manned up today,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said of McAuley, who also went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and two RBIs. “For someone to be on the mound all that time against a Eureka team that can swing it, he really earned it.”
Under the California tiebreaker rule, the Cardinals began the top of the ninth with a runner at second base (Johnny Gonzales III, who made the last out in the top of the eighth) and Gonzales didn’t stay there long. Bruch drove the pitch he saw for a triple. Villanueva (2-for-5, 2 RBI) followed by hitting a sacrifice fly that traveled some 280 feet before it was caught, according to Horne.
“Villanueva had a real good day for us (4-for-8 combined between the two games),” Horne said. “He had some real good team swings to advance runners, something we’ve been talking about and working on.”
Consecutive groundouts that advanced the runner from second base accounted for Eureka’s run in the bottom of the ninth. The final out of the game followed, a deep line drive hauled in by Clear Lake’s outfield.
Bruch went 3-for-5 at the plate with his triple and RBI. Fabian Moreno (1-for-2) also drove in a run. Jesse Hayes (1-for-4) had the other Clear Lake hit.
Earlier in the day against Ukiah, Bruch pitched the first 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10, but the Wildcats duo of starter Ryan Ford and reliever Jaxon Mellus silenced Clear Lake bats, allowing just five hits.
Ukiah took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second and didn’t score again until adding a run in the fifth. The Wildcats scored two more insurance runs in the sixth.
“It was a close game, I thought we played real well,” Horne said.
Villanueva went 2-for-3, Gonzales III (1-for-2) doubled while Hayes and Ezekiel Lopez had Clear Lake’s other hits.
In other non-league baseball action Tuesday:
Middletown 13, Credo 6
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs answered a two-run Credo top of the first inning with eight runs in the bottom half and went on to beat the Gryphon for the second time this season.
Madden Sutton (1-for-4) connected for a two-run home run during the big eight-run first while starting and winning pitcher Blake Costlow added a standup triple. The Mustangs sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning and had five hits.
Credo was as close as 9-6 after scoring twice in the top of the fifth. Middletown lengthened its lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and another run in the sixth.
Four Middletown pitchers combined to strike out nine.
Hunter Karp went 2-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs for the Mustangs (3-1) while Cody Perez went 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Cody de Jong (1-for-4) also drove in three runs. Jon Hawkins went 1-for-2 with a double and RBI.
Middletown participates in the Fort Bragg Tournament Thursday and Friday, opening with Arcata on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. The Mustangs’ North Central League I opener is Tuesday at home against Kelseyville at 4 p.m.
South Fork 22, Upper Lake 2 (5 inn.)
At Miranda, the South Fork Cubs snapped a 2-2 tie with a nine-run bottom of the second and went on to 10-run the Upper Lake Cougars in five innings.
A series of Upper Lake (0-3) errors led to South Fork’s big inning.
“Defensively we couldn’t get things going with many errors in the second inning,” Upper Lake assistant coach Wyatt Hensley said.
Losing pitcher Jimmy Sanchez (2-for-3) had half of Upper Lake’s four hits at the plate. Mason Parker and Mikel Compton had the others.
Upper Lake’s junior varsity squad hosts Laytonville on Wednesday. The varsity club returns to action Thursday at home against Willits at 4 p.m.
