Upper Lake baseball stays close to Saints until huge St. Helena inning
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UPPER LAKE >> The Upper Lake Cougars found themselves in a good old-fashioned baseball game with the St. Helena Saints on Friday afternoon, at least until the top of the fifth inning.
Powered by a Julian Earls ground slam, the Saints scored 12 times in the top of the fifth to turn a 6-2 game to that point to an 18-2 five-inning victory over the Cougars in North Central League I action at Upper Lake.
Earls (2-for-4) also tripled, finishing with six RBIs for the Saints (2-0 league, 7-5 overall).
“Until the fifth, it was a game,” Upper Lake head coach Don Meri said. “We made some good plays.”
George Rahmer went 2-for-3 for the Cougars (0-2, 2-6) while Jimmy Sanchez and Carlos Narvaes each went 1-for-2 with a RBI.
Until the top of the fifth, all of the scoring took place in the first two innings. St. Helena scored five times in the top of the first while Upper Lake answered with two runs in the bottom half. The Saints added another run in the second to go up 6-2.
“They hit the ball well,” Meri said of the Saints, who finished with 14 hits. “St. Helena is a good ballclub.”
Tyler Collins took the loss for Upper Lake, working one-plus innings, striking out three and walking five.
Upper Lake’s defense had a couple of web gems, including a double play and a running catch by second baseman Rahmer up the line at first.
Earls’ inside-the-park grand slam in the fifth was a shot to deep right field.
“A good throw home would have had him, but it was a shot,” Meri said.
Weather permitting, Upper Lake is home Tuesday to take on Middletown at 4 p.m.
