Clear Lake varsity baseball 10-runs St. Helena with back-to-back six-run innings
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
LAKEPORT >> Giving the Clear Lake High School varsity baseball team extra runners and extra outs is kind of like shaking a vial of Nitroglycerin. It’s not going to end well.
The St. Helena Saints did exactly that … a lot of that … in their first-place showdown with the Cardinals on Monday afternoon in Lakeport. And sure enough, it didn’t end well.
Taking advantage of three walks, three hit batsman and six errors, the Cardinals did the rest with their ultra-productive bats and steady pitching, pounding the Saints 14-3 in five innings.
“We did a good job of taking advantage of their mistakes,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said of the second straight 14-3 pasting the Cardinals have inflicted on a league opponent in their last two games – on Friday it was Cloverdale in Cloverdale.
With both teams entering the North Central League I game at 4-0, the game’s first two and a half innings were exactly what you would expect, namely competitive and just a bit contentious. Horne said that wasn’t a surprise.
“There was a little animosity between these two teams coming in,” Horne said. “We beat them three times last year, including in the (opening round of the) playoffs. I guess they felt we weren’t that good.”
Nowadays, the back and forth between players on different teams doesn’t take place only in person, but on social media, and there was plenty of that beforehand, according to Horne.
“They put it on us in football (36-7) and our guys told them they were going to get them back in baseball,” Horne said.
The two teams traded leads early on. St. Helena’s Kai Blasingame led off the game with an infield single, moved to second base on a wild pitch, and scored on a one-out single by Adam Herdell (2-for-3). Clear Lake wasted no time getting the lead right back, and with plenty of help from the Saints’ defense, which struggled all day, especially with anything hit into the outfield.
With one out, Johnny Gonzales lofted a flyball into left field that was misplayed for an error and Zane McAuley walked. Ryken Villanueva hit a flyball to medium-deep center field that was dropped for an error, loading the bases as the other runners could only advance one base. AJ Bruch popped out to second base for the second out, but winning pitcher Sawyer Smith singled into center field to score Gonzales and McAuley. The inning ended with a flyball to left field, this one setting safely into the outfielder’s glove.
St. Helena missed a chance to at least tie the game in the top of the second, loading the bases with one out on the strength of two walks sandwiched around a Huck Anderson single. Smith promptly worked out of the jam, striking out the Nos 1 and 2 batters in the St. Helena order, Blasingame and Julian Earls, to end the threat.
St. Helena starter Cole Joy retired the Cardinals in order in the bottom of the second.
The Saints jumped back in front 3-2 in the top of the third, but not without a bit of controversy. Herdell was originally called out on strikes when he appeared to offer at an 0-2 pitcher from Smith. The first-base umpire ruled it a swing, but St. Helena’s coach argued that no appeal had been initiated by Clear Lake. The three umpires working the game eventually huddled and the crew chief ruled no swing, sending Herdell back to the plate with a 1-2 count. He promptly tripled to center field and Henry Ray was hit by a pitch. One out later Charlie Blaum singled sharply into center field to score both runners.
The cheering from the St. Helena dugout had barely ended when the Cardinals, just like they had done in the first inning, immediately answered, this time with a six-run outburst. Gonzales blooped a single behind the shortstop, advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a McAuley dribbler to the left of the mound that left the shortstop with no play, putting runner at the corners. Villanueva then put the Cardinals back in front with a two-run single into center field. Leading 4-3, the Cardinals weren’t done yet.
Bruch was hit by a pitch and Smith bounced into a forced play at second, leaving runners at the corners for Ezekiel Lopez, who was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Although Fabian Moreno struck out, David Cruz kept the inning alive, bouncing a grounder that got underneath St. Helena’s second baseman for an error, two runs scoring on the play. Jesse Hayes followed with a booming two-run triple to left-center field to make it 8-3.
The Saints tried to get something brewing in the top of the fourth as Blasingame led off with a double down the left-field line, but Smith retired the next two batters, Blasingame advancing to third base on a grounder for the second out. After issuing a walk, Smith recorded one of his nine strikeouts on the day, getting clean-up Dean Sommer swinging.
Joy walked McAuley to open the Clear Lake fourth and was replaced at that point by Anderson, who got absolutely zero help from his defense. Villanueva hit a high and routine flyball to center field that was dropped for an error and Bruch reached on an infield single to shortstop that scored a run. Another infield single to shortstop, this time off the bat of Smith, scored another run, putting runners at the corner. Smith stole second base before the Saints finally recorded an out, Bruch getting trapped between third and home on a grounder off the bat of Lopez. After a lengthy rundown, the Cardinals had runners at second and third. Moreno was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Cruz, who bounced into a force play at second, scoring a run and giving the Cardinals an 11-3 lead.
Hayes drew a walk to reload the bases for Gonzales, who singled home two more runs. Another St. Helena error on the play brought home a third run.
Clear Lake has scored double-digit runs in five straight game and seven times overall this season.
“This is a special group,” said Horne, who scheduled a brutal preseason for the Cardinals to prepare them for league play and a chance to win their first league title since 2015.
The Cardinals’ ability to generate offense from anywhere in their lineup, one to nine, sets them apart from most teams, not to mention their two starting pitchers, Smith and Bruch.
“David’s my No. 9 hitter right now, the fourth different No. 9 hitter I’ve used this season, and they’re all capable of hitting a double off the wall,” Horne said.
While Horne expected Monday’s game to be a battle, he wasn’t shocked by the outcome, knowing his team’s talent level and the competitiveness of his players, especially the seniors.
“We’re both at the top of our league,” Horne said of the Cardinals and Saints, “but if we handle our business, that’s what we are capable of. That’s the message we sent.”
Smith needed only four pitches to navigate the top of the fifth inning, which was a good thing because he had thrown 99 in the first four innings. Bruch will be working on three days rest when he faces the Saints on Tuesday in St. Helena.
“He’ll be fine,” Horne said. “He just wants the ball.”
Gonzales III (2-for-4), Smith (2-for-3) knocked in three runs apiece while Hayes (1-for-3), who hit the ball hard in all three of his official at-bats, and Villanueva (1-for-2) had two RBIs apiece.
NOTES: The Cardinals have won 10 straight league games dating back to last season and they’ve scored 10 or more runs in their last eight league games. The last league opponent to hold them under 10 was Kelseyville, though the Cardinals won that game 9-8 … Clear Lake went 11-3 in league and 19-6, finishing second in league play behind Kelseyville and second in North Coast Section Division 4. Two of Clear Lake’s three league losses last year were to Fort Bragg, who they play in their final two regular-season games May 5 (at Lakeport) and May 8 (at Fort Bragg).
