Upper Lake outslugs M‘town 14-12, Kelseyville drops 12-3 home decision to Cloverdale
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LOWER LAKE >> The beneficiary of 11 walks, nine hit batters and a pair of Lower Lake errors, the Clear Lake Cardinals didn’t have to do much Tuesday afternoon to post a 13-5 North Central League I softball win over the Trojans at Lower Lake.
“We had a lot of baserunners,” Clear Lake head coach Scott Schaefers said. “We were patient (at the plate), but we need to run the bases better.”
Clear Lake (3-2 league, 10-4 overall) amassed only six hits, though a couple of them were loud ones. Karsyn Greer went 2-for-3 with a double and solo home run while driving in four runs on the day and scoring three times. Faith McIntire walked four times and also went 1-for-2 with two RBIs. Maddie Kollach didn’t register an official at-bat while collecting two RBIs as she walked twice and was hit three times.
“When she’s on, she’s not a bad pitcher,” Schaefers said of Lower Lake pitcher Crystal Pepper, who went the distance.
“She’s our best pitcher, so we’ve got to ride on her,” Lower Lake head coach Julie Jackson said.
Lower Lake’s effort, from top to bottom, left Jackson a bit underwhelmed.
“We were not mentally checked in,” Jackson said. “We have to come together and help each other out.”
Clear Lake had a 10-0 lead before Lower Lake (2-3, 3-6) answered. The Trojans cut the deficit to 10-5 before the Cardinals put the game out of reach with a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh.
Winning pitcher Atiana Patino didn’t walk a single batter while striking out eight and scattering seven hits.
Eden Sparks went 3-for-4 with a double and RBI for the Trojans. Madelyn Garner (1-for-3) had a double and two RBIs while Jamiya Lee-Ayers went 1-for-2 with a RBI. Marlene Jack and Monae Rodgers had Lower Lake’s other hits.
Patino, Ashlynn Cruz and Lindee Bingham (two RBIs) had hits for Clear Lake.
Lower Lake visits Cloverdale on Thursday while Clear Lake hosts Middletown on Friday. Both games start at 4 p.m.
In other NCL I action Tuesday:
Upper Lake 14, Middletown 12
At Upper Lake, a scoreless game going to the bottom of the third inning turned into a slugfest before it was over as the two teams combined for 33 hits.
Upper Lake (2-1, 4-2) jumped ahead 6-0 in the bottom of the third. Middletown (1-4, 2-5) closed to 7-6 with a five-run top of the fifth, Upper Lake went up 9-6 in the bottom of the fifth, the Mustangs took a 10-9 lead with four runs in the top of the sixth, but the Cougars pushed in front to stay with a five-run bottom of the sixth. Middletown scored its final two runs in the top of the seventh.
“Exciting game going back and forth,” Middletown head coach Bob Gunion said. “We just came up a little short.”
“It took us till the third inning to warm up our bats, but then we started getting solid hits to move our runners,” Upper Lake head coach Janice Klier said.
Ally Cherry went 3-for-4 with a triple and four stolen bases for Middletown while teammates Autumn Clark, Allison Pina, Chloe Pulido and Hannah Tribby added two hits apiece. Sarah Fetters, Bella Alcantar and losing pitcher Lilli Reyes also had hits.
For Upper Lake, Kylee Solorio went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and three RBIs while Addison Vipond and Alyna Soloro added three hits apiece. Rylee Sperber went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs and Aubree Sperber went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Ava Witter and Kyra Santos also had two hits each while Jordan Parker and winning pitcher Bella Stillman had one.
Stillman struck out seven and walked two.
“We had some avoidable errors on defense, but we’re learning to let those go and keep our spirits high,” Klier said. “It’s always a pleasure to play Middletown. They have great sportsmanship.”
Middletown hosts St. Helena on Thursday at 4 p.m. while Upper Lake visits St. Helena on Friday at 4 p.m.
Cloverdale 12, Kelseyville 3
At Kelseyville, the Kelseyville Knights (1-4, 2-9) stayed close to league-leading Cloverdale (5-0, 10-2) until the Eagles snapped a 2-2 tie with four runs in the top of the fifth inning. Kelseyville got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth before Cloverdale pulled away.
Madison Byrne pitched a complete game for Kelseyville, allowing nine hits, striking out three and walking eight.
Byrne also had a double and RBI for the Knights, one of their three hits on the day. Vanessa Reyes had another double while Ashlyn Wurm singled.
Kelseyville hosts Fort Bragg on Friday at 4 p.m.
