Kelseyville, Clear Lake roll to road wins, Upper Lake rallies past Lower Lake in seventh
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FORT BRAGG >> Carson Stone pitched six innings of three-hit relief, allowing just one run, and the Kelseyville Knights jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in an 11-3 win over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves on Friday afternoon in Fort Bragg.
Kelseyville (6-1 league, 7-9 overall) handed a 4-0 lead to starting pitcher Reese Johnson before he had thrown his first pitch. Johnson pitched a scoreless bottom of the first but left the game shortly after being hit by a line drive with no outs in the bottom of the second. He remained in the game for one more batter and allowed a hard single that put two runners on base with no outs, at which point Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul went to his bullpen for Stone.
“Carson’s thrown the ball well his last two outings,” Shaul said of Stone, who struck out three and walked one. “We made some good defensive plays behind him.”
In winning its sixth straight game since a 1-9 start this season, the Knights pounded out 10 hits, including a two-run home run by sophomore JD Smart, the first of his high school career. Smart’s home run in the seventh, a shot to left field, put the finishing touches on Kelseyville’s victory.
“We’re hitting the ball hard,” Shaul said of the entire Kelseyville batting order. “Things are trending in the right direction for us.”
After Fort Bragg scored two runs in the bottom of the second to make it a 4-2 game, the Knights added a run in the third and four more in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Fort Bragg scored the only run charged to Stone in the bottom of the sixth to make it 9-3.
Brayton Thomas went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Michael Dougherty went 2-for-3 with a RBI and Case Pivniska went 2-for-4 with a RBI for Kelseyville. Stone helped his own cause by going 1-for-3 with a double and RBI. Max Lee went 1-for-4 with a RBI and Ryan Keithly also had a hit.
Kelseyville faces a big two-game set with Clear Lake next week. The Knights host the Cardinals on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before hitting the road Friday for a game at Lakeport, also at 4 p.m.
In other NCL I baseball action Friday:
Clear Lake 11, Middletown 1
At Middletown, Johnny Gonzales III and Ezekiel Lopez hit home runs, their first of the season, and starting pitcher Sawyer Smith and reliever Tino Cruz combined on a one-hitter as the Clear Lake Cardinals 10-runned the Middletown Mustangs for the second time this season while keeping pace with St. Helena atop the NCL I standings.
Clear Lake (7-1, 11-6-1) and St. Helena (7-1) are a half-game ahead of Kelseyville (6-1), the team the Cardinals play twice next week.
“We made loud contact all the way around,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said of the Cardinals’ potent batting order. “Jesse Hayes might have hit the hardest ball of the day when he led off the game with a single. I thought to myself, ‘This is going to be a good day when you start like that.’”
Clear Lake took a 1-0 lead in the first, added three more runs in the second, another six in the third and a final run in the fourth to go up 11-0. Jon Hawkins’ leadoff home run to left-center field in the bottom of the fourth was Middletown’s only hit.
“Clear Lake was sporting a no-hitter and shutout until the bottom of the fourth inning when Jon Hawkins led off, hitting the first pitch over the left-center field fence,” Middletown head coach Marc Humphrey said.
Smith, who had a good day on the mound and at the plate (3-for-3, double, RBI), struck out six and walked none during his four innings.
Gonzales III (2-for-2) hit a two-run homer to center field in the third inning, part of his four-RBI day. Lopez (2-for-2) finished with three RBIs, including a two-run shot to left field in the third inning. The Cardinals nearly had a third home run, but Hayes (2-for-3) stopped with a triple on a drive to right field that stayed in the park.
“I probably should have sent him,” Horne said. “He hit it to the deepest part of the park.”
Ryken Villanueva went 2-for-3 with a double while AJ Bruch and freshman Knox Hensler added hits. Hensler’s was the first of his high school career.
The Cardinals didn’t commit an error on defense.
“Our pitching was lights out, our defense was lights out,” Horne said.
The Cardinals scored their first 10 runs against losing pitcher Madden Sutton, who left after three innings. He allowed 11 hits, struck out and two and walked one before giving way to Blake Costlow.
Clear Lake hosts archrival Kelseyville on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The two teams split their league meetings a year ago, each winning at home. They play again Friday in Lakeport at 4 p.m. Weather permitting, Middletown (3-5, 7-8) hosts Cloverdale on Tuesday. The Mustangs have dropped four straight.
Upper Lake 3, Lower Lake 2
At Upper Lake, Jimmy Sanchez’s sacrifice fly scored Landen Robinson, capping a two-run Upper Lake rally in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Cougars beat the Lower Lake Trojans for their first league win.
George Rahmer led off the Upper Lake seventh with a double and scored on Landen Robinson’s single to tie game at 2-2. Robinson stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and tagged up and scored on a Sanchez flyball into right-center field.
Sanchez (2-for-3) had half of Upper Lake’s four hits while Rahmer (1-for-4) and Robinson (1-for-3) had the others.
“You got to do the small things or the big things aren’t going to happen,” Upper Lake head coach Don Meri said. “We played catch today. We made plays.”
And the Cougars (1-6 league, 3-10 overall) got the pitching they needed from Tyler Collins, who went all seven innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 12. He also walked four and hit three.
Upper Lake had a completely new infield from its previous meeting with Lower Lake, a 9-0 loss. Meri said the play of Mason Parker at second base helped the Cougars secure that elusive first league win.
“He was solid and made some nice plays,” Meri said. “The right things happened for us today.”
Upper Lake scored a run in the bottom of the first and held that 1-0 lead until Lower Lake scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Jordan Rohrbacker and AJ Myer had Lower Lake’s only hits.
Upper Lake travels to Fort Bragg on Tuesday, weather permitting, while Lower Lake returns home to play St. Helena. Both games start at 4 p.m.
