Sawyer Smith hits grand slam, two-run homer as Clear Lake prevails in six innings
By Brian Sumpter
Lake County Sports on Facebook
KELSEYVILLE >> With one ace dealing on the mound and the other at the plate, the Clear Lake Cardinals broke open a close game early and beat the Kelseyville Knights 12-2 in a six-inning North Central League I varsity baseball battle for first place Wednesday afternoon at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville.
Clear Lake (8-1 league, 12-6-1 overall) needed a win to stay atop the league standings as a Kelseyville victory would have relegated the Cardinals to third place behind both the Knights (6-2, 7-10) and an idle St. Helena squad (7-1).
In a no-love-lost game between these two long-standing Lake County rivals, Clear Lake scored a run in the top of the first inning and led the entire way although Kelseyville certainly made it interesting early on.
“I love beating these guys more than anything,” Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said. “It’s a great feeling.”
Kelseyville and Clear Lake split their two meetings a year ago, each winning at home, as the Knights went on to claim a third straight league championship. Clear Lake went on to win a North Coast Section runner-up pennant last season and is gunning for at least that again this year as well as its first NCL I crown since 2015.
The two teams find themselves in almost the opposite situation from a year ago – Clear Lake has the veteran squad this time around while Kelseyville has the young and up-and-coming squad.
“Early in the game we showed we could play with them,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said. “JD (Smart, sophomore starting pitcher) didn’t have the command he usually does.”
While Clear Lake can throw one of two aces at an opponent – either AJ Bruch, the winner on Wednesday, or Sawyer Smith, the hitting star on Wednesday – the Knights don’t haven’t developed the pitching depth, at least not yet, that they’ve had the last few seasons.
Clear Lake also has a big advantage in its starting lineup, which hits the ball up and down its batting order. Kelseyville’s hitting has come a long way since starting the season 1-9, but the Cardinals present a formidable challenge in pretty much all areas.
“We know that’s going to happen,” Shaul said of Clear Lake’s ability to generate offense from throughout its lineup. “We need to do a better job of putting the ball in to play. If we had done that today, it might have ended better for us. We’re never going to quit. Even when it was 6-2, we were still in it. We just need to keep believing in ourselves. With what we’ve got, we’re getting there.”
“We hit 1-9, everyone is doing their job,” Horne said of Clear Lake’s 14-hit attack.
Smith, who started in left field against Kelseyville, ended up 3-for-3 with two home runs – a two-run shot to left field in the fourth inning that gave the Cardinals a 5-2 lead and a grand slam to left field in the sixth that made it 12-2. Both were first-pitch home runs.
“Sawyer’s been hitting the ball real hard of late and he did it again today,” Horne said of the senior.
“Both of those home runs were legit,” Shaul said. “The second one (grand slam) was definitely out the moment it left the bat.”
Sawyer agreed.
“Once I saw the outfielder (Brayton Thomas) turn his back I knew it was gone,” Smith said.
The home runs were Sawyer’s first two of the season.
“That guy has had our number the last couple of seasons,” Shaul said.
Clear Lake jumped out to a 3-0 lead, getting a run in the top of the first on Ryken Villanueva’s two-out double, a shot down the left-field line, and two more in the second on a run-scoring throwing error by Kelseyville and Jesse Hayes’ two-out RBI double on which he was thrown out trying for a triple.
Kelseyville answered with two runs in the bottom half and just missed taking the lead. Thomas opened the inning with a single and Elijah Watkins doubled him home, ripping the ball down the left-field line. Michael Dougherty’s one-out single sent Watkins to third base and he scored when Deake Lyndall bounced into a force play at second base. JD Smart singled Lyndall over to third base with two outs. After Smart moved up to second on a wild pitch, Lyndall holding his ground at third, Case Pivniska launched a shot into the right-center field gap that Clear Lake center fielder Hayes ran down, saving two runs in the process, to end the inning.
The Knights turned a 6-4-3 double play in the top of the third to keep the score at 3-2.
Kelseyville put its leadoff man aboard in the bottom of the third as Carson Stone was hit by a Bruch pitch. The Knights tried to sacrifice him to second but couldn’t do it. Watkins drew a two-out walk to put two men aboard, but Bruch struck out Lyndall on three pitches to end the inning. All three outs in the inning were Bruch strikeouts.
Bruch then led off the top of the fourth with a single off the fence in left field, but he didn’t stay there long. Smith hit the next Smart pitch onto Park Street behind the left-field fence to make it 5-2. While the next two Clear Lake batters struck out, the Cardinals were able to scratch out another run when David Cruz was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Hayes’ shot into center field. Johnny Gonzales III followed with a walk before Zane McAuley lined out to left, Thomas making a diving catch to end the rally.
Bruch faced the minimum number of batters the rest of the way. He struck out two more in the fourth, sandwiching them around a hit batter that was erased on catcher McAuley’s pickoff throw to end the inning. In the fifth, Kelseyville’s Ryan Keithly backed up left fielder to the fence with a deep drive that Sawyer hauled in. Bruch retired the Knights 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth as well, the first two on strikeouts.
Clear Lake busted the game open in the top of the sixth as Lyndall replaced Smart on the mound. With one out, Cruz and Hayes hit back-to-back singles, and both scored on a Gonzales triple to right-center field. Walks to Villanueva and Bruch loaded the bases for Smith, who drove Lyndall’s first pitch high and deep to left for a grand slam. Clear Lake’s next two batters also reach base before Michael Dougherty, now working in relief of Lyndall, struck out birthday boy Russel Davis for the final out of the inning.
Hayes joined Smith with three hits while Bruch, Gonzales and Cruz had two hits apiece. Villanueva and Grayson had the other hits for the Cardinals.
Besides Thomas, Watkins, Dougherty and Smart, Stone also had a hit for Kelseyville.
Bruch allowed five hits while striking out 10 and walking one. Smart allowed six runs on nine hits, struck out four and walked four.
The same two teams are back it Friday in Lakeport. A Kelseyville win would move the Knights right back into the league title picture while another Clear Lake victory would put Kelseyville in a tough situation as far as winning some share of a fourth straight league championship.
“Clear Lake beat St. Helena pretty good the first time they played, but St. Helena was able to come with a win the next time,” Shaul said. “We need to do the same thing.”
GAME NOTES: Fearing that the Knights were stealing their signs early in the game, the Cardinals switched things up, according to Horne … “They didn’t do much against AJ after that,” he said … Both teams were issued warnings in the fourth inning because of the chatter from both benches … Kelseyville wanted interference called on a Clear Lake runner going into second base in the bottom of the second inning, which would have ended the inning with no runs scored. They didn’t get it … Kelseyville starting pitcher Smart picked off Smith after he walked to open the top of the second … Kelseyville and St. Helena have yet to meet this season just as Clear Lake and Fort Bragg have yet to play. Fort Bragg handed Clear Lake two of its three league losses a year ago … Sawyer Smith will start for Clear Lake against Kelseyville on Friday. Shaul hadn’t committed to a starter as of Wednesday.
