Kelseyville continues mastery of St. Helena with 7-2 victory at Lloyd Larson Field
Lake County Sports on Facebook
KELSEYVILLE >> It’s probably a fair bet to say the St. Helena Saints have had enough of the Kelseyville Knights.
Kelseyville beat St. Helena for the third time in nine days and the ninth straight time dating back to 2022 on Wednesday afternoon, snapping a 2-2 tie with a five-run bottom of the sixth inning for a 7-2 victory in a North Central League I tiebreaker elimination game at Lloyd Larson Field.
The Knights (13-11) defeated the Saints (16-9) twice last week – 4-1 at Kelseyville and 7-4 at St. Helena – to finish in a three-way tie with St. Helena and Clear Lake atop the NCL I standings. Since only one league team can advance to next week’s North Coast Section playoffs as the league’s automatic representative, the three teams are participating in a tiebreaker to determine who gets the automatic berth, which will go to the winner of Thursday’s game between Kelseyville and Clear Lake, with first pitch at 5 p.m. in Lakeport. All three tri-champs will be participating in the sectional playoffs next week, though it’s unlikely they’ll all end up in the same division.
A team that started the 2026 season 1-9, the Knights have gone 12-2 since. The only two losses in that stretch were to Clear Lake as the Cardinals 10-runned the Knights both times in late April.
“The momentum is different this time,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said of a third meeting this season with Clear Lake. “Besides, this is baseball, so anything can happen.”
Added Shaul, “It’s not a game we have to win because it won’t be the end of our season if we lose, but a win should help us (in the playoffs). It might even mean getting a home game.”
Shaul said all three of his team’s wins over St. Helena followed different storylines, and the Knights found a way to win all of them. On Wednesday, they ran into a Saints pitcher they hadn’t faced before (Julian Earls), struggled early, but rallied to win the game.
“We struggled a little bit timing his fastball,” Shaul said of Earls, who had allowed just two runs entering the sixth inning.
Case Pivniska led off the Kelseyville sixth with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on a groundout before scoring what proved to be the winning run on Brayton Thomas’ suicide-squeeze bunt. The Knights added to their 3-2 lead on RBI hits by Elijah Watkins, Reese Johnson, who came off the bench to double, Michael Dougherty and Deake Lyndall.
While the middle of Kelseyville’s batting order had been highly productive of late, other sports in the lineup came through Wednesday, according to a Shaul, a trend he’s all for. Lyndall went 2-for-4 with two RBIs out of the leadoff position and also dazzled in the field at shortstop, according to Shaul, with two defensive gems in the top of the sixth inning.
“Deake made some great plays,” Shaul said.
Winning pitcher Carson Stone blanked the Saints over the final three innings while also going 2-for-3 at the plate.
“Stone threw strikes,” Shaul said of the sophomore who allowed four hits, struck out on and walked none.
JD Smart worked the first four innings and left with the game with the score tied 2-2.
St. Helena scored single runs in the top of the third and fourth, with Kelseyville answering with runs in the bottom halves of those innings. The Knights scored on a Lyndall single in the third and a passed ball in the fourth to tie it up at 2-2.
Kelseyville, Clear Lake, St. Helena and fourth-place NCL I finisher Fort Bragg will all learn their playoff fates Sunday when the section releases playoff brackets in all divisions.
“It looks like we’ll be in five (Division 5) and I think Clear Lake will be in four,” Shaul said. “But who knows?”
The sectional playoffs open on Tuesday or Wednesday depending on division.
GAME NOTES: Smart allowed five hits, two runs (one earned) while striking out seven and walking two during his four innings on the mound … It will be interesting to see how the All-North Central League I team shakes out with three teams sharing the title this year … Kelseyville and Clear Lake will again be the county’s only representatives in the playoffs. Middletown came close while Lower Lake and Upper Lake tied for last place in the NCL I … Kelseyville went 1-1 in the Division 3 playoffs a year ago while Clear Lake went 3-1 in the Division 4 playoffs, losing to Las Lomas in the championship game.