Kelseyville returns home Friday to play Concord in Division 5 quarterfinals
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SAN FRANCISCO >> A five-run top of the sixth snapped a 2-2 tie and lifted the Kelseyville Knights to a 7-2 upset victory over No. 6-seeded Stuart Hall in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 5 baseball playoffs Tuesday afternoon at San Francisco State University.
Kelseyville’s win combined with No. 14 Concord’s 5-3 road victory Tuesday against No. 3 seed Fort Bragg means that the Knights return home Friday to play Concord (9-15) in the quarterfinal round at 5 p.m.
On a day of first-round upsets in Division 5 – the Nos. 11, 12, 13 and 14 seeds all won – Kelseyville (14-12) continued its late-season surge, winning for the 13th time in last 16 games (all three losses were to Clear Lake).
“As of now, we got what we want; another day of baseball and a home game, which is pretty cool,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said.
Kelseyville never trailed against Stuart Hall, the Bay County West runner-up. Both teams scored in the top of the first, the Knights pushing across a run on a Carson Stone RBI groundout following back-to-back singles by Deake Lyndall (3-for-4) and winning pitcher JD Smart (4-for-4).
After Stuart Hall tied it in the bottom of the first, Kelseyville moved back ahead 2-1 in the second on consecutive one-out singles by Ryan Keithly, Michael Dougherty and Lyndall, who drove in the first of his two runs on the day.
Stuart Hall (14-7) pulled even in the bottom of the third, and that’s where the score remained until Kelseyville’s bats broke loose in the sixth. Brayton Thomas led off with a walk, stole second and remained there when Elijah Watkins reached on an error by the shortstop. Keithly’s RBI single put Kelseyville ahead – to stay as things turned out. Max Lee advanced both runners with a groundout, and Dougherty was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Lyndall, who singled home a run to make it 4-2. Smart’s two-run double made it 6-2 and Case Pivniska’s sacrifice fly scored the fifth and final run of the inning … The Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 seeds all lost in the first round, and No. 1 Montgomery had a bye. Healdsburg was the only high-seed survivor.
Smart and Kelseyville’s did the rest, blanking Stuart Hall, who also have Knights for a mascot, the final four innings.
“He pitched pretty well today,” Shaul said of Smart, who scattered six hits, allowed only one earned run, struck out nine and walked two. “Only one hitter gave him trouble. Their No. 2 hitter had both of their RBIs.”
Kelseyville racked up 12 hits – the top two batters (Lyndall and Smart) combining for seven of them as well as driving in four runs). The Knights also received two hits apiece from Keithly and Thomas, a Dougherty single as well productive outs from Stone and Pivniska.
“Seven hits from those two and productive outs from others is pretty much all you can ask for,” Shaul said. “JD has been in a little bit of a slump, so it was nice to see him have a day.”
Added Shaul, “I was happy with the effort.”
Both teams committed a single error.
Kelseyville, one of three champions in the North Central League I this season as the Knights shared the title with St. Helena, a 5-4 winner over Sonoma Academy in another first-round Division 5 game Tuesday, and Clear Lake, which plays Moreau Catholic out of Hayward in a Division 4 game Wednesday in Lakeport at 5 p.m., can advance to the semifinals against either No. 2 Healdsburg (18-8) or No. 7 Sonoma Valley (13-12) with a victory Friday against Concord. Kelseyville lost 2-1 to Healdsburg on March 6 in Healdsburg, and the two teams would end up back at Recreation Park in Healdsburg if both win Friday.
“First we’ve got to get past a pretty good team in Concord, a Division 3 team,” Shaul said. “We’re not looking that far ahead.”
TEAM NOTES: Kelseyville also reached the sectional quarterfinals in 2023, 2024 and last season, losing all three times, once to Marin Catholic and twice to Justin-Siena … While the Knights have won a ton of league titles under a handful of different head coaches dating back to the late 1970s, their last section title came in 1981. The last time any North Central League I team won a section championship was Clear Lake in 1998 … League coaches selected the All-North Central League I team Monday, results coming soon … One of Friday’s quarterfinals pairs No. 13 St. Patrick/St. Vincent at No. 12 St. Helena. No. 1 Montgomery also hosts No. 8 Branson.
