LAKEPORT — Brittany Rumfelt s second home run of the game, a two-out solo blast in the bottom of the 11th inning, lifted the Clear Lake Cardinals to a dramatic 4-3 win over the Cloverdale Eagles in a North Central League I South softball battle on Tuesday in Lakeport.
Rumfelt also pitched all 11 innings for the victory, striking out 16 and walking one. Her counterpart, Cloverdale s Vanessa Fitzgerald, also went the distance, striking out 11 and walking two.
Rumfelt s first home run, a laser shot over the right-field fence in the bottom of the sixth, tied the game at 3-all. She just missed a home run in the bottom of the ninth, driving a Fitzgerald pitch to the wall in left field.
The bases were empty with two outs in the bottom of the 11th when Rumfelt walked to the plate. Instead of intentionally walking her, the Eagles elected to pitch around her and a 2-1 pitch caught too much of the outside corner. Rumfelt smacked a high flyball over the left-field fence.
It s the first time I ve had a player hit two home runs in one game, said longtime Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle, who also enjoyed his first walk-off win. To put it very mildly, we were excited (after Rumfelt s game-winning homer) and they (Eagles) were not.
Emilee Meyer went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI for Clear Lake (2-0 South, 7-1 overall).
Rumfelt made the most of a well-established strike zone to ring up her 16 strikeouts, according to Pickle.
They actually outplayed us today, Pickle said of the Eagles. But we won the game.
