LAKEPORT — Clutch hits are becoming commonplace for the Clear Lake High School softball team.
One day after Brittany Rumfelt delivered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to beat the Cloverdale Eagles 4-3, the Clear Lake Cardinals rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to stun the St. Vincent Mustangs, by the same 4-3 score, in a North Central League I South thriller on a warm Wednesday afternoon in Lakeport.
But it was a different hero this time around. Freshman Kaila Sterbank, a slap hitter who bats second in the Clear Lake order, dug in at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh and her team trailing 3-2. St. Vincent ace Shawna Hettrich quickly jumped ahead in the count 0-2, but Sterbank worked the count full to set the stage for another dramatic Cardinal win.
Sterbank punched Hettrich s 3-2 pitch over third base. The ball, which had some side spin, landed four inches fair and about eight feet behind the bag. And then it took a most fortuitous bounce for the Cardinals, kicking into foul territory as Kacie Hinchcliff scored the tying run and Julie Jackson slid home right behind her with the game winner.
A game like that under a lot of pressure is how you learn how to fight and scrap, Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said of Sterbank s big hit. You either learn to do it or you don t.
Pickle said he didn t have any special advice for his shortstop before facing Hettrich with the game on the line.
I just told her to do what she does everyday in practice … hit the ball and put it into play, Pickle said. But I couldn t have thrown the ball in a better position than where she hit it. That was perfectly placed.
Sterbank s hit was a welcome relief for Clear Lake, which didn t generate much in the way of offense until the seventh. In fact, the Cardinals had only two hits in the first six innings against Hettrich, one of them Rumfelt s RBI single in the bottom of the first. Rumfelt and the Cardinals nursed that 1-0 lead most of the afternoon and it looked like it might be enough, but then the Clear Lake defense broke down in the top of the sixth and the Mustangs took full advantage, scoring three times.
We were kind of our own worst enemy, Pickle said. Once you open a door for a good team they re going to go right through it. We let them hang around and you can t do that.
While the Cardinals committed only one error on the day — and that didn t cost them a run — a couple of breakdows in other areas certainly did.
Rumfelt sandwiched stri-keouts around a single to Brittany Perez in the sixth before the roof caved in. Alex Shaeffer punched the ball into right field and the Cardinals had a play on her at first but failed to cover the bag, putting runners at first and second. That brought cleanup hitter Dannille Frisk to the plate and while Pickle considered walking her, he decided not to.
We had gotten her the first two times up, Pickle said.
Frisk hit a high flyball into medium-deep left field that dropped untouched next to a Clear Lake outfielder who simply got turned around on the play. Perez and Shaeffer, who were running with two outs, easily scored to make it a 2-1 game as Frisk pulled into second with a gift double. Danielle Garcia followed with a single past the outstretched glove of Sterbank and into left field to score Frisk and make it 3-1.
Sterbank singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth but the Cardinals couldn t generate anything.
St. Vincent picked up a leadoff single in the top of the seventh — that off the bat of Hettrich (2-for-3) — but nothing came of it.
In the bottom of the seventh, with Hettrich about to face the 5-6-7 batters in the Clear Lake order, St. Vincent must have been feeling pretty good.
The feeling didn t last.
Amanda Espinoza lined a single into left field to open the inning and then Hettrich plunked pinch-hitter Tasha Herrera and Hinchcliff with fastballs, loading the bases with no outs. Julie Jackson then hit a first-pitch comebacker to Hettrich, who threw home for the forceout. With the No. 9 batter due up, Pickle sent pinch-hitter Candy Diener to the plate and she walked on five pitches to force in Herrera from third base. Emilee Meyer went down swinging for the second out.
That brought Hinchcliff to the plate. She fell behind 0-2 before working the count full and delivering the game-winning hit, sending the Clear Lake bench into a joyous celebration for the second day in a row.
We were a little flatter today, a little sluggish after Cloverdale, Pickle admitted. Cloverdale has been a league rival for years, so we put a lot into that game.
But that s about as close to living on the edge as you can be, Pickle said of his team s back-to-back emotional victories. And we re still not playing as well as we should be. What that tells me is that we can be a really good team if we put it all together.
Rumfelt finished with eight strikeouts and no walks for Clear Lake (3-0 South, 8-1 overall), while Hettrich had six strikeouts and two walks for St. Vincent, which was making its South debut.
Hettrich, Perez and Garcia had two hits apiece for the Mustangs, who out-hit the Cardinals 8-5. Sterbank (2-for-4) was the only Clear Lake player with more than one hit.
