UPPER LAKE — Getting back-to-back complete games from Joey Ogulin and Billy Binns, the Upper Lake Cougars swept South Fork High School in a non-league varsity baseball doubleheader on Saturday in Upper Lake.
As a result, the Cougars won their fifth and sixth games of the season — they”re 6-2 overall — and the last Upper Lake team to win that many games was the 2002 squad, which finished 7-16.
The last time the Cougars had a winning record? They went 17-9 in 2001 under former head coach Ralph Ware.
Pitching and defense were both strengths for the Cougars against South Fork, a good omen for head coach Joe Ogulin, whose team has been swinging the bat well of late.
“We”re coming around with that,” Ogulin said of his team”s pitching. “And we had only one error in two games, which is a big improvement.”
In the opener, Joey Ogulin tossed a three-hitter and struck out 11. After spotting South Fork a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Ogulin blanked the Cubs the rest of the way. Upper Lake pulled even with single runs in the first and third innings and surged ahead with a six-run fourth.
In addition to earning the win on the mound, Ogulin went 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Jose Barnes went 2-for-4 and Jordan Hickey went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
In game two, Upper Lake again used a big fourth inning to push ahead to stay. The Cougars scored four times to snap a 1-1 tie.
Winning pitcher Binns scattered four hits and struck out four.
Barnes came back with another two-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a RBI. Hickey and Josh Stuckert each added a hit and a RBI.
The Cougars are off this week and return to action Monday in Lower Lake at 4 p.m.
