LAKEPORT — It turns out the Clear Lake Cardinals are the class of the North Central League I South after all. There”s no debating that point after their 2-0 victory over the St. Vincent Mustangs on a warm Tuesday afternoon in Lakeport.
With the win, Clear Lake (7-0 league, 23-0 overall) clinches the outright South softball title and moves to within a single victory of a perfect regular season. The Cardinals can accomplish that feat with a win over the Upper Lake Cougars (0-7 league, 7-12 overall) on Thursday in Upper Lake, the final league game for both teams.
“I”ve never done it before,” said Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle, now in his 15th season, on going undefeated in the regular season. “I know the girls really want it.”
With the start of the North Coast Section Class A playoffs just a week away, Pickle said the win over St. Vincent was the ideal tuneup for postseason play.
“It was the perfect game for us to play so close to the playoffs,” Pickle said. “It made us play well under pressure.”
St. Vincent is the only South team that has pushed Clear Lake hard this season. The Mustangs lost 2-1 to the Cardinals back on April 18 in Petaluma, a game in which Cardinal batters struck out 14 times against losing pitcher Shawna Hettrich. On Tuesday, Hettrich struck out only seven.
“We cut our strikeouts in half against her,” Pickle said. “We scored a hard two runs, meaning we hit the ball hard all day but they (Mustangs) made some nice plays on defense.”
As did the Cardinals.
“(Kacie) Hinchcliff made at least three nice plays at second base that bailed us out and Emilee (Meyer) made a sliding catch in right field (to take away a St. Vincent run),” Pickle said.
Winning pitcher Brittany Rumfelt scattered four hits and worked out of jams in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings as the Mustangs moved runners into scoring position all three innings with less than two outs. One of St. Vincent”s biggest threats came in the top of the sixth with a runner at third and one out, but Rumfelt struck out consecutive batters to end the inning.
After getting a leadoff double in the top of the seventh, the Mustangs again found themselves in business after a one-out passed ball moved the runner to third. But that”s when Meyer made a sliding catch in shallow right field for the second out. The runner tagged up on the play but left the bag early, then scrambled back to third as Meyer”s throw came back into the infield. Rumfelt struck out the next batter to end the game, her 12th strikeout on the day.
Clear Lake took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded and two outs, Samantha Espinoza struck out but the ball got away from the St. Vincent catcher, and Espinoza reached first safely as pinch-runner Maurie Jordan crossed the plate.
The Cardinals scored again in the third on back-to-back one-out singles by Julie Jackson and Rumfelt, a walk to Haley Sanderson that loaded the bases, and a Candy Diener RBI single.
Clear Lake should have had another run in the bottom of the fifth when slap hitter Kaila Sterbank swung away instead against a drawn-in St. Vincent infield and outfield, launching the ball to the fence in right-center field. As she was approaching third and Pickle was shouting “Go! Go! Go!,” Sterbank hesitated as she rounded third and slowed, thinking her coach was saying “No! No! No!” She then continued on toward the plate was but tagged out on a close play.
“If she doesn”t stop, she scores standing up,” Pickle said of his leadoff hitter, who just missed hitting her third home run of the season, which would have tied Rumfelt for the team lead.
Jackson, Clear Lake”s catcher, went 3-for-3 for the Cardinals and Diener finished 2-for-3. Hinchcliff went 1-for-3 with a double to the base of the fence in left field in the second inning.
