UPPER LAKE — Winning pitcher Freddy Olloqui doubled and homered — Clear Lake”s third home run in two games — and the Cardinals clinched a share of the North Central League I South varsity baseball championship with a 6-3 win over the Upper Lake Cougars on Thursday in Upper Lake.
Clear Lake, Cloverdale and St. Vincent all finished 6-2 in the South standings, but the Cardinals will advance to next week”s North Coast Section Class A playoffs as the league”s automatic representative based on a number-draw tiebreaker held earlier this season. St. Vincent and Cloverdale will apply for at-large berths at Sunday”s at-large and seeding meeting in Walnut Creek, where the Cardinals will find out who and where they are playing in first-round action on Wednesday.
“We”re crossing our fingers for a home game,” Clear Lake coach Brian Figg said. “I see us as going five or six (in seeding in the eight-team field).”
Clear Lake (6-2 South, 12-8 overall) wasted no time jumping on Upper Lake starter Jordan Hickey, who was roughed up for four runs in the top of the first inning. Olloqui homered to deep left field for the first run and Roman Rose, Bryan Strate and Mike Zimmerman added RBI singles.
“He got flustered right off the bat and we also made two errors behind him,” Upper Lake coach Joe Ogulin said of Hickey, who gave way to reliever Max Curtis in the second inning. “Max did a great job, too,” Ogulin added.
Curtis pitched the final six innings, striking out six and walking four.
The Cardinals went up 5-0 in the top of the second. Upper Lake (1-7, 8-15) closed to 5-2 with single runs in the second and third. Clear Lake added a run in the fifth and Upper Lake scored its final run in the sixth.
Olloqui worked the first four innings for the victory and Corey Dillon went the final three innings to get the save.
Jayce Meri went 1-for-3 with a RBI for Upper Lake.
In other baseball action Thursday:
Middletown 6, Kelseyville 5
At Middletown, after Kelseyville scored four runs in the top of the seventh to pull into a 5-5 tie, Middletown scored in the bottom of the inning on Travis Taylor”s one-out RBI single to beat the Knights in NCL I North action.
Middletown (3-5, 10-13) snapped a 1-1 tie with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, the big hit in the inning Zack Strickler”s three-run double. Kelseyville came roaring back in the seventh. Mike Duman hit a solo home run, Brandon Nielson singled home two runs and Scott Luis” RBI single tied the game at 5.
In the bottom of the seventh, winning pitcher Kelley McKinley led off with a single, stole second base with one out and scored on Taylor”s single to left field.
“It was a great way to end it,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said of the Mustangs” first one-run win of the season. “It kind of makes up for a lot of the close games we lost.”
Justin Woodd went 2-for-2 with a double and a RBI for Middletown. His RBI double in the bottom of the fourth tied the game at 1. McKinley and Taylor also finished with two hits apiece.
Duman went 2-for-4 for Kelseyville (3-5, 9-13).
Willits 14, Lower Lake 0
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans managed just three hits in their season-ending NCL I North loss to the Willits Wolverines (6-1), who host Fort Bragg (6-1) today in a game that will determine the league title.
The lopsided loss also marked Lower Lake coach Chris Denny”s final game as the Trojans” coach. The four-year veteran is officially calling it quits.
“I”m 100-percent sure,” Denny said. “I need some free time to myself. I”m tired with how things are done down here.”
Denny said he”s put more than $4,000 of his own money into the baseball program at the school and that he receives no support financial or otherwise from the school.
“Show me someone else who has to buy his own (expletive) game balls,” Denny said. “They”re not cheap.”
Joel Valencia went 2-for-3 in Lower Lake”s final game. The Trojans went 1-7 in the North standings and 5-17 overall.
Softball
Lower Lake 10, Willits 3
At Lower Lake, Katie Munch pitched a complete-game six-hitter in her final Lower Lake game and the Trojans beat the Willits Wolverines in the NCL I North finale for both teams.
Following the victory, Lower Lake coach Joe Parker said he will not return for a fifth season as the Trojans” coach.
“I”m not returning,” Parker said. “I”ve got two little ones at home and I need to spend some time with them.”
Lower Lake improved to 3-5 in the North standings and 4-17 overall.
Munch, one of six seniors playing their final game for Lower Lake, struck out five and walked four. Among the team”s other seniors, Morgan Meadows went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs, Kamie Mederos went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Kayla Behler went 2-for-4, Danielle Burke went 1-for-4 and Jessica Reising walked twice to force in two runs.
Kelseyville 4, Middletown 3
At Middletown, Kelsey Sills” single ignited a three-run fifth inning that wiped out a Middletown 3-1 lead and lifted the Kelseyville Knights to a season-ending NCL I North victory over the Mustangs.
Middletown finished 4-4 in league play and 9-15 overall, while Kelseyville concludes the season 3-5 in league and 5-16 overall.
“We played well, they played well and we just happened to come out on top,” Kelseyville coach Greg Giusti said. “It was a great way to end it. This is a great bunch of kids.”
Lauren Giusti went 2-for-3 with a RBI for the Knights and Sarah Johnson went 3-for-4.
Alicia Siri went 3-for-4 with a RBI for Middletown.
“We made one major error in the (Kelseyville) fifth,” Middletown coach Lisa Rogers said. “It would have been the third out of the inning, but they went on to score three runs.”
Winning pitcher Casey Bowlin struck out eight and walked two.
She worked out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth when the Mustangs had runners at second and third with one out, getting a comebacker to the mound and a strikeout.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jacquie Tobin lined a shot up the middle that nearly hit Bowlin in the face, but she gloved the ball at the last second.
“If she hadn”t, her nose would have been out the back of her neck,” Rogers said. “It was one heck of a shot.”
