LAKEPORT — Yes, they went 27-0 a year ago. And yes, the Clear Lake Cardinals won their 2008 softball opener on Friday, beating the visiting Lower Lake Trojans 12-1 in a game called in the bottom of the fifth inning because of the 10-run rule.
And yes, if you add those two things together the Cardinals are on a 28-game winning streak since their last loss in the 2006 North Coast Section playoffs.
Still, if you ask Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle about the Cardinals” solid run, he”ll bring his new math to bare ? in a hurry.
“We”re 1-0,” Pickle said after the Cardinals turned in an error-free effort in their debut. “I”m happy with the way we played. It was a good outing for a first game.”
Taking advantage of their speed on the basepaths and a steady eye at the plate ? Clear Lake drew 11 walks ? the Cardinals scored six times in the bottom of the second and added to their lead from there. They picked up three runs in the third, one in the fourth and two more in the fifth, at which point the game was called.
While Clear Lake has several key veterans back from last year”s sectional championship squad, the Cardinals had to contend with some butterflies as well as the Trojans, according to Pickle.
“You wouldn”t think so but they were jittery, even my veterans,” Pickle said. “You can practice and scrimmage teams, but when the first game rolls around it changes everything. It was good to get that first game underneath us.”
The Cardinals used both of their sophomore pitchers against Lower Lake. Winner Liz Sanderson worked the first three innings, shutting out the Trojans on one hit. She struck out two and walked none. Rylie Gabehart relieved and allowed one run while striking out two and walking two.
Pickle said he might rotate his two pitchers just as he did in the late 1990s and early 2000s with Erin Gatton and Brittany Mills.
“They compliment each other pretty well,” Pickle said of Sanderson, who relies more on control and ball movement, and the hard-throwing Gabehart.
Julie Jack-son went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Samantha Espinoza went 1-for-2 with a triple, RBI and two runs for the Cardinals (1-0). Candy Diener also had a triple and leadoff hitter Kaila Sterbank scored three times.
Losing pitcher Brittany Shores led off the game with a double down the right-field line for the Trojans” lone hit. Lower Lake scored without aid of a hit in the top of the fifth as Aleshia Barnard, who walked to open the inning, eventually scored on a grounder by Kristen Garcia.
“They played hard the whole game,” Pickle said of the young Lower Lake squad under the direction of first-year coach Tim Sherrell. “I think he”s doing a good job with that young team. He has a really good demeanor about him. And they didn”t make a lot of mistakes.”
