KELSEYVILLE — Devin Callen”s two-run triple to the fence in right field gave Upper Lake a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Ferndale Wildcats rallied for a 5-4 win in a non-league varsity baseball game on Saturday at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville.
It was the second game of a split doubleheader for the Wildcats, who smacked Kelseyville 13-3 earlier in the day.
Upper Lake starting pitcher Jordan Hickey took a shutout into the sixth inning and gave up two runs. He left the game in the top of the seventh after allowing three straight one-out singles that loaded the bases.
Callen relieved and walked home two straight runs. He then made a nice play on defense on a slowly hit ball between the mound and the first-base line, diving for the ball and tagging out the runner, but the Wildcats scored what proved to be the winning run on the play.
Upper Lake (5-5) went quietly in the bottom of the seventh.
“We really wanted to get this one,” Upper Lake head coach Don Meri said. “Moral victories don”t count for much.”
Neither team committed an error, something that impressed Meri.
“As cleanly played a game as you can get,” Meri said. “Our cleanest ballgame of the year by far.”
Jayce Meri and James Eubanks drove in runs early in the game as the Cougars jumped ahead 2-0. Callen”s triple in the fourth made it 4-0 and Upper Lake threatened to add its lead in the fifth.
“But we couldn”t scratch one across,” Meri said.
The Cougars open play in the Rincon Valley Christian Tournament on Thursday when they play Tomales at 1 p.m. at Doyle Park in Santa Rosa. Upper Lake went 1-2 in the small-school tournament a year ago.
