ST. HELENA — Coming off a rough 7-0 loss to Clear Lake on Tuesday, the Kelseyville Knights answered immediately with a five-run first inning against St. Helena and they went on to beat the Saints 9-4 in a North Central League I interlock softball game on Friday in St. Helena.
“The team I know is back,” Kelseyville coach Greg Giusti said. “They executed, they made plays, they played well.”
Winning pitcher Casey Bowlin scatted six hits, struck out six and walked none. She received plenty of support from an offense that banged out 11 hits.
“The middle and lower part of the batting order lit it up,” Giusti said. “I hope that”s the start of what we”re going to see the rest of the season.”
St. Helena closed to 6-4 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth but the Knights gave Bowlin some breathing room with three runs in the top of the seventh.
Katie Davis went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead Kelseyville (5-5), Jen Asbury went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Sara Johnson also went 2-for-4, and Amanda Mueller went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
Late-inning replacement Ashley Mueller tracked down a popup from her second base position to end the game.
“She had to run a long way to get it,” Giusti said. “She caught it right before it went out of play. It was a nice catch.”
Kelseyville hosts Upper Lake on Tuesday.
In other action Friday:
Lower Lake 15, Upper Lake 7
At Upper Lake, in a battle of two teams looking for their first win of the season, Lower Lake”s Darlena White smacked a three-run home run in the top of the fifth to snap a 1-1 tie and lead the Trojans past the Upper Lake Cougars in NCL I interlock action.
Lower Lake (1-8) scored six times in the top of the sixth to put the game away and make a winner of pitcher Kristen Garcia, who struck out seven and walked five in going the distance for the Trojans.
White finished the game 2-for-4 with five RBIs to lead Lower Lake at the plate. Danielle McKay went 3-for-4, Aleshia Barnard went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and Christine Powers went 2-for-3.
“The girls were excited,” Lower Lake coach Tim Sherrell said. “It was good to see their hard work pay off,” he added of the Trojans” initial win of 2008.
Rebecca Grupe and Taryn Re had three hits apiece for Upper Lake (0-4) and Noelle Collins and Jessica Swaney each had two.
“It was a really good game, they just outplayed us,” Upper Lake coach Kelly Coburn said. “Their pitching was just a little bit better than our pitching.”
Jackie Lovrin pitched the first six innings for Upper Lake and Swaney took over in the seventh.
Lower Lake hosts Cloverdale on Tuesday. Upper Lake travels to Kelseyville.
Cloverdale 8, Middletown 2
At Cloverdale, the Clover-dale Eagles beat Middletown in the opening round of the Cloverdale Tournament.
Game details and statistics were not reported to the Record-Bee.
The Mustangs are scheduled to play again today.
Middletown visits Clear Lake on Tuesday in NCL I interlock action.
