KELSEYVILLE — It could have been Casey Bowlin Appreciation Day on Friday at Kelseyville High School, where the Knights rallied with two sixth-inning runs to hand the Fort Bragg Timberwolves their first North Central League I North softball loss of the season, 2-1.
Bowlin pitched all seven innings for the Knights (3-2 North, 10-11 overall), who moved back into the league race with the win. She scattered six hits, struck out two and walked two.
“Bowlin pitched a pearl,” Kelseyville coach Greg Giusti said of his senior”s gem.
And if that wasn”t enough, Bowlin also had what proved to be the game-winning hit, a two-run bloop double into left field in the bottom of the sixth that wiped out a 1-0 Fort Bragg lead that had stood since the top of the second.
“She got the game ball,” Giusti said. “She certainly deserved it.”
Sara Johnson”s one-out double, a hit that kicked up chalk down the right-field line, got the Knights rolling in the bottom of the sixth. Megan Andre and Allyson Brown then drew walks against Fort Bragg ace Courtney Doeding to load the bases, setting the stage for Bowlin.
“She lifted one off her shoe tops,” Giusti said of Bowlin”s hit, a flair that went just beyond the Fort Bragg shortstop”s reach in shallow left field.
Johnson raced home with the tying run and Andre scored right behind her to give the Knights a 2-1 lead. Brown was thrown out at the plate.
“They made a perfect play to get her,” Giusti said.
Bowlin issued a one-out walk in the top of the seventh but retired the next two batters on popups to second base and the mound.
“Both pitchers were on, it was a classic pitcher”s duel,” Giusti said. “We played the game I knew they were capable of playing.”
Doeding struck out five and walked three.
As a result of Kelseyville”s win, Fort Bragg and Middletown now share the North lead at 4-1, with the Knights one game back. Middletown has one game remaining with Fort Bragg and Kelseyville has a game left against Middletown.
The Knights travel to Willits on Tuesday.
