KELSEYVILLE — Mike Duman had a nearly perfect opener for the Kelseyville Knights as they handled the Upper Lake Cougars 11-1 in a non-league varsity baseball game on Tuesday in Kelseyville.
The hard-throwing senior right-hander dominated the young Cougars, working three scoreless and hitless innings to pick up the victory. He struck out five and walked one. Justin Lilly worked the final two innings of the 10-run-rule shortened contest, allowing the Cougars their only hit, a lead-off single by Brandon Bills in the top of the fifth. Bills later scored Upper Lake”s lone run.
“He had pretty good velocity and threw a lot of strikes,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said of Duman, who also went 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles. “He was pumping strikes in there all day and that gave us a lift.”
While Duman was giving Upper Lake hitters a steady dose of strikes, Kelseyville hitters were watching a steady flow of balls from three Upper Lake pitchers, who walked a combined 10.
“I was pretty happy with our discipline at the plate,” Poloni said. “We were just hitting strikes. We were being unselfish in getting the next guy to the plate.”
Kelseyville scored in all five innings, getting three runs in the first, one in the second, two in each of the third and fourth innings, and three more in the fifth. Lilly went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.
Devin Callen, the first of three Upper Lake pitchers, was charged with the loss after one-plus innings.
Upper Lake returns to action today at home against Calistoga at 4 p.m. Kelseyville opens play in the Oroville Tournament on Friday. The Knights face Red Bluff at 11:30 a.m. at Las Plumas High School. The tournament concludes on Saturday.
Middletown 13, Tomales 12
At Middletown, Johnny Harmyk”s second two-run single of the game, this one with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, capped a three-run rally that propelled the Mustangs past the Tomales Braves in a wild non-league game at Wes Martin Field.
Middletown let a 9-5 lead slip away in the top of the fifth when Tomales scored five times to go up 10-9. Dylan Pastor”s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth knotted the score at 10, but a two-out, two-run home run by Stan Moody in the top of the seventh, a blast that landed on top of the announcer”s booth at the adjacent football field, put the Braves back on top at 12-10.
Middletown”s rally in the bottom of the seventh opened with Eric Tomko”s single. He advanced to second on a Zach Strickler single and scored when Tomales dropped a flyball off the bat of John Hays. Strickler moved up to third and Hays to second on the error, but Harmyk”s single into left field chased home both runners to end the game.
Harmyk also had a two-run single in the first inning when the Mustangs built a 4-0 lead behind starting pitcher Devin Nordin.
“Nordin pitched well, it”s too bad he didn”t get the win,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said. “He didn”t get a lot of defensive support.”
Nordin left the game with one out in the top of the fifth. Daniel Sallee, who pitched the final 2 2/3 innings, picked up the win.
Moody”s home run was one of two hit by Tomales players — Brett Bell had the other — and both shots landed on top of the football announcer”s booth.
“I”ll give Tomales credit, they came out swinging,” Tucker said.
Bell and Moody, the Braves” Nos. 3-4 hitters, were a combined 5-for-9 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs.
And speaking of hot, Middletown lead-off hitter Tomko, who finished the game 3-for-3, has reached base safely in his first nine plate appearances of 2009 (he”s also walked six times). Tomko also scored three times as did Strickler (2-for-4).
Middletown (2-0) travels to Petaluma on Friday to play St. Vincent at 4 p.m.
