NAPA — Spotty play in the outfield and inconsistent play overall hurt the Clear Lake Cardinals in a 6-3 loss to Justin-Siena during a non-league softball game on Saturday in Napa.
While the Cardinals (2-1) were able to battle back from a 3-0 first-inning deficit to knot the score at 3-3 on Rebecca Baker”s RBI grounder in the top of the sixth, the Braves moved ahead to stay with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, fueled by an error, a misplayed ball in the outfield, and some timely hitting by the Braves, who are no strangers to the postseason.
“They have a pretty darn good team,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said of the Justin-Siena squad, now 3-1 on the season. “When they had their opportunities they bunched them.”
The hardest part of the loss for Pickle to stomach was the play of his outfielders, who struggled all game.
“There were eight fly balls and we caught two of them,” Pickle said. “We should have caught five of them. We seem to let everything get over our heads.”
The Braves wasted no time getting the lead, scoring three times in their half of the first inning. It remained a 3-0 game until Clear Lake struck for two runs in the top of the fifth. The Cardinals tied it with a run in the sixth and might have taken the lead had it not been for some stellar glove work by Braves shortstop Haley Breakwell, who made two outstanding plays to hold the damage to a single run.
“We did a pretty good job of battling back,” Pickle said.
Losing pitcher Liz Sanderson fell behind Justin-Siena”s leadoff batter in the sixth, throwing three straight balls. Forced to come in with a fastball, Sanderson was tagged for a triple that ignited the Braves” three-run, game-winning rally.
“The first five innings she pitched really well,” Pickle said of Sanderson, who went the distance on the mound, striking out five and walking one.
Mori Jordan was the only Clear Lake hitter with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a triple that would have driven in a run in the top of the sixth had not Breakwell made a great play one batter earlier against Corinne McKinney, robbing her of a single by gloving a blooper headed into left field.
“That was a real nice play,” Pickle said.
It doesn”t get any easier for the Cardinals on Wednesday when they host Maria Carrillo of Santa Rosa at 4 p.m.
