FORT BRAGG — Worried that his team would let down after a draining 12-11 win over Maria Carrillo on Wednesday in Lakeport, Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle watched the Cardinals push 11 runs across the plate in the first two innings Friday in an 11-1 non-league softball victory over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves at Fort Bragg.
The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
If there was a letdown, it came after Clear Lake (4-1) scored five runs in the top of the first and six runs in the second for an 11-0 lead.
“We jumped on them real early and then let down a little bit,” Pickle said.
Clear Lake bunched its hits together in the first two innings, including back-to-back triples by Katie Reynolds and Vanessa Tullos in the top of the first.
“We stung the ball really well,” Pickle said.
Winning pitcher Liz Sanderson shut out the Timberwolves until the bottom of the fifth when they scored an unearned run. She struck out four and walked one.
Reynolds, Tullos and Corinne McKinney drove in two runs apiece for the Cardinals.
Clear Lake opens its North Central League I South schedule Tuesday at Cloverdale at 4 p.m.
In other softball action Friday:
Calistoga 8, Lower Lake 6
At Lower Lake, the Trojans couldn”t beat Calistoga for the second time in two days, falling to the Wildcats in a mistake-filled non-league game.
Less than 24 hours after beating the Wildcats 6-2 at Calistoga, the Trojans couldn”t duplicate that feat on their homefield, where they committed nine errors to Calistoga”s six.
“We were lucky it was that close,” Lower Lake coach Tim Sherrell said of the final score. “We made too many errors and we gave up too many runs early. We”re not the kind of team that can do that.”
Losing pitcher Kristen Garcia struggled with her control, walking 10 and striking out six. Winning pitcher Nicole Taylor struck out 10 and didn”t walk a batter.
Lower Lake (4-4) trailed 6-1 at one point but battled back to tie the game at 6-6. Calistoga broke the tie with two runs in the top of the seventh.
Darlena White went 3-for-4 for the Trojans, Jessica Wilson went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, and Danielle McKay went 1-for-4 with a double.
The Trojans are off until next Friday when they host St. Vincent at 4 p.m.
Middletown 12, Geyserville 1
At Geyserville, winning pitcher Jen Emberson allowed just four hits, all singles, and Kayla Dilks drove in six runs as the Middletown Mustangs improved to 3-1 with a rout of the Geyserville Bronchos.
The game was called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.
Dilks, who hits third in Middletown”s batting order, went 4-for-4 with two doubles and also scored three times as the Mustangs banged out a total of 16 hits. Cleanup hitter Alicia Siri went 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI.
“They”re all vying for that MVP,” Middletown coach Lisa Rogers said.
Even Emberson got into the act with three hits, one of them a double.
On the mound, Emberson struck out one and walked one.
The Mustangs host El Molino on Tuesday and St. Helena on Friday, both games at 4 p.m.
Berean Christian 7, Kelseyville 2
At Kelseyville, Megan Dalton scattered four hits and struck out seven in six innings as undefeated Berean Christian High School of Walnut Creek beat the Kelseyville Knights in non-league action.
Kelseyville freshman pitcher Sabrina Lyon kept the Knights (1-3) close most of the way. She allowed only one run in the first four innings and trailed only 3-0 after five innings.
“You could see her tire around the fifth inning, but she hung in there really well,” Kelseyville coach Greg Giusti said.
Berean Christian (5-0) broke the game open with a four-run sixth to go up 7-0. Three of those runs scored on Lauren Baggett”s bases-loaded triple. The Knights got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning.
Lyon struck out eight and walked two. Eight of the 11 hits she allowed came after the fifth inning.
“We played very well today other than a couple of bonehead popup errors,” Giusti said. “The kids should hold their heads up high because that (Berean Chrisian) is a very good team.”
Sarah Johnson went 2-for-2 with two RBIs for the Knights. Skyler Olsen and Ty Van Housen had the other Kelseyville hits.
A scheduled doubleheader today between Kelseyville and St. Bernard has been canceled because the weather forecast is calling for rain. The Knights travel to Ursuline on Tuesday and return home a week from today to take on Salesian.
