MIDDLETOWN — It was a long day and a painful one for the Middletown Mustangs on Thursday as they fell 14-1 to the Clear Lake Cardinals in a North Central League I interlock softball game that actually ended not once but twice.
Losing pitcher Jen Emberson got off to a rough start in the top of the first inning when Clear Lake”s Corinne McKinney lined a ball off her right knee.
“It was a shot,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said. “It dropped her like a rock, but she made the play and then went back down. She”s got a lot of moxie.”
Emberson was able to continue but wasn”t the same pitcher the rest of the day, according to Middletown coach Lisa Rogers. “I don”t think it truly started kicking until the fourth inning. She lost a lot off the ball and couldn”t push off her power leg.”
Clear Lake, leading 3-0 after three innings, chased Emberson from the game during a six-run fourth inning that featured a pair of two-run home runs — the first by Vanessa Tullos (3-for-4, 3 RBIs) and the second by Kaila Sterbank (2-for-4, 3 RBIs). The Cardinals opened the fourth with five straight hits, including the two home runs that were sandwiched around a triple by Heather White (3-for-4).
The Cardinals (10-2) picked up another run in the fifth to go up 10-0. Middletown (5-6) answered with its lone run in the bottom of the inning, set up by a Hollie Hough triple, one of only two hits allowed by winning pitcher Liz Sanderson.
The game nearly ended at that point because the umpires were told the Cardinals had a 10-run lead instead of a nine-run advantage. The umpires were about to leave when the mistake was corrected and play continued. The game was called after six complete innings with Clear Lake up 14-1.
With the NCL I races shifting into high gear next week, Middletown of the North and Clear Lake of the South are headed in opposite directions. The Cardinals have won five in a row and the Mustangs have dropped five straight.
“We were on spring break last week and we haven”t come back yet,” Rogers said. “Our desire isn”t back yet. Hopefully it will be on Tuesday when we play Fort Bragg.”
Clear Lake faces El Molino today at 4 p.m. in the opening round of the Ukiah Tournament. The Cardinals play two more games on Saturday.
