KELSEYVILLE — Mike Duman is tough enough to beat most days let alone on days when his offense gives him 11 runs to work with.
And that”s exactly what the Kelseyville Knights did on Friday as they beat the Middletown Mustangs 11-3 in a North Central League I North varsity baseball game at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville.
Duman, a hard-throwing senior right-hander, scattered five hits, struck out 10 and didn”t walk a batter while winning for the sixth time in nine decisions this season.
“He had good velocity on his fastball and his split-finger was really diving today. He would start it around thigh level and it was diving in the dirt when they were swinging at it,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said.
“Duman was great,” echoed Middletown coach Mitch Tucker. “He didn”t give away any free bases.”
It was a close game until the bottom of the fifth inning.That”s when Kelseyville (3-1, 13-6), holding onto a 5-3 lead, scored six times to put it away. The bases were empty with two outs when the rally began with two walks. Peter Wotherspoon singled home a run to make it 6-3 and Mike Davis walked to load the bases. Mike DeGregorio and Duman, who was 3-for-3 in the game with two doubles, hit back-to-back two-run singles to push the Knights” lead to 10-3. Matt Jones” RBI single made it 11-3.
Jones finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Duman also had three RBIs.
Daniel Sallee went 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI for Middletown (1-2, 10-7).
In other baseball action Friday:
Clear Lake 16, Upper Lake 6
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals, shut out in their last two games and losers of three straight entering play, struck for seven first-inning runs and went on to beat the Upper Lake Cougars in NCL I South action.
The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
“We”ve had a rough three games before today, so we came out with a little bit of fire,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said of the Cardinals” early burst of offense.
Ryan Richardson went 3-for-3 with two RBIs for the Cardinals (1-2, 10-6-1), Brian Edwards went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and winning pitcher Christian Coddington doubled twice.
Devin Callen went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for the Cougars (0-2, 3-11).
Willits 5, Lower Lake 2
At Willits, moments after taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, Lower Lake watched Willits scored five runs in the bottom of the inning, all the Wolverines would need to beat the Trojans in a North game pitting two teams looking for their first league win.
The Wolverines parlayed two Lower Lake errors, two hit batsmen and two hits into a five-run inning.
Losing pitcher Jesus Fonseca went the distance, allowing just six hits, striking out four and walking three. He allowed only two earned runs.
“He kept them off-balance, but that one inning killed us,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said.
Fonseca also went 2-for-4 with a RBI as Lower Lake fell to 0-3 in the North standings and 3-12 overall. Joe Riggs went 2-for-3.
Softball
Clear Lake 12, Upper Lake 6
At Lakeport, Clear Lake spotted Upper Lake a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning but rallied to win in NCL I South softball action.
“We didn”t play what I”d call very inspired ball today,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said.
The Cardinals (2-1, 13-4) moved ahead to stay with a seven-run third inning.
Emily Wingler went the distance for Clear Lake, striking out 11 and walking three.
Kaila Sterbank went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for Clear Lake.
Lower Lake 17, Willits 4
At Willits, hoping to wake his slumbering offense, Lower Lake coach Tim Sherrell watched the Trojans scored 17 runs in the first three innings and beat the Willits Wolverines in NCL I North action.
Willits entered play 2-0 in the North standings. Lower Lake is now 1-2 in league and 5-10 overall.
Danielle McKay (2-for-4) drove in four of the Trojans” runs and Ashley Willard (2-for-4) doubled and had three RBIs.
Winning pitcher Kristen Gar-cia allowed three hits, struck out three and walked five.
“She didn”t have her best stuff today, but she made some big pitches when she needed to,” Sherrell said.
