KELSEYVILLE — Even with a sore middle finger on his pitching hand, Kelseyville”s Justin Lilly worked the first four innings to pick up the win in the Knights” 10-3 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans in a North Central League I North varsity baseball game on Friday at Lloyd Larson Field.
Kelseyville, now 5-1 in the North and 15-6 overall, closes out the regular season next week with road games at Middletown (Tuesday) and Fort Bragg (Friday). If the Knights win both, they can do no worse than win a share of the North title.
Mike Duman smacked his Lake County-leading third home run of the season and Dustin Panos hit his first, both solo shots to left field, to spark the Knights at the plate.
“Dustin Panos is really swinging the bat well right now,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said. He”s starting to heat up.”
Lilly helped his own cause by going 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI. He threw mainly fastballs because of the sore finger and turned a 4-1 lead over to Mike DeGregorio in the fifth.
“He really gutted it out,” Poloni said of Lilly. “And DeGregorio gave us three solid innings in relief.”
Kelseyville broke open a tight game with a six-run fourth, sending 10 batters to the plate in the inning.
“It was a 3-1 game going into the fourth, it was a tight game,” Poloni said. “Lower Lake played real well. They turned a double play in the third and almost another. They”re still playing hard.”
Lower Lake (0-6, 3-15) got a complete game from Stephen Whitcomb, who struck out five and walked two.
Joe Riggs went 2-for-4 with a RBI for the Trojans and Eddie Sears went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
Geno Poloni made his varsity debut for Kelseyville and singled in each of his first two bats.
In other action Friday:
St. Vincent 10, Clear Lake 8
At Lakeport, trailing 10-1 going to the bottom of the sixth inning, the Clear Lake Cardinals battled back to within two runs of the St. Vincent Mustangs and had the tying runs on base when the NCL I South game ended.
Clear Lake (2-4, 11-8-1), using a starting lineup that included four sophomores and a freshman, scored four times in the bottom of the sixth and three times in the seventh.
“I was really impressed with our team today,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said. “I think it was a step in the right direction. Remember, this is the team that 10-runned us and no-hit us last time,” Larrea said of a 14-0 loss to St. Vincent last month in Petaluma.
Ryan Hansford worked the first six innings for Clear Lake, struck out nine and walked two. Corey Dillon worked a one-two-three seventh.
“Hansford pitched well and Dillon picked us up in the last inning,” Larrea said.
St. Vincent (5-1) led the entire way after scoring twice in the top of the first. The Cardinals got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning, but the Mustangs scored four times in the third and four more times in the top of the sixth to go up 10-1.
Noel McCormack went 2-for-4 for the Cardinals and Jesse Phillips and Christian Coddington drove in two runs apiece.
Willits 30, Upper Lake 0
At Willits, the Upper Lake Cougars dropped a NCL I interlock game to the Willits Wolverines. The game was called after 4 ? innings because of the 10-run rule.
Willits scored 18 times in the bottom of the third to go up 26-0.
Anthony Driscoll and Gerald Thomas had doubles for Upper Lake (3-15). Mike Sutton had the only other Cougar hit, a single.
Fort Bragg 6, Middletown 0
At Fort Bragg, even though winning pitcher Tyler Vichi was ejected from the game, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves shut out Middletown, eliminating the Mustangs from the NCL I North race.
Fort Bragg is 6-0 with two games remaining. Middletown fell to 2-3 and 11-9 overall.
Vichi, previously warned by the home plate umpire for arguing balls and strikes, was ejected later in the game for slamming the baseball into the mound after issuing a walk. His dad also was ejected. Vichi, who had a no-hitter going when he was ejected, also had words with his coach.
Eli Duran”s grand slam in the bottom of the third capped a five-run outburst by the Timberwolves, who scored all of their runs with two outs.
Middletown loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth but couldn”t score. The Mustangs also had a runner thrown out at the plate in the fifth.
Eric Tomko doubled and Eric Schenck singled for Middletown”s only hits.
Softball
Fort Bragg 13, Middletown 5 (1st)
Middletown 5, Fort Bragg 1 (2nd)
At Fort Bragg, after falling to Fort Bragg 13-5 in the first game, which was a completion of a game suspended April 21 in Middletown because of injuries to two Middletown players after an outfield collision, the Mustangs beat the Timberwolves 5-1 in a regularly scheduled game.
Middletown”s win in the second game means that the NCL I North title is up for grabs going into the final week of the season. Fort Bragg and Kelseyville are tied for the lead at 4-2, each with two games remaining, and Middletown is now 3-2 with three games left. Kelseyville still must play both Middletown (on Tuesday) and Fort Bragg (on Friday), giving the Knights the toughest road to the title.
Middletown finishes up with three straight home games against Willits (Monday), Kel-seyville (Tuesday) and Lower Lake (Wednes-day).
“My girls are ready,” Middletown coach Lisa Rogers said. “And we”re going to do it.”
Middletown (9-9) scored all five of its runs in the second game in the top of the first. Alicia Siri”s two-run single was the big hit in the inning and Lindsey Silva added a run-scoring single.
Silva, Siri and Jessica Roush had two hits apiece.
