ST. HELENA — In a win that was anything but routine, the Clear Lake Cardinals threw out the potential tying run at the plate earlier in the game before pulling away for a 6-3 victory over the St. Helena Saints on Thursday in the North Central League I South softball finale for both teams at St. Helena.
Clear Lake (7-1 South, 18-4) finishes league play as South co-champions, tied with St. Vincent. A one-game tiebreaker was originally scheduled for today in Lakeport, but St. Vincent has opted out of the contest, meaning the Cardinals are guaranteed a berth in next week”s North Coast Section Division IV playoffs. St. Vincent will advance to the Division V playoffs as a highly seeded at-large team.
“I”m really excited about the league title,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said. “They”ve really played well, battled their way through some tough games this season. It”s a fun group to work with.”
The victory over the Saints, who the Cardinals easily handled 12-0 back on April 28 in Lakeport, provided Pickle with eighth league championship in 17 seasons at Clear Lake and his 300th career win.
Clear Lake players autographed a ball for their coach commemorating the milestone victory, according to Pickle, who said it was a “nice gesture.”
Clear Lake led 3-0 after three innings but couldn”t put the Saints away like they did in the first league meeting.
“It was like we were kind of coasting,” Pickle said.
Clear Lake took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth and St. Helena cut it to 4-3 just two batters into the inning, the result of an error and a triple. The Saints almost tied it with one out, but shortstop Kaila Sterbank, playing at normal depth with one out, fielded a grounder and cut down the runner at the plate on a bang-bang play, catcher Mori Jordan applying the tag.
“I always give her the option (of throwing home) because she has such a strong arm,” Pickle said. “That was huge. It kind of took the wind out of their sails.”
Back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Emily Wingler and Jordan in the top of the seventh gave Clear Lake a little more breathing room. Jordan, 4-for-4 on the day, knocked in the Cardinals” first three runs with a two-run single in the first and a RBI single in the third. She also doubled leading off the sixth and came around to score to make it 4-2 in the Cardinals” favor.
“Mori was clutch, Kayla was clutch and so was Wingler,” Pickle said.
The freshman Wing-ler, a late-game defensive replacement in right field, ran down a ball in the right-center field gap to take away extra bases and end the bottom of the sixth.
Center fielder Vanessa Tullos did the same thing in the bottom of the seventh to keep the Saints” leadoff hitter in the inning off the bases.
Winning pitcher Liz Sanderson didn”t allow an earned run while striking out six and walking one.
Rylie Gabehart went 2-for-3 with a RBI for the Cardinals, who will learn on Sunday where they are seeded in next week”s North Coast Section Division IV playoffs.
