LAKEPORT — Win the league title? Maybe. Reach the North Coast Section championship game? No way.
Clear Lake High School softball coach Gary Pickle said he was just as impressed as many others by what his predominantly underclassmen group of Cardinals pulled off during the 2009 season. With lone senior Kaila Sterbank leading the way, Clear Lake put together a dream season for Pickle and his talented group of assistant coaches, including Mike Bingham in his final season with the team.
As a result, Pickle has been selected as the Record-Bee”s Coach of the Year for girls” sports for the 2008-09 sports season.
Clear Lake posted a 20-5 record in 2009, including victories over North Bay League opponents Ukiah and Maria Carrillo. Although they lost a 9-8 heartbreaker to St. Vincent in their North Central League I South opener, the Cardinals didn”t lose again in league play, running the table with seven straight wins to earn a share of the South championship.
While the Cardinals” on-field successes were appreciated by most, they could only earn a No. 6 seeding in the 10-team Division IV playoff field. They did their best to wreck those seedings by upsetting No. 3 Berean Christian of Walnut Creek in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Moreau Catholic of Hayward in the semifinals before falling 2-1 to No. 1 seed St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo in the championship game, a contest many prognosticators had Clear Lake losing by a much larger margin.
“I never saw this coming,” Pickle said of the team”s surprising run to the sectional finals. “They played their best ball of the season in the playoffs and opened some eyes, I think. But if you had told me earlier in the season that we”d be playing for the section title, I would have told you that you were nuts.”
Clear Lake”s appearance in the sectional finals was its second in three seasons. The Cardinals went 27-0 in 2007, including a 2-1 win over St. Patrick/St. Vincent in the title game.
Pickle recorded his 300th career game in the Cardinals” final league contest. He finished the season with 302 victories and counting.
Clear Lake returns everyone but MVP, Sterbank next season.
