LOWER LAKE — Be it ever so humble, the Lower Lake High School varsity baseball team is on a winning streak.
Stephen Whitcomb pitched a two-hitter, struck out 12 and walked only one on Wednesday as the Trojans blanked the visiting Upper Lake Cougars 8-0 for their second straight victory.
“I”ve been coaching that kid since Little League and that”s the best game he”s thrown,” Lower Lake coach Joe Mattos said. “He threw pretty much all fastballs down and away. I couldn”t be any more proud of him.”
“Their pitching really kept us off-balance all day,” Upper Lake coach Jim Green said.
Lower Lake lost its first four games in Mattos” rookie season but the Trojans” bats have since warmed up along with the weather. They collected 12 hits against Upper Lake pitchers Jared Wade, who started and took the loss, and reliever Gerald Thomas.
“We talk about games in terms of winning innings and tonight we won every single inning,” Mattos said.
The Trojans scored at least one run in five of their six at-bats, including a three-run second and a two-run third.
Kyle Buckingham led the charge for Lower Lake at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a RBI. Kevin O”Quinn and Jason Winans both went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Seven of the Trojans” hits went for extra bases.
Wade pitched the first three innings for the Cougars and Thomas finished up.
“His boxscore doesn”t show the kind of game he had,” Mattos said of Thomas, another of his former Little League players.
Thomas just missed getting the Cougars (5-2) on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning when he blasted a tape-measure shot that just curled foul down the right-field line.
“I thought it was out of there,” said Green, who followed the flight of the ball from the third-base coaching box.
Thomas also made a nice diving catch in foul territory, according to Mattos.
“It was a great catch,” Mattos said.
Upper Lake”s only two hits were Andrew Frazer”s single in the second and Cory Barnett”s single in the fifth.
In other non-league baseball action Wednesday:
St. Helena 10, Kelseyville 8
At Yountville, the Kelseyville Knights had two home runs among their 12 hits but still couldn”t beat the St. Helena Saints.
“Let”s just say we”re a very generous team,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said of five Kelseyville errors. “We”re having trouble playing catch.”
Mike DeGregorio (2-for-4, 3 RBIs) gave Kelseyville a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a shot to left field. St. Helena rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead, but the Knights bounced back with three runs in the third to go up 5-3.
After the Saints moved back in front 7-5 with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Cockerton (3-for-4, 2 RBIs) knotted the score with a two-run home run to left-center field.
“It was also a bomb,” Poloni said.
St. Helena moved ahead 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth and scored what proved to be the decisive runs with two in the sixth.
“They didn”t hit the ball out of the infield,” Poloni said of the Saints” rally in the sixth.
Blake Sedrick worked the first five innings for Kelseyville (2-5) and took the loss. He allowed five earned runs, struck out three and walked three.
Jarred Wagner and Nick Rodrigues each had two hits for the Knights.
Lick-Wilmerding 13, Middletown 3
At San Bruno, Lick-Wilmerding snapped a 2-2 tie with 10 runs in the bottom of the third inning and went on to beat Middletown, the Mustangs” fifth consecutive loss.
“The big inning is killing us,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said.
Middletown (1-5) committed all four of its errors in the bottom of the third to fuel Lick-Wilmerding”s double-digit uprising.
“Four errors in one inning ? that pretty well sums it up,” Tucker said.
Middletown appeared to gain some momentum in the top of the third when Dylan Pastor doubled with two outs and Kyle Harmyk singled him home to knot the score at 2.
“We had a little momentum going and then it turned into an error fest,” Tucker said.
Pastor and Bryan Holt each went 2-for-3.
Eric Schenk worked two-plus innings for the Mustangs and took the loss. Holt worked the final four, striking out five and walking four.
“I”m very happy with Bryan Holt”s effort,” Tucker said. “His velocity was good and it”s something for him to build on. He”s only a junior.”
