LAKEPORT — The Clear Lake Cardinals made it close with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 6-5 loss to Justin-Siena High School of Napa on Saturday in non-league softball action at Lakeport.
An unearned run in the top of the seventh gave the Braves a 6-2 lead. Clear Lake, shut out since the bottom of the first inning when Mari Jordan blasted a two-run home run to left field, came roaring back in its half of the seventh.
Rylie Gabehart led off with a single and continued on to second because of an error. After Vanessa Tullos drew a walk, Katie Reynolds (3-for-3) doubled home Gabehart to make it 6-3. RBI grounders off the bats of Hannah Hoffeditz and Morgan Psalmonds closed the gap to 6-5 before the game ended on a strikeout.
“We had some girls do pretty well and some girls not do so well,” Pickle said. “We”re still not settled.”
Justin-Siena also beat Clear Lake last season, one of only five losses for the Cardinals during a 20-5 campaign in 2009.
“They”re a better team than they were last year,” Pickle said of the Braves (6-2), who compete in the Marin County Athletic League. “They had some timely hits.”
While Clear Lake had seven hits to Justin-Siena”s six, four of the Braves” hits went for doubles.
After Clear Lake went up 2-0 on Jordan”s home run in the first, Justin-Siena pulled even with two runs in the top of the second. The Braves pushed in front 4-2 in the third and added another run in the fourth for a 5-2 advantage.
“We made mistakes at critical times,” Pickle said of the Cardinals” three errors.
Winning pitcher Sarah Halsey went the distance, striking out seven and walking one. Emily Wingler also went the distance for Clear Lake, allowing three earned runs, striking out two and walking two. It was her first loss in five decisions this season.
Rebecca Baker went 1-for-3 with a triple and hit the ball hard in all three of her at-bats, according to Pickle.
“When they hit the ball hard, they found the gaps,” Pickle said. “When we hit it hard, we seemed to find the gloves.”
In other softball action Saturday:
Berean Christian 6, Kelseyville 0
El Molino 9, Kelseyville 5
At Cloverdale, the Kelseyville Knights lost to Berean Christian of Walnut Creek in the consolation semifinals before falling to El Molino in the seventh-place game as the Cloverdale Tournament wrapped up.
Kelseyville also lost 5-2 to Berean Christian earlier this month.
“We scattered hits all over the game, we just couldn”t put any together,” Kelseyville coach Greg Giusti said. “We”re playing good teams and they”re not going to make a lot of mistakes.”
Dakota Rixen went 3-for-3 for the Knights.
Later in the day against El Molino, Sarah Johnson”s solo home run in the top of the fourth inning snapped a 21 1/3-inning Kelseyville scoreless streak while narrowing El Molino”s lead to 4-1.
The Lions added two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth for a 9-1 lead before the Knights (1-7) rallied with four runs in the top of the seventh.
“Too little, too late,” Giusti said of the Knights” late surge. “At least we started putting together a string of hits.”
Kelseyville did collect nine hits, two of them by Ty VanHousen, who also drove in a run in the seventh. Kenzie Gould went 1-for-2 with a double and a RBI.
Weather permitting, the Knights play at Cloverdale today. They return home Wednesday to take on Upper Lake.
Colusa 13, Middletown 0
Colusa 10, Middletown 0
At Middletown, hard-throwing Colusa pitcher Tiffany Friel tossed a perfect game in the opener and came back with a four-hit shutout in the second game as the Redskins improved to 9-2 with a doubleheader sweep of the Middletown Mustangs (1-7).
Friel struck out 11 and walked none in game one. In the nightcap, she struck out six and walked one.
“It”s good for the kids to see these good teams,” Middletown coach Bob Cummesky said. “It gives them something to shoot for.”
Middletown”s leadoff hitter nearly legged out a single in the bottom of the first of game one but was called out. After that, Friel struck out 11 of the next 15 hitters.
“On a positive note, out of the 11 strikeouts, only one was looking, so we were up there swinging,” Cummesky said.
“She (Friel) has a great riseball for a high school pitcher and a really good curve,” Cummesky added. “And she throws hard. She”s as good as we”ll see this year.”
Middletown did nick Friel for four hits in the second game, singles by Kim Nielsen, Kyleen Bouchard, Bailey Chick and Tory Perez.
“We put the bat on the ball,” Cummesky said.
Middletown had a game rained out Monday against Upper Lake. The Mustangs” next scheduled game is Thursday at home against St. Vincent at 4 p.m.
