LOWER LAKE — A three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning wasn”t quite enough for the Lower Lake Trojans in a 4-3 loss to the St. Helena Saints in non-league varsity baseball action Thursday in Lower Lake.
Colton Dorman took a three-hit shutout into the seventh before the slumbering Lower Lake offense finally woke up.
Jesus Fonseca led off with a single and moved around to third base on a double by losing pitcher Stephen Whitcomb. Kyle Buckingham”s single scored Fonseca and Joe Winans” single brought home Whitcomb. A two-out triple by Josh Benfante scored Winans to make it 4-3, but Dorman struck out the next batter to end the game.
“It was a great game,” Lower Lake coach Joe Mattos said. “We played great defense, but we just didn”t hit the ball until the fifth inning.”
All eight of the Trojans” hits came in the final three innings.
Whitcomb went the distance on the mound, striking out five and walking none.
Fonseca, Buckingham and Winans had two hits apiece as the Trojans dropped to 2-6.
In other baseball action Thursday:
St. Vincent 5, Middletown 2
At Petaluma, winning pitcher Michael Meiswinkel helped himself with a two-run home run and St. Vincent held off the Middletown Mustangs despite being out-hit seven to four in the non-league game.
John Hays singled home a run in the top of the third for Middletown to close the gap to 2-1, but St. Vincent came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 5-1 lead. That was all the scoring until Austin Hunter doubled home a run in the seventh for Middletown.
Since winning their season opener against Willows, the Mustangs (1-7) have dropped seven straight.
“We”ve played a tough schedule, we”ll turn it around,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said.
The Mustangs were not without scoring chances against St. Vincent. After leaving a running in scoring position to end the top of the first, they loaded the bases with no outs in the second and came away empty. The final out of the inning was a drive to deep center field off the bat of Dylan Pastor that just missed being a grand slam.
Middletown also stranded runners at second and third in the fifth and had a runner at third when the game ended.
“We didn”t get any timely hitting,” Tucker said.
Eric Schenk went 2-for-3 for Middletown and Hays went 2-for-4.
Losing pitcher Dan Sallee worked 2 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on three hits, striking out one and walking two.
The home run by Meiswinkel in the bottom of the second followed a two-out walk that prolonged the inning.
Softball
Lower Lake 10, St. Helena 0
At Lower Lake, in her first game back since having all four of her wisdom teeth removed, Lower Lake third baseman Christine Powers went 3-for-3 with a double and a RBI and played Gold Glove defense to lead the Trojans past the St. Helena Saints in non-league action.
The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
“She was a vacuum cleaner out there,” Lower Lake coach Tim Sherrell said of Powers” play in the field. “It was nice having her back.”
Garcia struck out four and walked two and was backed by a defense that didn”t commit an error.
“Kristen didn”t really have her best stuff but the defense played well behind her,” Sherrell said.
Lower Lake (3-6) staked Garcia to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Trojans added three more runs in the third before ending the game with a five-run fifth.
Maria Copas had a two-run single for the Trojans and Isabell Azbill went 1-for-2 with a triple and two RBIs.
The Trojans are off until April 13 when they host Fort Bragg in the North Central League I North opener for both teams.
St. Vincent 12, Middletown 7
At Middletown, the young Middletown Mustangs made those other Mustangs — the ones from St. Vincent — go all seven innings in a non-league softball game.
“We”re improving,” Middletown coach Bob Cummesky said. “We keep taking baby steps.”
While Middletown (1-8) had only five hits, the host Mustangs took advantage of six walks issued by winning pitcher Jennifer Eastham and three St. Vincent errors to push seven runs across the plate.
Victoria Perez drove in three of Middletown”s runs with a RBI single and a pair of RBI grounders. Kim Nielsen, Erika Kirby, Rachel Sutton and Bailey Chick also had hits. Sutton also drove in a run.
Eastham (3-for-5) had a big day at the plate for St. Vincent, driving in a total of five runs, including a third-inning grand slam to left field that wiped out a 3-1 Middletown lead and put the Petaluma team ahead to stay.
Middletown hosts Calistoga today.
