KELSEYVILLE — The Kelseyville Knights honored an old friend by sweeping a split doubleheader on Saturday at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville.
Kelseyville beat Arcata 4-3 early Saturday and came back later in the afternoon to defeat Clear Lake 4-1, thereby evening its season record at 5-5.
Kelseyville varsity baseball coach Lou Poloni said the Knights took to the field with heavy hearts after learning of the death of USF coaching legend Vince Tringali, a familiar face on the sidelines at Kelseyville football games and a friend to many in the Kelseyville community, where he spent the final years of his life.
Tringali died on Wednesday from complications following heart surgery in November. He was 81.
“The kids loved having him around,” Poloni said of Tringali, a visitor in the Kelseyville dugout in past seasons.
“He used to tell me he didn”t know anything about baseball, but he loved hanging around the kids, he loved spitting seeds, and the kids loved him,” Poloni said. “He was an assistant coach anytime he showed up … our mental strength and conditioning coach. He taught kids a lot about life and he loved the way our kids carried themselves. We really felt like he was a part of the team.
“It hit the seniors the hardest,” Poloni added.
The Knights capped off their split doubleheader sweep by beating a Clear Lake team they had lost to 11-6 earlier this season. Mike DeGregorio went the distance on the mound for Kelseyville as did Ryan Richardson for Clear Lake. DeGregorio scattered five hits and struck out 11 while Richardson allowed seven hits and struck out seven. Both pitchers struggled with their control at times and walked seven.
“Mike D has become the ace we have been hoping for,” Poloni said. “When you give him the ball you feel pretty good about it.”
Both teams scored a run in the first inning. Kelseyville broke the tie with a three-run bottom of the third inning. Max Huff”s RBI double put the Knights in front to stay, DeGregorio added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1, and Deven Call”s RBI grounder gave Kelseyville a three-run cushion.
Coming off a three-hit game earlier in the day against Arcata, the red-hot Blake Panos added three more hits against the Cardinals.
“All line drives and to all fields,” Poloni said. “He is pretty locked in. He hasn”t had any cheap hits in a while.”
Huff finished with two hits.
For Clear Lake (9-2), Bryan Edwards went 2-for-4.
Kelseyville 4, Arcata 3
Against Arcata earlier in the day, Huff”s solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning tied the game at 2-all and the Knights then pushed ahead to stay with a two-run sixth inning.
Huff was benched for being late to the field and didn”t like that very much, according to Poloni. When he finally entered the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth, Huff didn”t waste any time.
“He hit the first pitch he saw onto the asphalt,” Poloni said of Park Street, which is located behind the left and left-center field fence at Lloyd Larson Field.
Panos led off the sixth with a single and Call doubled him to third base. DeGregorio”s sacrifice fly snapped the 2-2 tie and a fielder”s choice grounder off Huff”s bat made it 4-2.
Arcata closed to 4-3 with a run in the top of the seventh.
Dustin Thaxton, working in relief of starter Blake Sedrick, was the winning pitcher. Ineligible to start the season, Thaxton was making his 2010 debut. He pitched the final two innings, allowing three hits and one run while striking out one and walking one.
Panos went 3-for-3 and was the only Kelseyville player with more than one hit.
“They”re good, they just moved up to Division III,” Poloni said of the Tigers, who are one of the top teams in the Humboldt-Del Norte League Big Four. “They”re a Division III playoff team. Clear Lake is a playoff team too. The kids are getting it and are working hard.”
The Knights are off until Friday when they host Upper Lake in a non-league at 4 p.m. They open their North Central League I North schedule a week from today at home against Willits.
Clear Lake 10, Arcata 7
At Kelseyville, the Clear Lake Cardinals scored five times in the bottom of the fourth inning to wipe out a 4-0 Arcata lead and added five more runs in the fifth to erase a 6-5 Tigers advantage in non-league action at Lloyd Larson Field.
Jesse Phillips went 2-for-4 and drove in three of the Cardinals” runs while Tyler Beets went 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Winning pitcher Ryan Grady worked three innings in relief of starter Jason Edwards, who left the game with a 5-4 lead after four innings.
Clear Lake returns to action today in Willits at 4 p.m.
