HEALDSBURG — Two errant pickoff throws, two walks and a two-run double by Josh Curtis in the bottom of the sixth inning rallied the Healdsburg Greyhounds to a 3-2 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals in non-league varsity baseball action Tuesday under the lights at Recreation Park in Healdsburg.
Losing pitcher Bryan Edwards, 5-1, carried a one-hit shutout and a 2-0 lead into the sixth when the Greyhounds pieced together their game-winning rally.
“It”s a tough way to lose a ballgame, but they”re a good baseball team and we played pretty well,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said.
Healdsburg”s leadoff hitter reached on a walk and advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw to open the bottom of the sixth. After another walk, only the third issued by Edwards, Curtis doubled home both runners to knot the score at 2. He moved to third on a passed ball and scored on the second Clear Lake error of the inning, that coming on a pickoff throw at third base.
Jacob Manning struck out the first two batters he faced in the top of the seventh, walked Edwards, but came back to strike out the next hitter to end the game. Healdsburg”s third pitcher of the game, Manning worked three innings for the victory and struck out five.
“Once they got the lead, he threw nothing but fastballs,” Larrea said of Manning”s pitch selection in the top of the seventh.
Edwards went the distance for Clear Lake and pitched well despite incurring his first loss of the season.
“Bryan Edwards really impressed everybody with the way he pitched,” Larrea said. “Healdsburg had four guys hitting .400 entering the game and three of them took 0-fers (went hitless).”
Besides Curtis” double in the sixth, the only other hit allowed by Edwards was a single in the third.
Clear Lake took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a Jaime Lopez RBI double to deep center field. Tyler Beets, who had singled earlier in the inning, scored all the way from first base.
The Cardinals went up 2-0 in the fourth on a single by Jason Edwards. Lopez struck out to open the inning but reached base on a wild pitch. He stole second before scoring on Edwards” hit.
Clear Lake fell to 9-3 with the loss while Healdsburg improved to 8-4.
The Cardinals” next game is Tuesday at home against Cloverdale, the North Central League I South opener for both teams. First pitch is 4 p.m.
“We played well, we have a pretty good feeling about ourselves,” Larrea said of the team”s attitude going into the Cloverdale game.
