KELSEYVILLE — On a day when Cloverdale”s Robby Rowland threw a perfect game against the Clear Lake Cardinals, Kelseyville”s Mike DeGregorio was nearly as good as he pitched the Knights to a 6-0 victory over the Willits Wolverines on Wednesday at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville.
It was the North Central League I North opener for the Knights, now 1-0 in league and 7-5 overall. Willits dropped to 1-1 in the North standings.
DeGregorio allowed just three hits, walked none and faced just four batters over the minimum as the Knights won their fourth in a row.
“He had good velocity and obviously good control,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said. “He keeps maturing as our ace.”
The only thing better than DeGregorio”s pitching was his hitting. He went 4-for-4 with three RBIs.
“He had a pretty good day,” Poloni said.
DeGregorio had only a 2-0 lead to work with until the bottom of the fifth when the Knights tacked on two more runs courtesy of Jarred Wagner”s clutch two-out, two-run single to right field on a full-count pitch. Wagner was 2-for-3 on the day.
“That took a little pressure off,” Poloni said of the Knights doubling their lead. “The way Mike was pitching, we felt pretty good at that point.”
Kelseyville added two more runs in the sixth on DeGregorio”s RBI single and Blake Panos” RBI grounder.
Steven Grossner went 2-for-2 from the leadoff spot and also called a good game behind the plate, according to Poloni.
“He did a great job behind the plate,” Poloni said. “He called most of the pitches.”
In other baseball action Wednesday:
Middletown 14, Upper Lake 4
At Middletown, Bryan Holt slugged his Lake County-leading third home run of the season and the Middletown Mustangs sent 14 batters to the plate during an eight-run third inning and beat the Upper Lake Cougars in NCL I interlock action at Wes Martin Field.
Upper Lake (5-5) scored all of its runs in the top of the fourth on Gerald Thomas” grand slam to right-center field. That cut Middletown”s lead to 11-4.
The game was called in the bottom of the sixth after the Mustangs went up 14-4 on Daniel Sallee”s RBI double. Sallee, batting in the cleanup slot, went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, his second straight three-hit game.
“He”s been hitting the ball real well of late,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said.
Dane Larson went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI for the Mustangs (6-8), winners of four of their last five. Kyle Harmyk went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and three runs.
Holt”s third home run of the season was a solo shot to center field during the Mustangs” big eight-run third.
Saul Preciado was the winning pitcher and Brandon Bills took the loss.
“That team has some good chemistry,” Upper Lake coach Jim Green said of the Mustangs. “They have excellent coaching. They were very complimentary of our kids and we were complimentary of theirs.
“They”re one of the better teams we”ve faced,” Green added. “They hit the ball hard the whole day.”
Softball
Upper Lake 7, Lower Lake 4
At Upper Lake, winning pitcher Jessica Swaney went 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI and Rebecca Swaney added two hits, including a tiebreaking two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth, and the Upper Lake Cougars went on to beat the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I interlock action.
Upper Lake improved to 7-2 on the season, two more wins than it had all of last year (5-13). Lower Lake dropped to 3-7.
The game was tied 2-2 going to the bottom of the fourth. Amber McQueen led off with a single and moved to second on a walk issued to Katherine Edmonds. Both runners scored on Rebecca Swaney”s triple to deep left. Jessica Swaney followed with a RBI double to make it 5-2.
Katelyn Spooner doubled for one of Lower Lake”s four hits.
The Trojans scored twice in the top of the seventh to make it 7-4.
Kelseyville 7, Willits 3
At Kelseyville, nearly one month after opening the season with a victory against Salesian, the Kelseyville Knights picked the perfect time to jump back into the win column, beating the Willits Wolverines in NCL I North action.
It was the league opener for Kelseyville (1-0, 2-7), which snapped a seven-game losing streak. Willits dropped to 0-2 in the North standings.
Off for nearly three weeks because of rainouts and spring break, Kelseyville coach Greg Giusti said the Knights weren”t at the top of their game.
“We looked rusty, but it was a W,” Giusti said. “We left a lot of runners on base and there were too many times when we left the bats on our shoulders.”
Kelseyville batters struck out seven times, four times looking.
Winning pitcher Jillian Allen worked the first five innings, striking out five and walking two. Sabrina Lyon finished up.
The Wolverines scored two of their runs on solo homers, including a fourth-inning blast by Mariah Escobedo (2-for-2), who had half of her team”s hit total.
After spotting Willits a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the Knights pushed ahead to stay with two runs in the bottom half. They put the game away with a four-run fourth to go up 7-2.
Sarah Johnson went 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBIs for the Knights and Skyler Olsen went 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI. Kyra Rudnick also had a double and a RBI.
Kelseyville hosts Lower Lake on Friday in a North game at 4 p.m.
