FORT BRAGG — Sometimes it was difficult to see through the fog, but Heather White had no problem hitting through it.
Clear Lake High School”s junior second baseman went 4-for-4 with three doubles and five RBIs on Wednesday afternoon as the Card-inals beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 14-1 in a non-league softball game called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.
It was Clear Lake”s first action since a March 12 doubleheader sweep of Esparto. In the interim the Cardinals lost four games to rainy weather and wet field conditions.
“They were wanting to play a game,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said of the Cardinals (4-0). “They were tired of being in the gym.”
Clear Lake snapped a 1-1 tie with a four-run second inning and never looked back on a Fort Bragg field where a fog bank settled in at times, making it difficult for the left fielder to see home plate.
The Cardinals continued to add to their lead with two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and six in the sixth. If not for the fog and a wind blowing in at times, White would have had her second home run of the season, according to Pickle.
“She hit one I thought was going out but the wind knocked it down,” Pickle said.
Morgan Psalmonds went 3-for-4 with a RBI for the Cardinals and Haley Garzoli doubled and knocked in two runs.
Winning pitcher Emily Wingler, who was less than 100 percent with a cold, nevertheless turned in a strong effort. She scattered five hits, struck out six and walked two. The only run Fort Bragg scored was unearned.
“She was really congested,” Pickle said. “I was happy to see her battle through that stuff.”
Clear Lake right fielder Savannah Dekeyer made the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the third when she fielded a single and gunned down a Fort Bragg runner trying to go from first to third on the play. Her strong throw reached third baseman Haley Garzoli on one hop and Garzoli easily tagged out the runner.
The Cardinals host Kelseyville on Friday at 4 p.m.
In other softball action Wednesday:
Colusa 4, Middletown 0
At Colusa, senior standout Tiffany Friel allowed just two hits and struck out 12 while leading Colusa (10-2) to a win over the Middletown Mustangs, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
“Eight of those strikeouts were called third strikes, which didn”t make the coach very happy,” Middletown coach Bob Cummesky said. “We played them well, we just needed to put a few hits together.”
Colusa scored three times in the bottom of the third and once in the fourth against losing pitcher Kaitlyn Swank.
“We”re at the cusp of becoming a pretty good team, we just need to take that extra step,” Cummesky said.
Friel walked only one. Her first pitch of the game resulted in a single by Maria Castaldo, who knocked the ball into left field. Middletown”s other hit was a fifth-inning single to center field by Erica Kirby.
“The difference in the game was that we left the bats on our shoulders,” Cummesky said. “We made two errors that cost us three runs, but if you can”t score one run, it really doesn”t matter how many runs they get after the first one.”
Swank struck out two and walked six in 5 2/3 innings. Victoria Alessandra faced just one batter in the sixth and struck her out.
Middletown faces another tough test Friday in Petaluma against St. Vincent at 4 p.m.
“That game we”ll give us a pretty good idea of where we”re at,” Cummesky said. “We”re going in the right direction.”
Baseball
Fort Bragg 6, Clear Lake 5
At Fort Bragg, Tyler Beets” second home run of the season, a three-run shot in the top of the fifth inning, wasn”t quite enough to rally the Clear Lake Cardinals in a non-league loss to the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Fort Bragg (3-0) built an early 6-1 lead but had to hold on as the Cardinals rallied with a run in the top of the fourth and three more in the fifth on Beets” shot to left field. Chad Elliston singled and Tanner Mansell walked in front of Beets” home run.
Clear Lake (3-3) had the potential tying run at third base with two outs in the sixth but couldn”t score.
Elliston walked seven in four innings and took the loss. He allowed Fort Bragg”s only three hits and struck out three.
“He hadn”t walked more than four guys all season until today,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said.
Clear Lake also committed four errors, two of them figuring prominently during a four-run Fort Bragg third inning. The Cardinals also were called for catcher”s interference twice, leading to two Timberwolf runs.
Beets finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a RBI single in the top of the third for Clear Lake”s first run.
“We competed, we played hard,” Larrea said. “All three of our losses have been by one run.”
The Cardinals play a split doubleheader on Saturday in Arcata. They play Brookings High School of Oregon at 1 p.m. and host Arcata later in the day.
Cloverdale 10, Middletown 0
At Cloverdale, one day after winning on a no-hitter against Upper Lake, the Middletown Mustangs fell to the Cloverdale Eagles in a game called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.
“It”s frustrating,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said after watching the Mustangs” four-game winning streak end. “But if you don”t play well it can snowball on you.”
Eric Schenck of Middletown and Seth Lampert of Cloverdale were locked in a 1-0 pitcher”s duel through three innings before the wheels fell off in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Mustangs. Cloverdale struck for five runs after two were out to go up 6-0.
The Eagles added four more runs in the sixth against reliever Bryan Holt.
“Schenck threw really well,” Tucker said. “He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third by striking out their four and five hitters.”
Schenck finished with seven strikeouts and five walks in his 3 2/3 innings on the mound. He also had one of Middletown”s three hits. Austin Hunter and Kyle Brown had the others.
Lampert went the distance for Cloverdale, striking out four and walking five.
“He wasn”t overpowering us, but he was throwing strikes,” Tucker said.
Middletown is now 4-2.
