UPPER LAKE — The St. Helena Saints needed a win to clinch a co-championship in the North Central League I South varsity baseball race on Friday in Upper Lake and they got it ? just barely.
The Saints edged the Cougars 4-3 to finish 6-2 in the South standings. They”ll share the title with the winner of the St. Vincent-Cloverdale game on Tuesday in Cloverdale. Both of those teams are 5-2.
Upper Lake closes out league play at 0-8 while dropping to 2-16 overall. It was the closest coach Jim Green”s squad came to winning a South contest this season. St. Helena won the first meeting between the two teams 10-0 on April 26 in St. Helena.
“4-3 scared the heck out of them,” Green said. “We played pretty solid defense although we did give them two unearned runs that cost us.”
St. Helena built a 4-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings and a two-run third. Upper Lake closed to 4-3 in the bottom of the third on the strength of a RBI single by Bruce Tucker, a run-scoring error and a bases-loaded walk to Chris Colon.
The Cougars came right back to load the bases in the fourth inning but couldn”t score.
St. Helena mounted a threat in the top of the seventh but Upper Lake right fielder Nicholas Bills hauled in a fly ball and threw on to first base for an inning-ending 9-3 double play.
Stoney Timmons went 3-for-4, accounting for half of Upper Lake”s hits. Tucker went 2-for-4 and Colon had the other Cougar hit.
Softball
St. Helena 17, Upper Lake 5
At Upper Lake, Amber McQueen”s grand slam wasn”t nearly enough to save the Upper Lake Cougars in NCL I South softball action.
It was the league finale for the Cougars, who finish 0-8. They are 2-15 overall with two games remaining Tuesday against South Fork. The non-league doubleheader begins at 2 p.m.
“Best game we played all season,” Upper Lake coach Kelly Coburn said.
St. Helena, now 2-5 in the South standings with one game left, held a 13-0 lead at one point. Kate Irwin”s RBI single in the bottom of the third got Upper Lake on the scoreboard.
St. Helena scored its final four runs in the top of the fourth. Upper Lake answered with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning as McQueen drilled a 2-0 pitch to deep left-center field, scoring teammates Shayla Wyman, Amber Crump and Courtney McVey.
McQueen (2-for-3) had two of the Cougars” six hits. Irwin, Wyman, Crump and McVey had the others.
The loss went to Irwin, who struck out three and walked 11 in four innings.
Willits 10, Lower Lake 3
At Willits, the Willits Wolverines closed out a 6-2 league campaign with a victory over the Lower Lake Trojans (2-5, 5-12).
Willits built an 8-0 lead, including a six-run fourth inning, before Lower Lake broke onto the scoreboard with a three-run fifth, including a two-run double by Katelyn Spooner.
“We just didn”t get the key hits,” Lower Lake coach Tim Sherrell said. “We also made some baserunning mistakes in that fifth inning or we could have scored more.”
Losing pitcher Amanda Graf struck out six and walked seven. She also went 2-for-3 with a RBI.
JV baseball
Lower Lake 6, Willits 3
At Willits, Lower Lake”s scheduled starting pitcher was ejected during a home plate collision in the top of the first inning, but Jake Peters proved to be more than a suitable replacement.
Peters tossed a four-hitter and struck out nine as the Lower Lake Trojans rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat Willits in NCL I North junior varsity baseball action.
The win gives Lower Lake a 5-2 North record with one game remaining, that on Tuesday in Fort Bragg, which is fighting Lower Lake and Middletown for the league title.
“I think we”re all 5-2,” Lower Lake coach Mike Huffman said.
Lower Lake pulled into a 3-3 tie with a three-run fourth inning and V.J. Lopez put the Trojans ahead to stay with a booming RBI double in the fifth.
“It missed being a home run by two feet,” Huffman said.
Ryan Dahnake went 3-for-3 and scored twice for the Trojans and Lopez went 2-for-3.
