UKIAH — A week of inactivity didn”t seem to bother the Clear Lake Cardinals too much as they knocked off the Windsor Jaguars 6-1 in the opening round of the Ukiah Invitational on Friday at Ukiah High School.
Rained out since beating Lower Lake on April 6 in Lower Lake, the Cardinals (7-1) showed a bit of rust, according to Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle.
“We showed signs of not playing consistently … we were not as sharp as I”d like us to be,” Pickle said. “But with all the (weather) delays, I was happy with the way the girls played.”
Both teams scored a run in the first inning of the six-inning game, which was called early because of a tournament time rule. Clear Lake forged ahead 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the third, that scoring on Coree Alexander”s sacrifice fly to center field.
Clear Lake provided winning pitcher Emily Wingler with some breathing room in the fifth, scoring four times. Heather White, swinging away with a 3-0 count, led off with a well-struck double over the center fielder”s head,.
“If she had gotten the ball up more, it might have been a home run,” Pickle said.
Alexander sacrificed White to third and Vanessa Tullos singled up the middle to drive in White and make it 3-1. Wingler was hit by a pitch and Savannah Dekeyser singled to load the bases for Reynolds, who singled home two more runs to push Clear Lake”s lead to 5-1. Hannah Boyd”s RBI grounder made it 6-1.
Wingler scattered seven hits, struck out three and walked one to notch the victory.
White, Reynolds and Morgan Psalmonds had two hits apiece for the Cardinals, who finished with 11 hits overall.
While heavy rainfall has pounded the Ukiah area in recent days, Pickle said the two fields used by the eight teams in the tournament were in great shape.
“They worked really hard to get those fields ready,” Pickle said of the Ukiah coaches and maintenance personnel. “They did a good job.”
Clear Lake plays either Montgomery or Sonoma today in the winner”s semifinal round at noon. If they win that, they”ll play for the championship later in the day. If they lose, they”ll play for third place.
