LAKEPORT — Ryan Hodges blanked the Cloverdale Eagles on five hits and also struck out nine Wednesday afternoon as the Clear Lake Cardinals won 8-0 in a North Central League I varsity baseball game at Lakeport.
“We came out with a chip on our shoulders … that was a tough loss yesterday,” Clear Lake assistant coach Gary Milhaupt said of an 8-4 league loss to Middletown on Tuesday in Lakeport. Clear Lake had a 3-0 lead in that game after five innings. “The kids were fired up and ready to play.”
Hodges was backed by a Clear Lake defense that didn”t commit an error. He also received 10 hits worth of offense, all but one of those hits coming from three players. Third baseman Stone Phillips led the way, going 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI, Andrew Jackson went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI, and Chad Elliston went 3-for-4 with a double.
Between the Middletown and Cloverdale games, Phillips is 6-for-8.
“Just like bullets going through the infield,” Milhaupt said of the solid contact Phillips is making at the plate.
Clear Lake jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the third on RBI singles by Phillips and Jackson. The Cardinals pushed their lead to 5-0 in the fifth on a Phillips RBI single and a two-run single by Jackson. They added three more runs in the sixth, two scoring on a Phillips double.
Making his first start of the season, Hodges walked only two.
“He had great control tonight,” Milhaupt said.
Clear Lake is 2-1 in league and 5-5 overall. Cloverdale drops to 2-2 in the NCL I standings.
In other baseball action Wednesday:
Berean Christian 17, Kelseyville 0
At Kelseyville, in a non-league game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule, Berean Christian of Walnut Creek dominated Kelseyville.
Logan Lisle went 3-for-3 for the Eagles (8-6) with a double, a three-run home run and four RBI overall.
John-Mark Reagan, Dustin Thaxton and losing pitcher Jake Peters had the only hits for the Knights (4-6).
Leading 5-0 going to the top of the fourth, the Eagles put the game away with an eight-run rally.
Softball
Fort Bragg 11, Lower Lake 4
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans committed eight errors and fell to the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in NCL I softball action.
Lower Lake (3-2, 10-4) also struggled at the plate against three different Fort Bragg pitchers, collecting only five hits.
“We didn”t show up to play on defense … the wheels fell off,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said. “We definitely didn”t play our best game.”
Selena Ledesma wnet 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI for the Trojans. Cherie Ryden went 3-for-4 with two RBI for Fort Bragg (2-2).
Kelseyville 7, St. Bernard 4
St. Bernard 11, Kelseyville 1
At Kelseyville, Savannah Meyer went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI and Dakota Rixen also had three hits as the Kelseyville Knights beat St. Bernard in the first game of a non-league doubleheader, snapping a four-game losing streak. The Crusaders came right back to win the second game, which was called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.
In the first game, winning pitcher Sabrina Lyon went the distance, striking out nine and walking two.
St. Bernard took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the third inning but Meyer”s two-run triple knotted the score at 2. Kelseyville went ahead to stay with a two-run fourth. After the Crusaders closed to 4-3 in the top of the fifth, the Knights answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 7-3.
Stacy Ogden and Victoria Zendejas each went 2-for-3 with a RBI for Kelseyville in game one.
The second game was all St. Bernard as the Crusaders chased Lyon after one-plus innings. It was 9-0 before Kelseyville (4-5) finally scored in the bottom of the fifth.
“Their heads just weren”t in it,” Kelseyville coach Taryn Kysely said. “It was the same group I started in game one, but it was like a different group of girls out there. Lots of errors, too many errors.”
St. Bernard out-hit Kelseyville 15-6 in game two. Jennifer Green went 1-for-3 with a double for the Knights.
