LAKEPORT — No nail-biter this time around.
The Clear Lake Cardinals dispatched the visiting Fort Bragg Timberwolves 11-1 in six innings on Friday afternoon during a North Central League I softball game, one that held little in the way of suspense when compared to a come-from-behind 6-5 Clear Lake win over the Timberwolves on April 5 in Fort Bragg.
Clear Lake, now 5-0 in the league standings and 10-2 overall, travels to Cloverdale on Tuesday for a first-place showdown with the Eagles (3-0).
Winning pitcher Emily Wingler didn”t have her best stuff, according to Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle, but still tossed a two-hitter. Clear Lake took a 7-0 lead into the sixth inning when Fort Bragg (2-3) scored its only run. The Timberwolves were looking for more with the bases loaded and two outs, but a line drive hit down the right-field line was caught by Aliza Atkins, who made a catch below her waist while on a dead sprint.
“It would have cleared the bases,” Pickle said.
Clear Lake put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Coree Alexander went 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI for Clear Lake and Vanessa Tullos went 2-for-4 with a double, a two-run home run in the third inning, and three RBI overall. Hannah Norwood (2-for-3) doubled twice in the game, the first one driving in two runs in the bottom of the second for the game”s first runs.
“She got us going,” Pickle said of Norwood.
