LAKEPORT — Eliminated from the North Central League I title hunt on Saturday after splitting a doubleheader with Willits, the Clear Lake Cardinals bounced right back Monday to beat league-leading St. Helena 4-2 at Lakeport.
The Saints (11-2) clinched a co-championship with a 4-1 victory Saturday at Fort Bragg but still need one more win or a Kelseyville (9-3) loss to secure the outright title. They could have done that with a win against Clear Lake but winning pitcher Joey Blair went the distance, scattering 11 hits and walking only two. He struck out six and allowed just one earned run.
“Blair pitched a great game,” Clear Lake assistant coach Gary Milhaupt said.
While Blair had to work out of trouble at times, including in the top of the seventh, he became only the second pitcher to beat St. Helena in league play, joining Kelseyville”s Dustin Thaxton, who is likely to start against the Cardinals today when they visit Lloyd Larson Field in a game important to both teams.
Kelseyville needs a win today against Clear Lake to stay in the league race and to secure no worse than undisputed second place in the NCL I standings. A victory for Clear Lake would keep alive the Cardinals” hopes of finishing as high as second in the standings and also better the team”s chances of securing an at-large playoff berth.
While today”s game at Kelseyville is Clear Lake”s regular-season finale, the Knights still have one more league game to go, that on Friday in Middletown. St. Helena”s final league game is Thursday at Cloverdale.
St. Helena scored an unearned run in the top of the third against Blair and held that 1-0 advantage until the bottom of the fourth, when the Cardinals scored all of their runs. Alex Andrews drew a leadoff walk to get things going and Blair sacrificed him to second base. Jake Dekeyser then drew a walk in front of Andrew Jackson”s RBI double that knotted the score at 1-1. Steven Edwards singled home Dekeyser to put Clear Lake ahead 2-1. One out later, Chad Elliston singled home Jackson and Edwards to make it 4-1.
St. Helena threatened in the seventh, scoring a run and putting runners at second and third with two outs before the game ended on a grounder to shortstop.
“Our backs were against it, we needed the win,” Milhaupt said.
Elliston, Edwards, Jackson and David Mansell, who also had a double, led the Cardinals at the plate.
Clear Lake is 12-9 overall.
Willits 8, Clear Lake 5 (1st)
Clear Lake 4, Willits 2 (2nd)
At Lakeport, in Saturday”s action against Willits, the Cardinals dropped the opener when Willits rallied with four runs in the top of the seventh, but won the nightcap as Ryan Hodges pitched a three-hitter.
In the first game, Clear Lake scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to go in front 5-4, but the Wolverines rallied against reliever Oren Ruffcorn in the seventh to win it.
Andrew Jackson went 3-for-4 with a double for the Cardinals and Logan Kessinger and Stone Phillips each went 2-for-4 with a triple.
In the second game, Clear Lake scored all the runs Hodges would need with a three-run first inning. Hodges struck out three, walked three and allowed one earned run.
Blair had a double for the Cardinals and Edwards, Jackson and Phillips each had a hit and a RBI.
Willits closes out league play at 4-10.
