KELSEYVILLE — Wins by Kyle Schmidt and Max Lehman in singles and by Aaron Fultz and Mike Duong in second doubles propelled the undefeated Kelseyville Knights to a 3-2 victory over the Cloverdale Eagles in Coastal Mountain Conference tennis action on Friday afternoon in Kelseyville.
Kelseyville is 6-0 in the CMC standings with two matches remaining in the regular season and the CMC Championships to follow.
While Schmidt dominated Omar Ruiz 6-1, 6-1 in first singles, there was nothing routine about Lehman”s 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win in No. 2 singles, according to Kelseyville coach Jeff McLaren.
“Kyle took care of business, but Max rally gutted it out,” McLaren said.
On a day when the Knights were without their No. 3 singles player, Claire Vargas (excused absence), Sylvia Grape filled in and dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Hannah Pope.
In doubles action, Fultz and Duong dominated Katy Menzel and Paige Wasniak 6-0, 6-1. The first doubles match went the distance and ultimately to Cloverdale as Isaac Kreger and Jose Torres outlasted Abby McQueen and Mary McCallister 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
In other CMC tennis action Friday:
St. Helena 5, Clear Lake 0
At St. Helena, the host Saints, fresh off a 3-2 upset victory over Middletown on Thursday, blanked the Clear Lake Cardinals.
The best match of the day came in second singles where Austin Hechlers outlasted Clear Lake”s Raul Rendon 6-2, 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 (7-1).
“He played his best game of the year,” Clear Lake coach Milo Meyer said of Rendon.
Also for Clear Lake, Kenny Henninger fell 6-2, 6-0 in first singles, Bundita Kosolcharoen lost 6-3, 6-3 in third singles, Brian Gatton and Nathan Harper dropped a three-set match to Alex Pierce and Gus Alfaro, who won 6-0, 2-6, 6-0, and St. Helena”s Jenna Ramos and Gabe Thuma rallied past Serena Kacharos and Tamara Rojas 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Varsity baseball
Middletown 8, Cloverdale 1
At Cloverdale, the Middletown Mustangs snapped a three-game losing streak by dominating the Cloverdale Eagles in North Central League I action. Winning pitcher Logan Smith went the distance, scattering seven hits and allowing no earned runs. He struck out three and walked three.
“I”m very happy with how he stepped up,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said.
Brad Bologna went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Reid Carpenter went 2-for-3 with a RBI. He also made an outstanding catch in left field, according to Tucker.
“He made one of the best if not the best catches I”ve seen a left fielder make in my 12 years here,” Tucker said of Carpenter.
Middletown is 3-3 in league and 9-5 overall.
Willits 16, Lower Lake 1
At Lower Lake, the Willits Wolverines scored six times in the sixth inning and six times in the seventh to break open a close game and rout the Lower Lake Trojans in a NCL I game where both teams were looking for their first league win.
“Today we took a big step back,” Lower Lake coach Eric Hoefler said. “If we don”t fix this it”s going to be ugly.”
Hoefler said the Trojans (0-6, 4-11) had a double-digit error count although he wasn”t sure of the exact number. “The wheels fell off,” he said.
It was a 4-1 game until Willits began to pull away in the sixth.
Zef Roofener pitched 5 2/3 innings and took the loss. He struck out five and walked two. He also had one of the Trojans” five hits.
Sonoma Academy 11, Upper Lake 1
At Upper Lake, the Sonoma Academy Coyotes, 0-4 to start the season, won their seventh straight game on Friday as they knocked off the Upper Lake Cougars in NCL II action.
“They”ve got a young team, but they played really good ball,” Upper Lake coach Martin Wade said. “Their coach does a great job with the talent he has.”
Upper Lake (0-2, 2-6) didn”t score until Jared Wade (2-for-3) singled home a run in the bottom of the fifth.
“We”re searching for answers,” Wade said. “We keep running into a wall for some reason and I don”t know what”s going on.”
Varsity softball
Clear Lake 23, Kelseyville 0
At Lakeport, a 12-run third inning turned a 4-0 game into a full-fledged rout as the Clear Lake Cardinals won their fifth straight overall while also improving to 5-1 in the NCL I standings and 8-4 overall.
Kelseyville (1-5, 6-7) has now lost five straight.
Clear Lake”s new shortstop, Aliza Atkins, went 2-for-5 with a double and five RBIs while winning pitcher Rachel Wingler went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Hannah Norwood (2-for-4) and Kelcie Reynolds (2-for-4) drove in two runs apiece.
Wingler blanked Kelseyville on two hits while striking out seven and walking two.
Lower Lake 19, Willits 1
At Lower Lake, Adrina Miller went 2-for-4 with a two-run double and a two-run home run as the Lower Lake Trojans snapped a two-game losing streak by pounding the Willits Wolverines, who dropped to 0-5 in the NCL I standings.
Lower Lake (3-3, 12-4) carried a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth. The Trojans scored 14 times in the inning to put the game safely into the win column.
Emma Diener went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Selena Ledesma went 2-for-3 with a triple and a RBI for Lower Lake.
“I thought our two captains, Adrina and Selena, both picked it up for us,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said.
Cloverdale 11, Middletown 3
At Cloverdale, the Middletown Mustangs were trailing 4-3 going to the bottom of the fifth inning before Cloverdale pulled away to win the NCL I game and improve to 5-0 in the league standings.
“I wasn”t happy with the final score but I was pleased with how the girls played,” Middletown coach Barry Glosser said. “We had them on the ropes there for a while.”
Alana McSween went 2-for-4 with a RBI and Renee Edwards went 1-for-3 with a two-run double for the Mustangs (3-3, 6-7).
