LAKEPORT — The St. Helena Saints moved a step closer to winning the North Central League I with a 6-1 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals in varsity baseball action on Friday afternoon in Lakeport.
St. Helena improved to 11-0 in the league standings and needs one more win to clinch no worse than a tie for the title. Clear Lake (7-4, 12-9) had its three-game league winning streak snapped.
Richard Hoppe stopped the Cardinals on five hits while striking out six and walking only one. Ryan Hodges worked the first 4 1/3 innings for Clear Lake and took the loss, striking out one and walking one.
The Cardinals were trailing 6-0 when they scored in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI groundout by Mitch Seely. They still had a runner at third with two outs when Cody Beets lined a one-hopper to St. Helena center fielder Joey Brink, who grabbed the ball and threw a strike to first base to nail Beets for the final out of the inning.
Cole Brodnansky went 2-for-3 for Clear Lake and David Mansell went 1-for-2 with a double.
In other baseball action Friday:
Cloverdale 10, Lower Lake 0
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans were shut out for the sixth NCL I game in a row, falling to the Cloverdale Eagles, who moved to 5-5 in the league standings.
Lower Lake (0-12, 4-17) trailed only 2-0 after four innings before Cloverdale broke the game open with a three-run fifth and five-run sixth.
V.J. Lopez went 2-for-2 for the Trojans, who had only four hits.
“We can”t seem to get our guys home,” Lower Lake coach Eric Hoefler said. “We”re just having a tough time getting them home.”
Ian Stiles, called up from the junior varsity squad, and Tony Fonseca had the Trojans” other hits. Stiles also made a diving catch in left field to end the top of the fourth.
Rincon Valley 4, Upper Lake 2
At Upper Lake, the Rincon Valley Christian Eagles snapped a 1-1 tie with a three-run top of the third and went on to beat the Upper Lake Cougars in NCL II action.
Jared Wade pitched a complete-game five-hitter but took the loss. He struck out nine and walked three.
With four players, including three starters, out of the lineup for various reasons, the Cougars (2-5, 4-10) suited up the minimum nine players.
“We played with nine and couldn”t get the job done,” Upper Lake coach Martin Wade said. “It was definitely a winnable game.”
