KELSEYVILLE >> Noah Lyndall cracked triple digits on his pitch count while tossing a complete-game two-hitter and striking out 12 in Kelseyville’s 5-2 win over the McKinleyville Panthers in non-league varsity baseball action on Friday afternoon at Lloyd Larson Field.
Lyndall settled into a groove after throwing 49 pitches in the first two innings.
“I wouldn’t say he labored,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said. “But he seemed to settle down and throw the ball better. He threw the ball harder than I’ve ever seen.”
Lyndall, only a junior, carried a no-hitter into the top of the sixth inning. After retiring the first batter, he surrendered a double. McKinleyville parlayed its only another hit, a single, and two Kelseyville errors into two runs in the top of the seventh to make it 5-2.
Kelseyville (2-1) provided Lyndall with all the run support he would need in the first two innings. Lyndall helped himself with a RBI double in the first and the Knights pushed two more runs across the plate in the second for a 3-0 lead. Brandon Huber’s RBI grounder and Lyndall’s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning made it 5-0.
Kelseyville had only five hits but did a good job advancing runners with productive outs.
“We did a really good job of bunting guys along and we ran the bases very well,” Poloni said. “We did a good job playing little ball.”
Kelseyville stole seven bases.
Huber, Tony Marquardt, Nick Pfann and Robert McLean had Kelseyville’s other hits, all singles.
But the star of the game was clearly Lyndall, who simply overpowered the Panthers, according to Poloni. Even the two hits he allowed weren’t hit hard.
“They didn’t even hit a hard grounder off of him,” Poloni said.
Kelseyville hosts Arcata in a non-league doubleheader today. First pitch is 11 a.m.
