KELSEYVILLE >> Logan Barrick pitched a five-hitter in game two but the Kelseyville Knights fell 3-1 to the Arcata Tigers in non-league baseball action on Saturday at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville.
Arcata also won the opener of the doubleheader 12-2.
While the Knights fell to 2-3 on the season, Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said several positives came out of the doubleheader sweep, not the least of which was sophomore Barrick’s complete game in the nightcap.
“He had good location, good velocity and a good strike-to-ball ratio,” Poloni said of Barrick, who struck out six and walked none.
Arcata scored twice in the top of the first inning against Barrick. Kelseyville got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first on Noah Lyndall’s RBI single but the Knights were pretty much silenced the rest of the way by Tigers ace Jonathan Tucker, who scattered four hits and struck out seven in 4 1/3 innings.
“He’s legit,” Poloni said of Tucker, whose two main pitches are a fastball and slider.
“He throws about 86 miles per hour. We won’t see that again until the playoffs,” Poloni said. “We had a couple of chances against him.”
Arcata added another run in the top of the third before being shut out by Barrick the rest of the way.
“He retired eight straight at one point between the fourth and sixth innings,” Poloni said.
Sambhava Baird, a left-handed batter, went 2-for-2 with a double off the fence in left field in the bottom of the fourth. Jafeth Silva had the only other hit against Tucker.
In game one, Kelseyville had a 1-0 lead through three innings before Arcata took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Knights to score six times in the top of the fourth.
“When you give a team six outs, it’s not good,” Poloni said of Kelseyville errors that paved the way to the first of two big innings by the Tigers, who also had a five-run sixth.
Losing pitcher Andrew Von Wal worked the first four innings and allowed only one earned run.
“He really controlled the tempo of the game,” Poloni said. “He’s not going to overpower you, but he throws strikes.”
Kelseyville scored single runs in the second and fourth innings. Brandon Huber went 3-for-4 with a RBI and Barrick added two hits. Baird went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
The Knights finished with six errors.
“Our defensive philosophy is to keep it small and you’re not going to win when that crooked number the other team puts up is a six or a five,” Poloni said.
Kelseyville returns to action Wednesday in Upper Lake at 4 p.m.
