LAKEPORT >> Rachel Wingler struck out the first five batters she faced and the Clear Lake Cardinals backed her with 10 hits at the plate and no errors in the field on a warm Tuesday afternoon in Lakeport.
It all added up to an easy 14-0 non-league win for the Cardinals against the El Molino Lions, who managed just two hits and never came close to breaking up the shutout during the five-inning game. Wingler, throwing nearly all fastballs, ended up with seven strikeouts and no walks as Clear Lake won its second straight to improve to 3-2 on the season.
“We tried to simplify things,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said of the Cardinals’ pitching approach on Tuesday. “We were trying to be too cute before and we just went back to basics. That’s the best groove she’s been in all season.” Pickle estimated that 90 percent of Wingler’s pitches to El Molino batterswere fastballs and many of them were popping the glove of catcher Anessia Jack.
Wingler allowed a bloop double off the bat of Sierra Fiddler with the bases empty and two outs in the top of the second inning and a solid single into left field by Rachael Parmeter to open the fourth. Those were the only two runners the Lions had all day and neither moved up after reaching base.
“She threw the ball well,” Pickle added of his veteran pitcher.
Speaking of veterans, Pickle, now in his 23rd season at the school, logged the 399th win of his stellar career. His first crack at No. 400 comes Saturday when the Cardinals host Santa Rosa at 11 a.m.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Pickle said of playing the Panthers, who compete in the tough North Bay League (with the likes of Ukiah, Montgomery and Cardinal Newman). “It should be a really good challenge for the girls. Their pitcher throws hard and lives on the outside part of the plate.”
Clear Lake’s batters took turns against two El Molino pitchers, neither of whom enjoyed much success. Starter Rachel Spain, a right-hander, couldn’t find the plate and walked six in 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs. Her replacement, left-hander Maddie Ming, found the strike zone with regularity, walking only one, but was pounded for all 10 hits allowed by Lions pitching.
“I’m happy with how the team is set up,” Pickle said when asked about his batting order, one that features two slappers at the top of the lineup in Hannah Norwood and Mina Werner and a solid mid-order with Aliza Atkins, Wingler and Destinee Garcia in the Nos. 3-5 slots.
“We’ve got a short game and power mixed in,” Pickle said.
The Cardinals had plenty of both against El Molino. Werner and Alicia Ledesma each went 2-for-2 and Atkins went 1-for-2 with a bases-loaded triple that was drilled into the left-center field gap during a 10-run bottom of the third. She had four RBIs overall. Garcia and Shyanne Chapin each went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Clear Lake scored twice in the bottom of the first and left the bases loaded without scoring in the second before breaking the game wide open in the third, an inning during which the Cardinals sent 13 batters to the plate and collected seven hits, including two by Ledesma. With three runs already in and the bases still loaded with no outs, Atkins delivered the signature hit with a booming triple that made it 8-0.
According to Pickle, Atkins is starting to find her groove at the plate and at shortstop where the senior anchors the Clear Lake infield after missing the last part of basketball season and the early part of softball season while recovering from mononucleosis.
“Her legs are still a little weak but she’s improving and playing better,” Pickle said. “She had a good game today.”
El Molino’s one defensive gem of the game followed Atkins’ triple as cleanup hitter Wingler crushed a line drive earmarked for left field only to watch shortstop Fiddler snag the ball while making a fully extended dive toward third base. It only delayed what was to follow as the Cardinals tacked on four more runs before their big inning finally ended.
Clear Lake picked up two insurance runs in the fourth to go up 14-0, the first scoring on Atkins’ sacrifice fly to deep center and the second on pinch-hitter Courtney Hiatt’s RBI single.
Pickle said he hopes the win over El Molino marks the start of more consistent play by his team, which has been up and down in the early part of the 2015 season. In fact, Pickle told his players during a recent practice that they had a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality before realizing many of them didn’t know about the character made famous by author Robert Louis Stevenson.
“There were some blank stares so I had to explain it,” Pickle said.
