KELSEYVILLE >> When the 2015 high school baseball season opened a few weeks ago Kelseyville High School varsity head coach Lou Poloni said he wasn’t sure who would be the team’s No. 2 starter behind veteran Noah Lyndall. Consider the position filled.
Sophomore Logan Barrick threw a five-hitter on Tuesday against the St. Helena Saints in the North Central League I opener for both teams, his second straight shutout, as the Knights won 1-0 at Lloyd Larson Field.
Lyndall’s sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the fifth inning scored Brandon Huber with the game’s lone run.
“He mixes stuff and he’s still learning,” Poloni said of Barrick, a varsity rookie. “He pitched a little bit as a freshman but wasn’t one of their main guys (last year). He really stepped into that No. 2 role for us. He had good stuff and pounded the zone down all day. I had no idea he’d be our No. 2 pitcher when the season began.”
No sooner had Lyndall given the Knights a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Barrick found himself in trouble in the top of the sixth with the bases full of Saints and only one out.
“They tried a squeeze, missed it and we tagged the guy out at the plate,” Poloni said. “Then he (Barrick) got a strikeout.”
St. Helena put its leadoff hitter aboard on a single to open the top of the seventh when the Knights (1-0 league, 5-6 overall) turned their second double play of the game.
Another defensive gem was third baseman Tony Marquardt’s play in the top of the sixth when he knocked down an errant pickoff throw from catcher Lyndall with his bare hand, saving a run.
“The kind of play you won’t see in the boxscore,” Poloni said.
Kelseyville had only four hits, two of them by Kyle Ellis (2-for-2), but Poloni said the Knights hit the ball hard all day only to watch St. Helena make play after play in the field. The Saints committed just one error.
“You have to give them credit,” Poloni said. “I was happy with the way we hit the ball today, we just didn’t get any breaks.”
Huber (1-for-3) led off the Kelseyville fifth with a single, took second when Ellis was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a wild pitch as Ellis remained at first base. Lyndall followed with his sacrifice fly.
Ellis finished with six strikeouts and two walks. In his previous start he shut out Elsie Allen 2-0 in the opening round of the El Molino Tournament last week in Forestville.
Kelseyville hits the road Friday to play Cloverdale (0-1) at 4 p.m.
