KELSEYVILLE >> Middletown’s Renee Edwards struck out five batters in the bottom of the first inning and 16 overall only to watch the Kelseyville Knights score single runs in the sixth and seventh innings for a 5-4 North Central League I softball victory on Friday afternoon in Kelseyville.
Kelseyville took advantage of a pair of dropped third strikes, both ruled passed balls, to score three times after two were out in the first inning.
“We should have been sitting on the bench waiting to take our turn at bat,” Middletown coach Barry Glosser said of the crazy bottom of the first.
Middletown (2-1 league, 7-4 overall) rallied back to take a 4-3 lead. The Mustangs scored their first run in the top of the second when Edwards launched a home run through a stiff breeze to left field.
“I thought the pitch had good location but she golfed it straight through the wind and the ball still landed about 10 feet over the fence,” Kelseyville coach Jeff Bour said.
Middletown pulled even with two runs in the top of the third and went ahead 4-3 with a run in the top of the sixth. Kelseyville answered in the bottom of the sixth when Bib Hamner, who had a two-run single in the Knights’ three-run first, reached on an error to open the inning. Brendelyn Pelzel sacrificed Hamner to second where she scored on Cheyenne Hurley’s bloop single into right field.
Kelseyville shortstop Riley Goff (3-for-4, two doubles) opened the bottom of the seventh with a single and stole second. Winning pitcher Morgan Profitt followed by hitting a grounder to shortstop that took a bad hop. Goff broke for third and was called safe on a bang-bang play. With Tymeka Green standing at the plate and squaring around for a bunt, a passed ball allowed Goff to score the winning run.
“We gave that one away,” Glosser said of the Mustangs’ first league loss. “Renee pitched a hell of a game and should have won it.”
Like Edwards, Profitt went the distance, striking out 10 and walking five.
“She’s been staying focused,” Bour said.
Brittney Holt went 2-for-4 for Middletown.
The five strikeouts in one inning is the most recorded in a single inning, according to the Record-Bee’s softball records, which date back into the early 1980s.
Kelseyville (2-2, 4-7) has now won two straight after a six-game losing streak. The Knights return to action Tuesday in Lakeport against Clear Lake (1-1, 5-5). Middletown also plays on the road Tuesday against league leader Cloverdale (2-0), the only remaining undefeated team.
In other action Tuesday:
Baseball
Cloverdale 8
Lower Lake 1
At Cloverdale, Tony Jones (2-for-3) tripled home a run in the top of the third inning to briefly tie the game at 1-1, but the Cloverdale Eagles went on to beat the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I varsity baseball action at City Park.
Lower Lake (0-4, 3-8) finished with just four hits.
“They chased pitches they shouldn’t have swung at all day,” Lower Lake coach John McCarthy said.
Izzy Gura and Isaiah Klein had the only other Lower Lake hits.
David Rank worked four-plus innings and took the loss before Jones relieved in the fifth. Both pitchers allowed four runs.
Cloverdale squared its league record at 2-2.
