LAKEPORT >> Looking for a third straight North Central League I win in softball, the Kelseyville Knights picked up three hits and scored twice in the top of the first inning against the Clear Lake Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon in Lakeport.
And that’s as good as it would get for Kelseyville.
Taking advantage of losing pitcher Morgan Profitt’s wildness, the Cardinals came roaring back to beat the Knights 16-6 in a game called after 4½ innings because of the 10-run rule. Profitt walked nine, hit five and threw several wild pitches against Clear Lake, a team that is all too willing to take the free pass and the extra base when the opportunity presents itself … as it did over and over again on Wednesday.
“I liked our approach at the plate today,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said. “It was a controlled aggressiveness. And we ran the bases really well.”
Clear Lake mixed in seven for the most part timely hits although only one Cardinal — Shyanne Chapin (2-for-3) — had more than one hit.
Kelseyville coach Jeff Bour said the Knights (2-3 league, 4-8 overall) simply gave away too much too soon to the Cardinals, who sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first. Clear Lake had only three hits in the inning, including a two-run double by winning pitcher Rachel Wingler and a two-run single by Anessia Jack.
“And we were throwing the ball around on top of that,” Bour said of three Kelseyville errors in the first. “We were giving away too many outs and setting ourselves up to fail.”
Clear Lake (2-1, 6-5) led 12-2 after three innings. Kelseyville closed to 12-4 in the top of the fourth on Cheyenne Hurley’s run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder and Tymeka Green’s RBI grounder. The Cardinals answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, including RBI singles by Chapin and Emily Psalmonds, to make it 16-4.
Needing three runs to extend the game in the top of the fifth, the Knights came close with two. Profitt singled home a run with one out and Bib Hamner’s RBI grounder cut it to 16-6. The Knights had a runner at third base when Hurley took a called third strike for the final out, only the second strikeout for Wingler, who went the distance for the victory.
“I was definitely pleased with the way we were swinging the bat,” Bour said.
While the Knights finished with only four hits, they had no problem making contact against Wingler, who walked only one.
“Her velocity is down from last year although she has the velocity when she wants it,” Pickle said. “When she’s upset with me she throws the ball harder.”
Pickle said the Knights never stopped playing after falling behind in the first inning.
“In the late innings we got a little sloppy,” Pickle of Kelseyville’s two-run fourth and fifth innings, “but you’ve got to give them (Knights) some of the credit for our sloppiness.”
“We’re trying, we’re young and we’re going to make mistakes,” Bour said.
Both teams return to action Friday at 4 p.m. Clear Lake visits Middletown (2-1) while Kelseyville hosts Lower Lake (1-0).
