ST. HELENA >> Perfect through their first five North Central League I softball games, the Lower Lake Trojans are about to take a step up in intensity.
Lower Lower improved to 5-0 on Tuesday afternoon with a 14-1 road victory over the St. Helena Saints, setting up a first-place showdown on Friday when the Trojans host the Clear Lake Cardinals (6-1).
While Clear Lake and Cloverdale (5-1) have already completed their home-and-away series this season, each team winning once, four of Lower Lake’s remaining nine games are against those same Cardinals and Eagles, the perennial NCL I heavyweights.
Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said he is hoping his senior-laden Trojans squad is ready to break through this season and the first big test comes on Friday against Clear Lake.
“We’re excited about the game,” Emberson said. “I just hope we play up to our abilities.”
Lower Lake scored its runs in bunches against St. Helena, tallying three in the first, six in the fifth and five in the seventh. The Trojans banged out 23 hits, including seven doubles and two-run home runs by Ashlynn Mock (3-for-6) in the first inning and Kristen Celli (3-for-4) in the seventh. Both were shots to center field.
“We had a lot of extra-base hits and a lot of hits into the gaps,” Emberson said. “We hit the ball real well but still left a lot of runners on base. We hit a lot of atom balls.”
Lower Lake had a 3-0 lead three batters into the game on back-to-back doubles by Emma Diener (3-for-5) and winning pitcher Shelbie Harris (4-for-6) and Mock’s home run.
“I thought the game would be different after the way it started,” Emberson said.
St. Helena (1-5) managed to avoid being 10-runned in the first six innings.
Harris, who doubled three times, took a shutout into the seventh when she gave up an unearned run. The senior allowed just three hits, struck out nine and walked two. She is 11-1 on the season.
Jolene Scarborough also had three hits for Lower Lake.
In other softball action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 17
Willits 2
At Willits, Rachel Wingler limited the Willits Wolverines to just two hits and struck out 11 as the Clear Lake Cardinals pounded the Willits Wolverines in a six-inning game.
Clear Lake junior second baseman Emily Psalmonds had a big day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs as the Cardinals improved to 6-1 in league and 10-5 overall.
“She hit the ball hard today and really flattened it out,” Clear Lake coach Gary Pickle said. “She hit one ball so hard it got under the fence.”
Hannah Norwood (2-for-3, 3 RBIs) also doubled twice for the Cardinals, who capped their win with a big eight-run sixth inning.
Clear Lake scored at least one run in every inning.
The Cardinals face a first-place battle on Friday when they travel to Lower Lake to play the Trojans (5-0, 13-2) at 4 p.m.
“It’s a big one,” Pickle said.
Cloverdale 10
Kelseyville 0
At Kelseyville, Teanne Edens allowed just one hit, struck out 13 and walked none as the Cloverdale Eagles, 2-1 losers to the Clear Lake Cardinals in 13 innings on Friday in Lakeport, bounced back with a six-inning win over the Kesleyville Knights.
Losing pitcher Morgan Profitt broke up Edens’ no-hitter with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth, a grounder into center field.
Profitt kept the Knights (4-5, 6-9) close until Cloverdale broke things open with a six-run fifth.
“She struck out four and walked seven, but I thought she pitched great,” Kelseyville coach Jeff Bour said.
The Knights simply couldn’t touch Edens, who hit one of Cloverdale’s two home runs, a solo shot in the sixth for the Eagles’ 10th and final run.
“She spots the ball better than anyone we’ve seen,” Bour said.
Jordyn Turner smacked a two-run homer during the Eagles’ six-run fifth.
Kelseyville is home Friday against Fort Bragg at 4 p.m.
Middletown 4
Fort Bragg 1
At Fort Bragg, Renee Edwards struck out 17, including the side in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings, while leading the Middletown Mustangs (4-3, 9-6) to a win over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves, who managed just three hits against the hard-throwing senior left-hander.
“She was dominant,” Middletown coach Barry Glosser said. “She just mowed them down and we played well behind her.”
Middletown committed only one error.
Tina Bouscal’s two-run single in the top of the second inning put Middletown ahead to stay. The Mustangs added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings. Fort Bragg’s lone run came in the bottom of the second.
Bouscal finished the game 2-for-3 with a double while Edwards (1-for-2) also had a double that just missed being a home run by a couple of feet, according to Glosser.
“It hit two feet from the top of the center field fence,” he said.
“We haven’t played very well in the past up here, but the girls looked good today,” Glosser added.
Baseball
Clear Lake 8
Willits 1
At Willits, Brandon Coakley pitched a two-hit gem with 13 strikeouts and the Clear Lake Cardinals remained perfect in league play (7-0) and on the season (16-0) with a victory over the Willits Wolveirnes.
“He did an outstanding job,” Clear Lake coach Zane Jensen said of the junior Coakley, who didn’t allow an earned run. “He was ahead in 90 percent of the counts and he was throwing three pitches for strikes … fastball, curve and changeup. It was probably the best I’ve seen him throw.”
Clear Lake wasted no time taking the lead, scoring twice in the top of the first before Coakley had thrown his first pitch. It was 7-0 after three innings.
Cole Brodnansky went 3-for-4 with a RBI and scored twice to lead the Cardinals’ 12-hit attack. Jordan Chana (2-for-3) doubled twice and knocked in a run while Matt Heller also had two hits and a RBI.
“We were hitting from gap to gap, left-center field to right-center field,” Jensen said. “We did a tremendous job of keeping the ball out of the air.”
Middletown 7
Fort Bragg 6
At Fort Bragg, Tyler Holt’s RBI double in the top of the seventh proved to be the game-winning hit as the Middletown Mustangs, after allowing a run in the bottom of the seventh, held on to beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Middletown (4-2, 7-8) erased a 5-3 deficit with a three-run top of the sixth. Holt’s RBI double in the seventh made it 7-5. Holt also pitched 3 2/3 effective innings in relief of starter Albert Ruske to notch the win. He allowed only three hits and one run while striking out two and walking two.
“He threw well,” Middletown coach Brad Holt said of his son’s day on the mound. “He generated a lot of ground balls.”
Tyler Holt also went 3-for-3 with two doubles at the plate.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win,” Holt said.
Stephen Amos went 2-for-3 for Middletown and Brett Pike went 1-for-4 with a double.
JV baseball
St. Helena 6
Lower Lake 4
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans couldn’t solve St. Helena’s southpaw pitcher, fell behind early and couldn’t recover, falling to the Saints for their first league loss.
St. Helena led 3-0 after three innings.
Ethan Watson went 3-for-4 for the Trojans (7-1, 9-4) and Ryan Hallstead went 2-for-3 with a double. Marlon Jones had a stand-up triple.
Losing pitcher Hokulani Wickard went the distance, striking out six and walking two.
Lower Lake is off until next Tuesday when it travels to Cloverdale.
