KELSEYVILLE >> Aliza Atkins knocked in two runs on her 18th birthday and Rachel Wingler pitched a three-hitter as the Clear Lake Cardinals built a big lead early and cruised past the Kelseyville Knights 8-1 in North Central League I softball action on Friday afternoon in Kelseyville.
It didn’t appear as though the game would make it past five innings after the Cardinals, taking advantage of a handful of Kelseyville mistakes, jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings. But to their credit, the Knights (4-8 league, 6-12 overall) buckled down on defense and limited league-leading Clear Lake (9-1, 13-5) to a single run the rest of the way.
Riley Goff led off the Kelseyville seventh with a single, advanced all the way to third on a passed ball, and scored from third on Morgan Profitt’s groundout to break up Wingler’s shutout. The Knights had runners at first and second when Wingler struck out her 11th batter to end it.
Clear Lake went up 1-0 in the first on Atkins’ RBI groundout. The Cardinals added two more runs in the second on a throwing error and a wild pitch. They broke the game open with a four-run fourth that could have been worse for Kelseyville had not the Knights turned a double play during the uprising. Alicia Ledesma (3-for-3) brought home the first run of the inning with a ground-rule double and Atkins followed with a RBI single to make it 5-0. A wild pitch with the bases loaded an a run-scoring error pushed the Cardinals’ advantage to 7-0.
Until Goff’s leadoff single leading off the the seventh, Kelseyville’s only other hit was a Tymeka Green single in the bottom of the third.
Losing pitcher Profitt struck out four and walked five. After a somewhat shaky start she settled down and pitched effectively over the final four innings.
In other softball action Friday:
Cloverdale 3
Middletown 1
At Middletown, the Cloverdale Eagles parlayed a dropped flyball in center field into a two-run first inning, the difference in their win over the Middletown Mustangs.
Winning pitcher Teanne Edens stopped Middletown on three hits, striking out 12 and walking none. Losing pitcher Renee Edwards scattered five hits, struck out 11, including her 200th batter of the season, and also walked none.
Both teams picked up a run in the sixth, Middletown’s scoring on a RBI single by Mallory Wisely. Tana Bouscal had a double against Edens and Edwards added a single.
Edwards, a senior, entered play with 199 strikeouts on the season and got No. 200 against Edens in the first inning. The two pitchers are good friends.
Cloverdale improved to 8-1 in league and is in a virtual tie for first place with Clear Lake (9-1). Middletown fell to 5-5 in league and 10-8 overall.
St. Vincent 10
Upper Lake 0
At Upper Lake, on the bright side, the Upper Lake Cougars won’t have to play the St. Vincent Mustangs again this season.
Upper Lake managed just one hit, Sierra Fugate’s first-inning double, and fell to St. Vincent in five innings in NCL II action. The Cougars dropped to 2-3 in league and 9-5 overall.
St. Vincent scored eight times in the bottom of the second, five of those runs scoring after the Cougars made back-to-back errors with two outs. Another error in the bottom fifth ended the game as the Mustangs pushed across their 10th run.
Losing pitcher Julia Mooney worked 4 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking seven.
Baseball
Cloverdale 8
Middletown 1
At Middletown, trailing 1-0 since the first inning, the Cloverdale Eagles exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth to beat the Middletown Mustangs and take over sole possession of second place in the NCL I standings.
Cloverdale moved to 8-3 in the league standings while Middletown fell to 6-3 and 9-9 overall.
Tyler Holt issued three of his four walks in the fifth to fuel the Eagles’ big inning and the Mustangs also made a costly error, according to head coach Brad Holt.
“It was a tough inning and we couldn’t bounce back,” Holt said.
Chris Davis doubled for one of Middletown’s five hits.
Lower Lake 8
Willits 7
At Willits, the Lower Lake Trojans withstood a five-run Willits bottom of the seventh to edge the Wolverines and win their second league game.
“It was nice to see them hitting the baseball for a change,” Lower Lake coach John McCarthy said of the Trojans (2-10, 4-16). “It’s nice to see the Trojans win another league game.”
Tony Jones pitched all seven innings for the win and went 2-for-4 with a RBI, part of Lower Lake’s 13-hit attack. Michael James led the offense with three hits and Izzy Gura and Sean McCarthy added two apiece.
JV baseball
Lower Lake 13
Willits 3
At Lower Lake, Jordan McGrath went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs as the Lower Lake JV baseball team bounced back from a 4-2 league loss at Cloverdale on Tuesday to beat the Willits Wolverines in six innings.
Hokulani Wickard added two hits and two RBIs as the Trojans improved to 8-2 in league play. Winning pitcher Eric Graves, who worked the first three innings for the victory, also helped his own cause by going 1-for-1 with two RBIs.
Clear Lake 8
Kelseyville 3
At Lakeport, Ryan Damiata ran out of gas after five no-hit innings but the Clear Lake Cardinals still had plenty left in the tank to beat the Kelseyville Knights.
Damiata had thrown just 50 pitches through five innings and was cruising, but he began to labor in the sixth, allowing a leadoff single and eventually a run. He left after 6 1/3 innings and was charged with all three Kelseyville runs on only two hits, He struck out five and walked two.
Damiata also had a good day at the plate for the Cardinals, who at 8-3 in league trail leader Lower Lake (8-2) by a half-game. Damiata finished 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs while Cody Dillsaver went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Trey Conrad went 1-for-2 with a double and a RBI for Kelseyville.
