ST. HELENA >> Rachel Wingler hit a solo home run, her first of the season, while also pitching the Clear Lake Cardinals to an 11-2 North Central League I softball win over the St. Helena Saints on Tuesday afternoon in St. Helena.
Clear Lake (12-1 league, 16-5 overall) has won 12 straight in NCL I play since losing 2-0 at Cloverdale in its opener on March 24. The Cardinals need to beat the Lower Lake Trojans (9-3) on Friday at home to guarantee themselves some share of the NCL I title. Cloverdale (11-1) defeated Lower Lake 6-1 on Tuesday in Cloverdale to remain just a half-game behind the Cardinals. The loss knocked the Trojans out of title contention.
The Cardinals last won the NCL I crown in 2012. Cloverdale has won undisputed titles each of the last two years and is the running for a third straight this season. The Eagles still have games remaining with Willits (0-11) on Thursday in Willits and against Middletown (6-7) a week from today in Cloverdale.
Wingler, a junior, connected during a four-run Clear Lake second inning. St. Helena got two of those runs back in the bottom half of the second, bunching two hits with two walks to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2.
The score remained unchanged until Clear Lake pushed three runs across in the fifth followed by four more in the sixth.
It was the second straight game all nine of the Cardinals’ starters had at least one hit. They finsihed with 15 in all compared to St. Helena’s three.
“We’re starting to find our swing a little bit,” Pickle said. “We also played good defense (only one error).”
Hannah Norwood, the team’s center fielder, robbed a St. Helena player of a solo home run in the first inning as she collided with the wall while making the catch.
Wingler struck out only two batters in the first two innings but still finished with 11.
Alicia Ledesma, Emily Psalmonds, Destinee Garcia and Mina Werner had two hits apiece. Garcia, Norwood and Anessia Jack also drove in two runs each.
Looking ahead to his team’s final league game Friday at home against Lower Lake, Pickle said, “We’ve played all year hoping to get in the right position and now we’re in a position to win a title. I know Lower Lake wants to beat us. It would make their season to beat us and give them a little extra push going into the playoffs.”
While the Lower Lake game marks Clear Lake’s league finale, the Cardinals still have a non-league game remaining next Tuesday in Petaluma against St. Vincent, which is tied with Calistoga for the NCL II lead.
In the event Clear Lake and Cloverdale finish tied in the final league standings at 13-1, a playoff game will be held in Lakeport to determine which of the two teams gets the NCL I’s automatic berth into the postseason.
In other softball action Tuesday:
Upper Lake 25
Tomales 7
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars improved to 5-3 in the NCL II standings and 12-5 overall with a five-inning victory over the Tomales Braves. A 13-run fourth inning pushed the Cougars’ lead to 25-6.
Headed to a third-place finish in the NCL II behind Calistoga and St. Vincent — currently tied atop the league standings — Upper Lake has two league games remaining, including Friday’s home contest with Technology.
Winning pitcher Julia Mooney worked the first two innings before leaving the game with a minor injury. She returned to pitched the fifth.
Sierra Fugate led Upper Lake’s 17-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with a double, triple and four RBIs. Mooney helped her own cause by going 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
