LAKEPORT >> That airtight pitching might not be there this year, but the Clear Lake Cardinals can still hit the stitches off the baseball.
Clear Lake outslugged Willits 12-11 on Monday in the league opener for both teams at Lakeport, closing out a flurry of four games in four days for the Cardinals (1-0 league, 2-5). Tyler Manning, the winning pitcher in relief, also knocked in what proved to be the winning run with a RBI single to cap a three-run Clear Lake bottom of the sixth.
The Cardinals led 12-8 going to the seventh when Willits scored three times and had the potential tying run aboard before the game ended on a fly ball to right field.
Manning went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. John Vertrees added three more hits and three RBIs to spearhead Clear Lake’s 16-hit attack.
Prior to Manning’s RBI single in the sixth, teammates Nate Jones and Jake Jackson drove in runs with bases-loaded safety squeeze bunts.
