LAKE COUNTY >> Four Lake County teams are headed to the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs – three in softball and one in baseball.
Of the four, the Kelseyville High School baseball squad, 18-2 overall and undefeated North Central League I champions at 14-0, drew the highest seed at No. 5 and hosts the No. 12 El Molino Lions (9-14) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Lloyd Larson Field.
In softball, NCL I champion Clear Lake (18-5) earned the No. 7 seed and also opens at home Wednesday at 4 p.m. against No. 10 Piedmont (13-11). Hitting the road are No. 11 seed Lower Lake (18-6) today at 4 p.m. against No. 6 Cardinal Newman (15-9) of Santa Rosa, and No. 13 seed Kelseyville (10-7) on Wednesday at 4 p.m against No. 4 St. Mary’s (16-9) of Albany. That game will take place at Salesian High School in Richmond.
Quarterfinal-round games in baseball and softball are either Friday or Saturday while semifinals take place May 31 or June 1. Championship games are June 3 or June 4.
Clear Lake softball is gunning for a second straight sectional title after winning the Division V championship a year ago in former coach Gary Pickle’s final season. The Cardinals are back up in Division IV this year.
Baseball
Kelseyville finds itself in an interesting situation going into Wednesday’s game against El Molino, a team it did not face this season but lost to three times in the preseason a year ago. If the Knights prevail, they might end up playing the only team to beat them this season, the No. 4-seeded Healdsburg Greyhounds, in the quarterfinals either Friday or Saturday. Since Healdsubrg’s home field, Recreation Park, won’t be available this week because of the annual Future Farmers Fair, the Greyhounds are playing a first-round game today against No. 13 Salesian at Santa Rosa Junior College, which might be the quarterfinal site if both Kelseyville and Healdsburg win their openers.
The Greyhounds beat Kelseyville twice in a four-day span back in March, prevailing 6-4 at Kelseyville and then 4-2 at Healdsburg.
If the Knights can get through to the semifinals next week, they are likely to face No. 1 Arcata, a team they defeated 1-0 in nine innings on March 18 in Kelseyville.
Other top seeds in the Division IV field are No. 2 St. Mary’s (16-9) of Albany and No. 3 Justin-Siena (12-13) of Napa.
Logan Barrick, 11-1 on the season, is slated to start for Kelseyville against El Molino. If he wins, he will tie the Lake County record for most wins in a single season, currently held by Kelseyville alum Gary Burns, who went 12-2 in 1988.
Softball
Clear Lake was hoping to crack the top five in the Division IV softball seedings, according to first-year head coach Doug Wingler, but fell to No. 7. The top-seeded teams in the field are No. 1 Marin Catholic (19-4) of Kentfield, No. 2 Fortuna (20-5), No. 3 St. Patrick-St. Vincent (16-8) of Vallejo) and No. 4 St. Mary’s, Kelseyville’s first-round opponent.
Clear Lake and Piedmont have no common opponents this season. The Highlanders are an extremely young squad with 11 of their 15 players being either freshmen or sophomores. The Cardinals are the exact opposite as they start six seniors and one junior.
The winner advances to play Fortuna, which has a first-round bye, on Saturday in the quarterfinals at a location and time to be determined. Clear Lake’s seniors graduate on Friday.
Lower Lake also was hoping to do better in the seeding portion of Sunday’s at-large selection and seeding meeting, but instead of landing a top-eight seed and a first-round home game, the Trojans are on the road today against Cardinal Newman.
The two teams have five common opponents this season – St. Vincent, Piner, El Molino, Santa Rosa and Montgomery. Cardinal Newman went 5-2 against those teams (losing twice to Montgomery) while Lower Lake went 4-1 (losing to Montgomery).
Against other teams in this year’s Division IV field, the Trojans lost 6-3 in nine innings to Justin-Siena, the No. 9 seed, while Cardinal Newman feel 3-2 in eight innings to Berean Christian, the No. 5 seed.
If Lower Lake can emerge with the upset against Cardinal Newman, the Trojans would play the winner of today’s game between St. Patrick-St. Vincent and No. 14 seed Livermore Valley Charter Prep in the quarterfinals on Saturday at a time and location to be determined. Like Clear Lake, Lower Lake’s seniors also graduate on Friday.
Kelseyville, the second-lowest seed in Division IV, has its work cut out against a battle-tested St. Mary’s club. The two teams shared no common opponents this season but St. Mary’s does own wins over playoff teams Berean Christian, Cardinal Newman and Piedmont. It also lost twice to St. Patrick-St. Vincent and once to Fortuna.
Kelseyville is 0-4 against other teams in the Division IV field, having lost twice each to Clear Lake and Lower Lake.
If the Knights somehow pull off a major upset, they would draw the winner of Wednesday’s game between Berean Christian and McKinleyville in the quarterfinals on Friday or Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
