PETALUMA >> Lower Lake veered directly into the sights of the undefeated St. Vincent High School softball team on Tuesday afternoon and didn’t blink an eye, rallying to hand the Mustangs their first loss of the season, 9-6, in non-league action on St. Vincent’s all-weather field in Petaluma.
Lower Lake (5-3) scored its signature victory of the season to date, beating a team that owns a win over projected North Central League I favorite Cloverdale.
“We needed that big win confidence-wise,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said. “We’ve beaten teams we’re supposed to beat for the most part, but coming back the way we did today against a good team like St. Vincent is huge for us.”
Lower Lake trailed 5-0 after three innings. The Trojans scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth but were still staring at a 5-1 deficit moving to the sixth. That’s when they finally found their hitting groove, scoring eight times in the inning to push in front to stay 9-5.
“We were flat coming out of the van but we finally found our approach at the plate and began attacking early pitches,” Emberson said. “Their pitcher started to fall apart a little bit and walked four in the inning.”
After scoring a run to close to 5-2, Airiana Vandiver’s bases-loaded double evened things up at 5-all. The Trojans then reloaded the bases for Mikelynn Rowe, who promptly cleared them with a triple that made it 8-5 in Lower Lake’s favor. Rowe later stole home for a 9-5 lead.
The Mustangs got a run back in the bottom of the sixth and made a bid to get their leadoff batter aboard in the bottom of the seventh, but Lower Lake center fielder Marnae Johnson made a great diving catch, according to Emberson, to take away the hit. That play became even bigger when St. Vincent’s next batter singled. Before things could get any more interesting, the Trojans turned a 6-4-3 double play to end it.
“What a way to finish the game,” Emberson said.
Winning pitcher Shelby Sapeta, a freshman like Vandiver, didn’t have her best stuff of the season but Emberson said she battled the whole way against a St. Vincent lineup that has no holes.
“One to nine they hit the ball,” Emberson said. “It’s the best hitting St. Vincent team I’ve seen. They are patient and sit back on offspeed pitches.”
On Sapeta’s complete-game effort, Emberson said, “She got command near the end of the game and got through it.”
Sapeta allowed just one run after the third inning. She struck out seven and walked four.
“I think it shows we believe we can win even when we’re down like that, that we can win to the last out,” Emberson said of the significance of the upset victory. “We were digging down and able to grind it out. We showed we can come back when we’re down by five runs even against a good team.”
Rowe finished 2-for-4 with a double and her big triple in the sixth. Johnson and Destiny Apodca also had two hits apiece.
Lower Lake’s scheduled home game on Thursday with Santa Rosa High School has been postponed at Santa Rosa’s request and will be made up at a later date. The Trojans’ next scheduled game is Tuesday at home against El Molino at 4 p.m.
