SANTA ROSA >> The Clear Lake Cardinals lost to Montgomery High School 11-4 in non-league softball action on Wednesday afternoon in Santa Rosa, but they did score a minor victory by pushing the Division II Vikings to seven innings.
Montgomery nearly won the game in the bottom of the fifth inning because of the 10-run rule, but with a 10-1 lead and the winning run at third base and no outs, the Vikings couldn’t get the runner home.
Clear Lake’s Kortnie Reynolds pitched her way out of the jam and the game continued into the sixth inning. In fact, the Cardinals plated three runs in their half of the sixth to close the gap to 10-4.
“Our goal was to come down here and compete and that’s what we did,” Clear Lake head coach Doug Wingler said. “Kortnie did a great job pitching out of that.”
Clear Lake, a Division V team, fell to 3-3 on the season, all three of its losses coming against Division II teams – Montgomery, El Cerrito and Ukiah.
“All in all we competed well,” Wingler said. “Once we got through that third inning we settled down.”
Montgomery scored four times in the bottom of the first inning and had a 9-1 lead after adding five runs in the third.
“Playing these teams will make us better,” Wingler said. “We made some great plays today.”
Reynolds pitched all six innings for Clear Lake and allowed 12 hits, including a two-run home run that capped Montgomery’s four-run first. She struck out one and walked three.
Lila Ogden went 2-for-2 with a RBI for the Cardinals. Sara Ogden, Regina Faalelea and Madi Ferguson each had a hit and a RBI.
Clear Lake went eight days between games because of rain that wiped out the Ukiah Tournament last weekend. That tournament will not be rescheduled.
The Cardinals begin defense of their North Central League I championship of a year ago starting on Friday when they visit Willits at 4 p.m. Clear Lake isn’t the favorite heading into this year’s race although Wingler is convinced several teams have a shot at winning the 2017 title.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Winger said of the league race. “I think a lot of teams are in the same boat as we are because they’re young. I think there are one to four or five teams that could win it. It’s going to be fun.”
After opening their league schedule on Friday in Willits, the Cardinals return home for a non-league doubleheader Saturday against St. Bernard of Eureka. First pitch is 1 p.m.
