LOWER LAKE >> In a duel of freshman pitchers, the Kelseyville Knights erased an early 2-0 deficit and emerged with a 7-2 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans on Friday in the North Central League I opener for both softball teams at Lower Lake High School.
Bailey Couey’s inside-the-park grand slam, which was aided by a Lower Lake outfielder, highlighted a five-run Kelseyville sixth and snapped a 2-all tie entering the inning. Couey, Kelseyville’s speedy leadoff hitter, smacked the ball down the right-field line and as the ball curled toward foul ground it ended up in tall grass. Lower Lake’s outfielder threw up her arms to signal that the ball was unplayable, which would have resulted in a ground-rule double had she not picked it up and threw it back into play. Kelseyville runners never stopped and sped around the basepaths as the play was unfolding.
Prior to Couey’s home run, Kailani Brown walked with the bases loaded to force in a run and give Kelseyville a 3-2 lead.
Lower Lake (0-1, 6-4) staked losing pitcher Shelby Sapeta to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, a lead that held up until Kelseyville (1-0, 4-2) scored two runs after two were out in the top of the fifth to pull even.
Sapeta ended up pitching one of her best games of the season but had absolutely nothing to show for it. She struck out a season-high 12 batters, including the first six batters she faced, walked only two and allowed only three hits – two of them to Couey – but was victimized by seven Lower Lake errors.
“She didn’t allow an earned run,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said. “I’m super happy about the way she pitched.”
Bryant also pitched well, allowing only three hits and one earned run while striking out three and walking two.
“The last couple of games we’ve been doing the same thing, falling behind and then coming back,” Kelseyville coach Jeff Bour said. “We weren’t really hitting the ball, but we were able to manufacture a couple of runs (in the fifth) to tie it.”
With Couey standing at the plate in the sixth, Bour said he had the option of letting her bunt for a hit or swing away and he decided on the latter course since the Knights had just taken a 3-2 lead on Brown’s bases-loaded walk.
“If we get her on base we’re going to win some ballgames,” Bour said of Couey. “When she gets on base we score runs.”
Couey’s first hit of the game plated Kelseyville’s first run in the fifth. She finished 2-for-3 with five RBIs.
Mikelynn Rowe (2-for-3) had the only two hits allowed by Bryant.
“I felt like only four or five of my players really gave me an effort out there today,” Emberson said. “I think we had Kelseyville’s heads down early but they didn’t give up.”
Kelseyville hosts Clear Lake (1-0) on Tuesday while Lower Lake is off until Thursday when it visits Middletown (0-1).
In other softball action Friday:
Clear Lake 13, Willits 2
At Willits, Clear Lake sent 13 batters to the plate and scored nine times during the top of the fourth inning to break open a 1-1 game against the Willits Wolverines.
“We had quality at-bats leading up to the fourth inning, but once we started hitting the ball, we really hit it well,” Clear Lake coach Doug Wingler said of the Cardinals’ big inning.
Winning pitcher Kortnie Reynolds took it from there and finished with a six-hitter while striking out six and walking three. She allowed single runs in the second and seventh innings.
Reynolds, Shayanne Chapin, Madi Ferguson and Lila Ogden had two hits apiece for the Cardinals. Regina Faalelea went 1-for-5 with three RBIs. Ferguson and Reynolds had doubles.
Clear Lake’s defense turned in some nifty glove work, the best by third baseman Ogden who made a diving stop and threw out the runner.
“She made some really nice plays,” Wingler said.
Clear Lake’s coach said it was a solid league opener for his young squad.
“We’ve made a huge leap on the defensive side since last week,” Wingler said.
Clear Lake travels to Kelseyville (1-0) on Tuesday.
Cloverdale 12, M’town 2
At Cloverdale, three innings of fairly error-free play gave way to three innings that Middletown coach Barry Glosser would rather forget as the Mustangs lost their league opener in six innings to the Cloverdale Eagles. The game was called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.
“We played three good innings and three horrible innings,” Glosser said.
Most of Middletown’s nine errors came in those final three innings. The Mustangs (0-1, 1-6) also committed seven errors on Thursday in a non-league home loss to Technology.
Cloverdale pitcher Teyha Bird limited Middletown to two hits — a double by Rose Duncan and a single by Kendall Mildenberger — while striking out 10 and walking three.
“She’s quite an athlete,” Glosser said of the freshman Bird, who made a handful of outstanding plays while fielding her position.
Middletown returns to action Wednesday against Clear Lake in Lakeport and is home Thursday against Lower Lake. Both games start at 4 p.m.
