LOWER LAKE >> Cody Rybolt limited Lower Lake to three hits and struck out nine on Friday afternoon as the Clear Lake Cardinals used a five-run fifth inning to put away the Lower Lake Trojans 8-1 in North Central League I varsity baseball action at Lower Lake.
Rybolt went the distance against the Trojans (0-3 league, 6-4 overall) and seemed to pick up momentum as the game progressed.
“He was just great,” Clear Lake assistant coach John Garrison said. “He struggled a little early but when he settled down he was in the strike zone all the time.”
Rybolt also delivered a back-breaking two-out, two-run single to cap a five-run fifth inning that pushed the Cardinals’ lead to 8-1.
“That was a big hit,” Garrison said.
Clear Lake batted around in the fifth. Ryan Damiata’s RBI single opened the scoring, Max De Leon knocked in a run with a fielder’s choice, and Cody Dillsaver had a sacrifice fly before Rybolt delivered his clutch single. Dillsaver powered the Cardinals’ 11-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Lower Lake’s only run came in the bottom of the second on an Austin Oranje RBI triple to make it 2-1. Clear Lake staked Rybolt to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning and added another run in the third.
Bobby Cruz took the loss for Lower Lake.
De Leon and Jason Garrison had two hits apiece for Clear Lake (2-2, 3-6). Ethan Watson had two hits for Lower Lake.
“If you can’t hit, you can’t win,” Lower Lake coach Jim Peters said. “We have the ability to beat that team but we did not play well.”
Peters said four Lower Lake errors, all committed by infielders, were troublesome.
“They were routine plays that need to be made and were not made,” he said.
Both teams are back in action Tuesday at 4 p.m. Clear Lake travels to Fort Bragg (4-1) and Lower Lake visits St. Helena (2-3).
In other baseball action Friday:
Middletown 23, Willits 2 (5 inn.)
At Willits, the Middletown Mustangs sent 15 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning and scored 10 times en route to a five-inning rout of the Willits Wolverines (0-4, 0-8), still winless on the season.
Middletown (3-1, 4-10) also had a pair of six-run innings — in the third and fourth — on a windy and chilly day in Willits.
Winning pitcher Thomas Cook worked all five innings, allowing just two hits. He struck out one and walked three while throwing only 53 pitches.
The Mustangs collected 18 hits. Ty Chorjel (3-for-5, triple, four RBIs), Ezekiel Perez (3-for-5, four RBIs), Justin McDowell (3-for-5, two RBIs) and Isaiah Moore (2-for-5, three RBIs) led the way.
Willits committed four of its seven errors during the marathon top of the first inning.
Middletown had only error while winning for the fourth time in five games.
The Mustangs host undefeated Kelseyville (5-0, 13-1-1) on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
JV baseball
Clear Lake 12, Lower Lake 2 (5 inn.)
At Lakeport, Preston Jones pitched a three-hitter and Brady McGuire and Chris White knocked in a pair of runs apiece to lift the Clear Lake Cardinals to a junior varsity league win over the Lower Lake Trojans in five innings.
Clear Lake is now 3-1 in league play and 3-3 overall.
Jones struck out three and walked one.
“It was a good outing although we played a little bit to their level early on,” Clear Lake coach Ed Pepper said.
Lower Lake scored both of its runs in the top of the first inning but Clear Lake answered with seven runs in the bottom half.
McGuire and Darius Ford each went 2-for-3 for Clear Lake. Ford also knocked in a run.
Clear Lake hosts Fort Bragg while Lower Lake hosts St. Helena on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
