LOWER LAKE >> After striking out 12 and walking 12 in her previous outing, an 8-6 win against Fort Bragg, Lower Lake High School freshman pitcher Shelby Sapeta found her groove early on against the Clear Lake Cardinals on Friday afternoon in Lower Lake.
Sapeta struck out a season-high 13 and walked only one as the Lower Lake Trojans blanked the defending North Central League I softball champions 4-0.
“Shelby … she was just on today,” Lower Lake head coach Chris Emberson said. “She probably has the best changeup in the league and it was working today.”
You’ll get no argument from Clear Lake head coach Doug Wingler on that point.
“Our game is to get people on base and put pressure on the other team and you can’t do that when you strike out 13 times,” Wingler said. “My hat is off to their pitcher. She hit her spots.”
Sapeta carried a no-hitter into the top of the sixth when Clear Lake had its only two hits — an infield single by Shyanne Chapin to break up the no-hitter and another single from Sara Ogden. The Cardinals didn’t advance a runner past second base.
Lower Lake’s offense supplied Sapeta with the only run she would need during a two-run third. Destiny Apodaca singled home the first run of the inning and Katrina Rinoldi singled home the second to make it 2-0.
The Trojans added insurance runs in the fifth on another Apodaca RBI single and in the sixth on a run-scoring error. Apodaca, the Lower Lake catcher, went 2-for-2 on the day and is 5-for-5 in her last two games.
“We’ve got to pitch and manufacture runs and we did that today,” Emberson said.
“We had a couple of chances but we couldn’t capitalize,” Wingler said. “They (Trojans) made the plays when they needed to. That’s the first time in a while we haven’t hit the ball the way we’re capable of hitting it.”
Mikelynn Rowe went 3-for-4 for the Trojans, who had nine hits in all, and Lily Griffin went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Lower Lake plays Tuesday at St. Helena while Clear Lake travels to Fort Bragg. Both games start at 4 p.m.
In other softball action Friday:
Upper Lake 12, Rincon Valley 2
At Upper Lake, a couple of quick adjustments at the plate paved the way for Upper Lake’s blowout win over Rincon Valley Christian in NCL II action.
“We had to adjust to their pitcher,” Upper Lake head coach Kelly Coburn said. “She throws slower than we’re used to.”
Upper Lake (1-0, 5-8) went down in order in the bottom of the first inning and all three batters struck out. A more patient Cougars squad batted around in the second and scored seven times to open up a 7-1 lead, which was more than enough for winning pitcher Julia Mooney. She allowed only two hits and no runs after the first inning. Mooney struck out eight and walked two.
The Cougars kept adding to their lead. They pushed three runs across the plate in the third and two more in the fifth at which point the game was called because of the 10-run rule.
Adrianna Saldana went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Colleen Doyle went 2-for-4 with a RBI to power Upper Lake’s offense. Katlyn Minnis and Chelsie Valez each had a triple and two RBIs. Maria Wade (1-for-2) also drove in two runs.
The Cougars were scheduled to host Tomales on Tuesday but the Braves’ softball program has folded for the season. They won’t return to action until April 25 against Technology in Rohnert Park.
