LOWER LAKE >> Somewhere on the nearly 300-mile, five-and-a-half hour trip from Lower Lake to Crescent City, the Trojans lost their defense and it cost them during a season-ending 7-2 loss to the Del Norte Warriors in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division IV softball playoffs.
“You make seven errors and you’re not going to win a playoff game,” Lower Lake head coach Chris Emberson said. “You’re not going to win most games.”
Losing pitcher Shelby Sapeta pitched well enough to get a victory, according to Emberson, but was let down by a normally reliable Lower Lake defense that has picked up its freshman pitcher on numerous occasions this season.
“Shelby pitched a gem,” Emberson said of her complete-game five-hitter. “She allowed only one earned run.”
The Trojans (17-8) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning. Del Norte, the No. 2 seed in the Division IV playoff field to Lower Lake’s No. 7, tacked on three more runs — all unearned — in the third for a 4-0 lead. It was 7-0 in the Warriors’ favor before Lower Lake finally got on the scoreboard on Lily Griffin’s two-run triple that ricocheted off the right-field wall in the top of the seventh. Griffin (2-for-3) also singled in the top of the fifth to break up a no-hitter by Del Norte pitcher Ally Douglas, who carried a perfect game into the inning. Kayla Sanderson walked with one out in the fifth to end the perfect game and Griffin followed with her single. The Trojans had runners at second and third with two outs when the Del Norte shortstop robbed Katrina Rinoldi of a two-run single.
“Rinoldi hit it on the screws back up the middle but she threw her out by a half step,” Emberson said. “That shortstop took a couple of hits away from us.” Jolean Scarborough, one of three Lower Lake seniors playing in their final game — Rinoldi and Destiny Apodaca are the others — had the only other hit for the Trojans.
Emberson praised what he called a “fundamentally sound, well-coached Del Norte team” for its solid play. The Warriors (18-10) didn’t commit a single error as they earned another home game against the winner of Saturday’s 1 p.m. quarterfinal between Kelseyville and Justin-Siena (at Kelseyville) in next week’s semifinals.
While watching your season come to an end is never easy, Emberson said his 2017 squad exceeded his expectations because several players stepped up and played better than expected, with Sapeta at the top of the list.
“Shelby developed a lot faster and came a lot farther than I expected,” Emberson said.
Lower Lake’s coach also praised the play of Scarborough and Apodaca (who started slow but picked up in league play), Griffin, Sanderson, Illia and Marnae Johnson.
“We’ve got a bright future,” Emberson said.
