HEALDSBURG >> Shelby Sapeta pitched a no-hitter and struck out nine on Monday as the Lower Lake High School softball team beat Healdsburg 11-1 in non-league action at Healdsburg High School.
Freshman shortstop Jolina Gonzales made an impressive high school debut for the Trojans (1-0), going 2-for-4 with three runs scored in the leadoff spot. Veterans Mikelynn Rowe and Lily Griffin also added two hits apiece while Rowe also doubled and knocked in three runs. Griffin had one RBI.
The Greyhounds nearly broke up Sapeta’s no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth when the leadoff batter hit a flyball that the Trojans’ center and right fielders converged on, making contact. The ball fell out of the right fielder’s glove for an error, Lower Lake’s only miscue in the field. Sapeta retired the next two hitters but then lost command of the strike zone and walked three straight batters to force in a run. She ended the game with a strikeout.
“Having four days off (because of rainy weather and the weekend) didn’t help her control,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said of his sophomore pitcher. “She pitched well until the fifth. She just lost a little command there.”
Lower Lake had a 4-0 lead after two innings. The Trojans added two runs in the fourth and put the game away with a five-run fifth. The contest was called after the bottom of the fifth because of the 10-run mercy rule.
While the Trojans are still a long way from where they need to be, according to Emberson, who said his team left too many runners in scoring position and walked too many batters (six), the strong play of newcomer Gonzales was one of the positives he took out of the game.
“She hit well, ran well, played great defense,” Emberson said. “She has one of the strongest arms I’ve coached. She is a five-tool player.”
Patti McCleery doubled and knocked in two runs for the Trojans while Kayla Sanderson and Jackie Cooper also drove in runs.
Weather permitting, Lower Lake is home Thursday to play St. Vincent at 3:30 p.m.
