UPPER LAKE >> The Upper Lake Cougars had the offense and the defense to play with the Laytonville Warriors on Friday afternoon in a non-league softball doubleheader at Upper Lake High School, but they came up short in the pitching department.
Laytonville beat Upper Lake 9-8 in the opener and 16-9 in a second game shortened to four innings because of darkness.
“There are good takeaways from both games,” Upper Lake coach Nick Williamson said. “It’s just a learning experience. They were good preseason games to get some bearing. I think we’re going to avoid some of those mistakes going forward.”
Katlyn Minnis had a big day at the plate for Upper Lake, going a combined 4-for-7 with a double, two triples and eight RBIs, but she struggled as a pitcher, taking the loss in game one as a reliever and in game two as a starter.
Upper Lake (1-2) had a 6-3 lead after three innings in the opener before Laytonville pushed ahead 8-6 with a five-run fourth. The Cougars rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth but the Warriors broke the 8-8 tie with a run in the top of the seventh. Upper Lake had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the inning, but a costly baserunning mistake ended the game instead.
“It’s not the way you want to end a game,” Williamson said. “We lost track of the number of outs.”
Bailey Young and Adrianna Saldana joined Minnis with two hits apiece in the opener. Cheyanne Obedoza had a triple.
In game two, Upper Lake pitching yielded 19 walks and the Warriors took full advantage with six-run second and third innings.
“We ran out of pitching,” Williamson said.
Saldana (3-for-3) reached safely in all her plate appearances while Minnis, Rebecca Harper, Christina Wilson and Mallory Henry contributed two hits apiece.
Upper Lake returns to action Tuesday in Point Arena at 4 p.m.
