LAKEPORT >> Cloverdale scored four times in the top of the seventh inning to break open a one-run game and beat the Clear Lake Cardinals 7-2 in the North Central League I opener for both of these varsity baseball teams on Monday afternoon in Cloverdale.
The Eagles (1-0) scored twice in the top of the first inning to stake winning pitcher Dylan Scaramella to a lead before he had thrown his first pitch. Clear Lake (0-1 league, 3-1 overall) got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning, but Cloverdale scored again in the second against losing pitcher Cody Rybolt to go up 3-1. The Cardinals closed to 3-2 in the bottom of the third and that was all the offense until the top of the seventh when the Eagles put their final four runs on the scoreboard, two of them unearned.
“I felt like we just made some crucial errors when we couldn’t afford to do it,” Clear Lake assistant coach John Garrison said. “We had an opportunity to turn a double play in the seventh but we had an overthrow and a run scored.”
Three Cloverdale pitchers – starter Scaramella and relievers Collin Patterson and Keller Sibert – limited Clear Lake to just three hits – a double by Chris White and singles by Isaac Lewis and Darius Ford.
“With only three hits we didn’t have many opportunities to score, but we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we did have,” Garrison said. “We didn’t come through.”
Rybolt pitched into the seventh inning before being replaced by Darius Ford. Rybolt allowed five hits in six-plus innings, striking out nine and walking four. Three of the four runs he allowed were earned.
Clear Lake begins a northern road swing on Friday with a game at Arcata. The Cardinals are also scheduled to play Saturday against McKinleyville.
In other high school action Monday:
Softball
McKinleyville 9, K’ville 1 (1st game)
K’ville 7, McKinleyville 6 (2nd game)
At Kelseyville, Grace Davidson’s RBI groundout with runners at the corners in the bottom of the ninth inning enabled the Kelseyville Knights to beat McKinleyville 7-6 in game two and salvage a split of their non-league doubleheader.
McKinleyville won the first game 9-1, an effort that was subpar in all respects, according to Kelseyville coach Phil Psalmonds, who said the Knights struggled in all aspects of the game.
“Obviously with the four errors we made we were struggling. It looked like it was our first competitive game of the year. We’re a better team than that and we talking about it between games,” Psalmonds said. “We talked about coming out and playing the way we’re capable of.”
McKinleyville and Kelseyville (3-1) each scored three times in the fourth and fifth innings of the second game to forge a 6-all tie. It remained that way until the bottom of the ninth when Paige Bour and Bib Hamner led off the inning with singles, putting runners at first and third for Davidson, who hit a grounder to the shortstop. Instead of checking the runner at third base before throwing across to first for the out, the McKinleyville shortstop ignored Bour and threw out Davidson as Bour trotted home with the winning run.
“It was a mental mistake,” Psalmonds said of the game-winning play. “The girl felt real bad about it.”
Bryant pitched all nine innings for the victory after going the distance in game one. She struck out three and walked only two in the nightcap after striking out two and walking five in game one. The sophomore also helped her cause at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
“They picked it up after the first game and found a way to win,” Psalmonds said. “McKinleyville is a very good team and I’m sure they’ll be a playoff team.”
Davidson went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs and Tymeka Green went 2-for-4.
In the first game, McKinleyville jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Green homered in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 5-1. The Knights finished with only three hits and Green had two of them. Bryant added a double.
The Knights open their NCL I schedule Friday at home against St. Helena at 4 p.m.
Clear Lake 19, Healdsburg 2
At Healdsburg, off for 18 days because of the weather, the Clear Lake Cardinals routed the Healdsburg Greyhounds in non-league action, improving to 2-0 on the season. The non-league game was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
Shaelyn McIntire pitched a five-hitter, striking out eight and walking one. She also helped herself by going 1-for-2 with three RBIs.
Clear Lake had a 7-2 lead through three innings. The Cardinals pulled away with a six-run fourth and added six more runs in the fifth. Healdsburg pitching walked 10 batters and hit six more to significantly aid the Cardinals.
Sara Ogden (2-for-2) was the only Cardinal with more than one hit. Regina Faalelea went 1-for-3 with a double and a RBI, just missing a home run by a few feet.
“We hit about five balls that were laser beams and were caught,” Clear Lake coach Doug Wingler said. “I was happy with our day at the plate.”
Clear Lake opens its NCL I schedule Tuesday in Willits and returns home Thursday to play Cloverdale, a game that was originally scheduled for Friday but pushed up a day. On Saturday, the Cardinals will complete the game they started with Upper Lake last Tuesday, a non-league contest that was suspended because of rain. Clear Lake and Upper Lake will play a regulation second game after the suspended contest is concluded.
Golf
At San Leandro, Kelseyville High School senior Matt Wotherspoon fired a 5-over-par 76, including two birdies, to place second in individual scoring at the 21st annual San Leandro High School Spring Classic.
Wotherspoon’s Knights finished ninth in the 12-team field with a score of 520 (the combined total of the five out of six low rounds). Castro Valley took top honors with 411 followed by Dublin with 418 and Heritage with 426.
While the golfers were greeted by sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, windy conditions made the par-71 Tony Lema Golf Course even more of a challenge.
“We’re right on the bay,” Kelseyville coach John Berry said of the course location. “You can see San Francisco and downtown Oakland. It’s pretty exposed (to the bay). There was a three-club wind.”
Marcus Young of Castro Valley carded the day’s low round, a 3-over-par 74, to edge out Wotherspoon by two strokes.
“I thought Matt was very solid,” Berry said of Wotherspoon’s round. “He had nine pars, seven bogeys and the two birdies.”
Kelseyville’s golfers resume their Coastal Mountain Conference South schedule on Thursday at Hidden Valley Lake, Middletown’s home course. Play begins with a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start. Kelseyville’s CMC South match last week at Foxtail South in Rohnert Park was canceled because of wet conditions.
