SAN LORENZO >> Redwood Christian scored the game’s final eight runs en route to a 10-1 victory over the Kelseyville Knights in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division IV baseball playoffs on Wednesday night in San Lorenzo.
A win would have moved the Knights (10-12) into the quarterfinals Saturday against fellow North Central League I team Fort Bragg, a 8-0 winner over Swett of Crockett in another first-round game Wednesday, but Kelseyville couldn’t do much at the plate against the No. 6-seeded Eagles (18-7).
“Too many errors and not enough balls put into play,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said of the Knights’ less than stellar day in the field (seven errors) and their two hits.
Redwood Christian took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Kelseyville responded with its only run in the top of the third as Kyle Ashworth singled home Jacob Beck, who walked to open the inning. But the Eagles kept adding to their lead with plenty of help from the Knights’ defense. Redwood Christian scored single runs in the third and fourth, two more in the fifth and four in the sixth to break it open.
The Eagles out-hit the Knights 7-2 and didn’t commit an error while punching their ticket to the quarterfinals against Fort Bragg. They scored nine of their 10 runs with two outs.
“They took advantage of our mistakes,” Poloni said. “They turned what looked like was going to be a 3-1 or 4-1 game into 10-1.”
Kelseyville made it as far as the Division IV semifinal round in each of the past two seasons after winning NCL I titles in 2016-17. This year the Knights struggled down the stretch, finishing fourth in the league standings after losing their final three league games. The season-ending loss to Redwood Christian was their fourth straight setback and their fifth loss in six games.
“Part of it might have been we came down to earth,” Poloni said of his 2018 roster made up of veterans remaining from the back-to-back league championship teams and a mix of new players. “Part of it might be we digressed.
“Redwood Christian is a good team, but I don’t think they would win our league,” Poloni added.
Losing pitcher Jason Gentle, Kelseyville’s best pitcher during the regular season, worked five innings and allowed six hits and six runs, only two of which were earned. He struck out three and walked one before giving way to reliever Randy Pfann.
Just as he did at the end of the 2017 season, Poloni said he’ll decide during the offseason whether to return for the 2019 campaign.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said.
