PETALUMA >> Clear Lake’s season came down to the final at-bat on Wednesday afternoon as the St. Vincent Mustangs held off the Cardinals 5-4 in the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division V softball playoffs at St. Vincent High School in Petaluma.
The third-seeded Cardinals (14-12) had the potential tying run at second base and the potential go-ahead run at first base with two outs when the game ended. Clear Lake’s final hope was senior catcher Regina Faalelea and she battled through a long at-bat with winning pitcher Sully Henry before striking out.
“It was a heck of an at-bat,” Clear Lake coach Doug Wingler said.
In a 2018 campaign that was marked by one injury after another for the Cardinals, the young squad overcame significant adversity to come within a couple of runs of reaching the Division V championship game. St. Vincent (12-7), the No. 2 seed, will travel to Cloverdale on Saturday to play the No. 1-seeded Eagles (18-1). Both teams are champions of their respective leagues – Cloverdale in the NCL I and St. Vincent in the NCL II. That game starts at noon.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of my girls,” Wingler said. “I think if you added up all the games my starters lost to injuries it would be around 40 (combined).”
Even in their 26th and final game of 2018, the Cardinals couldn’t dodge the injury bug as they were without senior second baseman Madi Ferguson, who was lost to a knee injury while running the bases on Saturday during a 5-1 quarterfinal-round home win over Head-Royce of Oakland.
“It definitely hurt not having Madi in the lineup,” Wingler said.
The Cardinals also beat Head-Royce without starting outfielder Sara Ogden (2-for-2), who was back in uniform against St. Vincent. Her presence was keenly felt as she smacked a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 5-4. She also had a triple.
“It was big, especially after St. Vincent scored four times in the bottom of the fourth,” Wingler said of Ogden’s blast to left-center field.
Clear Lake took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. St. Vincent got on the scoreboard with a run in the second and then surged ahead 5-2 in the fourth, including a two-run home with two outs by Alessandra Ditizio.
Losing pitcher Shaelyn McIntire went the distance, allowing eight hits and one earned run with four strikeouts and one walk. Five Clear Lake errors put her into some tough situations, not all of which she could escape, according to Wingler.
“She did exactly what I wanted her to do,” Wingler said. “She threw strikes, she didn’t give up free passes. I can’t remember the last time she walked two in a game. She’s done a great job, especially the last part of the season.”
After losing 5-1 to St. Vincent in a non-league game on May 17 in Petaluma, the regular-season finale for both schools, the Cardinals made several adjustments at the plate that paid off on Wednesday, according to Wingler.
“We just came up a little short,” he said.
Henry struck out nine and walked four for the Mustangs, who dropped a 4-2 non-league decision at Cloverdale back on March 27.
Game notes: Clear Lake freshman Joy Ingalls, red-hot at the plate down the stretch for the Cardinals, closed out her first varsity season with two hits in three at-bats … Sydney Lawler and Lila Ogden had Clear Lake’s other hits against Henry while Faalelea drove in a run with a groundout … Shoring up the team’s defense will be priority No. 1 for the Cardinals in the offseason, according to Wingler.
