COLUSA — With plenty of help from the visiting Knights, Colusa shut out Kelseyville 10-0 in a five-inning, non-league varsity baseball game on Friday afternoon in Colusa.
It was the season opener for the RedHawks (1-0), who had only four hits. Even so, Colusa wasn’t lacking for baserunners as three Kelseyville pitchers combined to walk 10. The Knights also committed five errors to Colusa’s none.
“They smoked us 10-0,” Kelseyville head coach Lou Poloni said in summing up the Knights’ first loss of the season. “I thought we hit the ball a lot better than they did, but they were the ones who scored 10 runs.”
Kelseyville’s offense managed just two hits — singles by Adrian Villalobos and Nate Meyer, both 1-for-2.
Losing pitcher Tyler Linnell struggled to throw strikes during his 2 2/3 innings on the mound. He allowed only one hit but walked eight and struck out three. Four of the six runs he allowed were earned.
“Their pitchers pounded the zone,” Poloni said of the RedHawks. “We’ve got to pound the zone too. Tyler was throwing 82 miles per hour, he’s got electric stuff, but he needs to throw strikes. He gets in a little bit of trouble and it snowballs.”
Jeremy Brown and Steven Sprague followed Linnell to the mound.
Colusa scored three runs in both the first and third innings to go up 6-0. The RedHawks added another run in the fourth and three more in the fifth, at which point the 10-run rule came into play.
Poloni said the Knights have plenty of time before league play opens to put together an effective starting rotation.
“We’ve got about eight guys who can pound it,” he said. “We’ll give them all a look. We’ll be fine.”
Drizzle fell at times during the game and field conditions were so-so, especially in the outfield where there were 2-3 inches of standing water.
“It was a gloomy day and it got gloomier,” Poloni said.
Weather permitting, Kelseyville hosts El Molino on Tuesday at Lloyd Larson Field. First pitch is 3:30 p.m.
In other varsity action Friday:
Softball
Justin-Siena 18, Middletown 3
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs dropped their season opener to the Justin-Siena Braves of Napa in a non-league game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
Justin-Siena (3-0) scored eight times in the top of the first inning and never looked back. The Braves pounded out 12 hits and also drew five walks during their lopsided victory.
Winning pitcher Clare Garcia limited the Mustangs (0-1) to three hits and allowed just one earned run while going the distance. She struck out three and walked one.
Middletown game stats were not reported. The Mustangs are scheduled to play at Calistoga on Tuesday and at Justin-Siena on Thursday.
JV baseball
Middletown 12, Healdsburg 2
At Healdsburg, Tanner Pachie had three hits, walked twice and scored three runs as the Middletown Mustangs improved to 3-0 on the season with a road victory against the Healdsburg Greyhounds.
C.J. Desmond reached base four times – two hits and two walks – while also scoring three runs in the five-inning victory.
Wyatt Smith, the first of three Middletown pitchers, earned the win with two innings of shutout ball. He allowed no hits, struck out two and walked one. Zach Dubois and Bryan Riel followed Smith to the mound.
“Cole Ketchum called a pretty solid game,” Middletown head coach Chris Dubois said of his catcher.
The game was played in a very light sprinkle, according to Dubois.
The Mustangs are off until next Friday when they play St. Bernard in Eureka at 3 p.m. They play the Crusaders again the following day.
