KELSEYVILLE — Avenging a 4-3 loss to Cloverdale earlier this season at Cloverdale, the Kelseyville Knights beat the Eagles 6-5 on Tuesday afternoon at Lloyd Larson Field to stay within calling distance of North Central League I varsity baseball leader Fort Bragg.
Fort Bragg beat Lower Lake 16-1 on Tuesday to improve to 8-1. Kelseyville is now 7-3 in league and 11-7 overall. The Knights have four games remaining and the Timberwolves five, including a head-to-head meeting May 3 in Kelseyville.
“It was a big win,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said.
Matt Gomora’s clutch two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning scored Nathan Phillips from second base with what proved to be the winning run. The Knights battled back from 3-0 and 4-3 deficits to scratch out the hard-earned victory.
“We tried to give it away a couple of times,” Poloni said as the Knights bounced back from a 4-1 loss on Friday at Lower Lake.
“We talked about it before the game,” Poloni said. “In baseball it’s about how you respond. Then Cloverdale goes out and scores three times in the first inning. So we had to respond to that, too. They scored three and we came right back with three of our own. I guess we responded today, but it wasn’t pretty.”
Both teams also scored a run in the second inning to make it 4-4. Kelseyville pushed ahead 5-4 with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the third as winning pitcher Tyler Linnell (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) homered over the left-field fence. The Eagles (6-4) answered with a run in the top of the fourth to forge a 5-all tie.
In the bottom of the fifth, Phillips led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Gomora’s single into center field. With two outs and Phillips on the move with the crack of the bat, there was no play at the plate.
Linnell labored long and hard during his five innings on the mound, allowing only three hits but walking eight and balking once. The crafty left-hander also picked off another runner.
“He was a little wobbly today,” Poloni said.
Linnell walked in two of the three runs the Eagles scored in the top of the first and wild-pitched another run home in the second. Cloverdale also scored on a pair of sacrifice flies.
Jacob Beck went 2-for-3 for Kelseyville with a double and a triple as the Knights pounded out nine hits, four of them for extra bases. Phillips (1-for-2) and Nate Meyer (1-for-1) also knocked in runs.
“The ball is starting to fly now,” Poloni said of the warmer weather, which also has firmed up the outfield. “The balls are hitting grass now and getting to the fence. Before they would hit and end up in the tall grass.”
Steven Sprague worked the final two innings to earn the save even though Cloverdale put its leadoff batter aboard in both the sixth and seventh. After issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, Sprague got the next three batters to fly out. He gave up a leadoff single in the seventh only to watch that runner erased on a 6-4-3 double play. The game ended with a popup.
The Knights hit the road Friday to play a winless Willits team at 4 p.m.
In other baseball action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 14, Willits 5
At Willits, there’s nothing like a little competition to bring out the best in athletes and a couple of Clear Lake underclassmen were major contributors to the Cardinals’ big win over the Willits Wolverines. Freshman designated hitter Ethan Maize, a recent call-up from the junior varsity team, went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs while sophomore Justin Williams went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
“When your young guys can do that, it makes the veterans wake up a little bit and work hard to earn their spots,” Clear Lake assistant coach Ed Pepper said.
“He’s got a really good bat for a young kid,” Pepper said of Maize. “He’s going to be a good one and he’s going to be a lot of fun to coach.”
Freshman starting pitcher Drake Smart, who has been with the varsity squad since day one, went 3-for-5 with a double and a RBI, part of Clear Lake’s 12-hit attack against the Wolverines.
“They came out, they were ready to play,” Pepper said of the Cardinals’ five-run top of the first.
Willits, aided by Clear Lake errors, came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Cardinals quickly regained control with a four-run second for a 9-3 lead.
“The guys actually played a really good game,” Pepper said. “It was good to get the win and actually play a good game.”
Darius Ford pitched the final four innings for the victory. He benefited from a 7-5-4-2 triple play in the bottom of the sixth to escape a no-out, base-loaded jam with only one run scoring. Ford also went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double.
The Cardinals host St. Helena on Friday.
Fort Bragg 16, Lower Lake 1 (5 inn.)
At Fort Bragg, the NCL I-leading Fort Bragg Timberwolves improved to 8-1 in the league standings with a five-inning victory over the Lower Lake Trojans (2-7, 4-8).
It was the second game in as many days for the Timberwolves, who beat Willits 13-4 on Monday. Against Lower Lake, Fort Bragg scored 13 times in the bottom of the second inning to snap a 1-1 tie.
“They hit a bunch of home runs,” Lower Lake coach James Jones said. “They’ve got a lot of left-handed hitters and (the fence in) right field is only 265 feet (away).”
Prior to Fort Bragg’s marathon bottom of the second, Lower Lake tied the game in the top half on a Izzac Carver double that scored Joe Boyd, who walked earlier in the inning. Carver’s hit was the only one of the game for the Trojans, who were coming off a 4-1 upset victory over Kelseyville on Friday.
It was the second meeting between the two teams in six days. Fort Bragg beat Lower Lake 15-1 in five innings on Thursday in Lower Lake. After the first game, Jones said the Timberwolves were the class of the league and he wasn’t about to change his opinion after Tuesday’s contest.
“They proved it again,” Jones said.
Lower Lake hits the road Friday to play Middletown at 4 p.m.
JV baseball
Clear Lake 12, Willits 2 (5 inn.)
At Lakeport, Ryan Ollenberger went 3-for-3 and doubled twice with four runs scored as the Clear Lake Cardinals 10-runned the Willits Wolverines in NCL I junior varsity action.
Winning pitcher Connor Johnson, working in relief of starter Ollenberger, threw one-hit ball over the final three innings, striking out six and walking two.
“He pitched really well,” Clear Lake coach Steven Krul said. “I was really impressed with Connor’s pitching today.”
The Cardinals (5-3, 6-4) pounded out 10 hits led by Ollenberger. Colby Krul went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and scored twice while Maddox Albaum went 2-for-2 with a RBI and two runs scored. Jonathan Werner (1-for-3) knocked in a pair of runs.
Clear Lake pitchers Johnson and Ollenberger combined to strike out 11 Willits batters. Cardinal hitters struck out only twice.
Clear Lake scored five times in the bottom of the third to erase a 2-1 Willits lead.
The Cardinals hit the road Thursday for a doubleheader at St. Helena.
