UPPER LAKE — Blaine Rhodes’ walk-off RBI bloop single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted the Upper Lake Cougars to a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals in a non-league varsity baseball game Friday afternoon at Upper Lake.
Upper Lake (1-1) had lost 18 straight games to Clear Lake (1-1) dating back to its last win over the Cardinals, a 2-1 victory in 2001.
Clear Lake loaded the bases in the top of the seventh against Upper Lake reliever Bradley Sneathen, who got a called third strike to end the inning.
“That was tough looking at a called third strike,” Clear Lake head coach Ed Pepper said.
In the bottom half, Benat Love singled with one out and moved to second base with two outs after Rocco Bassignani drew a walk. Rhodes had a 2-2 count when he blooped his hit behind the second baseman in shallow right field. Love scored standing up on a close play at the plate.
“He probably should have slid,” Upper Lake head coach Brian Milhaupt said. “It was a very, very intense game, the most intense game I’ve coached yet.”
Sneathen pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Love, who departed the game after four complete innings with the Cougars trailing 3-2. Upper Lake tied the game with a run in the sixth before winning it in the seventh.
“Sneathen and Rhodes came up huge,” Milhaupt said. “That was the biggest at-bat of his (Rhodes’) life.”
Love, Sneathen, Dalton Slater and Diego Velasco had two hits apiece for the Cougars.
For Clear Lake, Jonathan Werner went 1-for-4 with two RBIs and Ethan Maize doubled and reached base two other times after getting hit by the pitch. Justin Williams went 1-for-2 and also walked twice.
“It was definitely a good game, high energy,” Pepper said. “A lot of chirping from both sides.”
Clear Lake hit the ball hard but at Upper Lake’s players, according to Pepper. “That’s not taking away anything from Upper Lake. Upper Lake played great ball, there was great ball on both sides and it could have gone either way.”
Maddox Albaum pitched a complete game for Clear Lake, striking out four and walking four.
The Cardinals are off until March 7 when they host Colusa in a doubleheader. Upper Lake returns to action Tuesday in Lower Lake at 3:30 p.m.
In other baseball action Friday:
Middletown 9, Piner 4
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs (2-0) beat their second Santa Rosa team in three days, knocking off the Piner Prospectors.
No other game details were available.
The Mustangs host El Molino on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
In the junior varsity game Friday, Middletown won 18-2 in five innings to even its season record at 1-1. Wyatt Smith pitched a five-inning no-hitter, striking out two and walking three.
“We went from six errors in our first game Wednesday to two today,” Middletown coach Chris Dubois said. “Our defense really played well.”
Middletown’s offense also came alive. Micah Dymer went 3-for-3 while Dax Green, Noah Williams and Cole Ketchum added two hits apiece.
The Mustangs host St. Vincent of Petaluma on Saturday at 2 p.m. There is no varsity game.
