LAKE COUNTY — The 2020 spring sports season wasn’t even out of diapers when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down high school sports in Lake County and throughout the state. The speculation nearly a year ago today was that it wouldn’t last long. That was a big mistake.
Until the COVID-19-delayed 2020-21 sports season starts, the Lake County Record-Bee will take a look back at the local sports happenings of a year ago and the teams and athletes who were making the headlines.
Little did the Upper Lake Cougars know it when they traveled to Willits for a non-league softball game nearly a year ago today that they would play in the last high school sporting event involving a Lake County team until almost a year later — Feb. 24, 2021 to be exact.
Trailing 8-0 after one inning, the Cougars came storming back to beat the Willits Wolverines 25-11, a victory that evened their record — which would turn out to be their final record — at 3-3.
As the Cougars were making their way to Willits on Friday, March 13, 2020, all five school districts in Lake County announced that day they were suspending all sporting events because of COVID-19.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t last too long,” Upper Lake head coach Nick Williamson said at the time, echoing the sentiments of most county coaches.
After the Wolverines roughed up Upper Lake starting pitcher Rylee Dalton for eight runs in the bottom of the first, the Cougars roared back with a 10-run top of the second. They added six more runs in the third for a 16-8 lead. Willits got as close as 16-11 with three runs in the bottom of the third against reliever Angel O’Sullivan, but she blanked the Wolverines the rest of the way. O’Sullivan ended up working six innings for the victory, striking out two and walking three.
Of Upper Lake’s 22 hits, Mallory Henry, Molly McCabe and Hailey Reams collected four apiece. McCabe and Reams also had doubles.
“It was the first time we’ve played a full good game,” Williamson said. “Willits went through three different pitchers and we hit all of them.”
