LAKEPORT — Justin Williams pitched 4 2/3 effective innings in his first start of the season and the Clear Lake Cardinals held on in the top of the seventh to beat the Lower Lake Trojans 5-4 in North Central League I varsity baseball action Tuesday afternoon in Lakeport.
Clear Lake (4-1 league, 5-6 overall) took a 5-2 lead into the seventh. Reliever Ryan Ollenberger, working his second inning, retired the first batter he faced before walking three in a row to load the bases. That’s when Clear Lake head coach Ed Pepper went to his bullpen for Maddux Albaum, who had been playing in left field. Albaum struck out the first batter he faced before issuing back-to-back run-scoring walks that cut the Cardinals’ lead to 5-4. He struck out his final batter to preserve the victory and earn the save.
“We just struggled a little bit to find the strike zone there at the end,” Pepper said.
Not so Williams, the Cardinals’ starting third baseman for most of this season. He scattered four hits over 4 2/3 inning and allowed two unearned runs before leaving the game.
“My plan was to use him for 70 pitches and he ended up throwing 68,” Pepper said. “I can’t complain. He really did a good job.”
Clear Lake scored single runs in the second, third and fourth innings before going up 5-2 with a two-run bottom of the sixth. Lower Lake (0-5 league, 0-7 overall) briefly took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third.
The Cardinals finished with nine hits, including two each for Albaum and Drake Smart. Matthew Martin added a run-scoring double and Ethan Maize and Ollenberger also had doubles.
“It was tough at first. We struggled a little bit adjusting to the speed of their pitcher,” Pepper said. “We just weren’t making solid contact and when we did, the wind was holding everything up in the air. We did hit the ball well enough to get the W.”
Lower Lake statistics were once again not reported.
Clear Lake hits the road Friday to play Cloverdale (3-2) while Lower Lake returns home to host Willits. Both games start at 4 p.m.
