LOWER LAKE — Keeley Parks allowed only one run in her first high school start and the Lower Lake Trojans held off the Maxwell Panthers 6-5 in non-league softball action Thursday at Lower Lake High School.
Maxwell had a run in and the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the seventh when reliever Jessica Hernandez struck out a Panthers batter swinging to end the game.
Parks worked the first four innings and left the game with a 5-1 lead. Maxwell (9-6) scored twice in the fifth, once in the sixth and again in the seventh against Hernandez to narrow the gap.
“She pitched really well in her first start,” Lower Lake head coach Brett Doud said of Parks, who struck out two and walked none. “We played well and we needed a win.”
It was Lower Lake’s first victory since April 16 against Willits.
While Maxwell took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first against Parks, Lower Lake pushed ahead to stay with a two-run third inning followed by a three-run fourth. After Maxwell closed to 5-3 in the top of the fifth, the Trojans added what proved to be a very big run in the bottom of the inning for a 6-3 lead.
The two teams combined for 21 hits, 11 of those by the Trojans. Kyleigh Mock led the way, going 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI. Jacey Celli went 2-for-3 with a double and Rebecca Theodorou also had a double.
The Trojans are home again Friday when they Clear Lake in a North Central League I game at 4 p.m.
