MCKINLEYVILLE — Luke Watkins’ RBI single in the top of the seventh, his third hit of the game, snapped a 6-6 tie and lifted the Kelseyville Knights to a 7-6 win over McKinleyville in the first game of a non-league varsity baseball doubleheader on Saturday in McKinleyville.
McKinleyville won 17-2 in five innings in game two.
First game
Zayne Barker pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to close out Kelseyville’s first win of the season. Working in relief of starter Jon Dougherty, Barker pitched 2 1/3 innings to notch the victory. He allowed only one hit and one unearned run while striking out three and walking none.
Barker worked out of a jam after relieving Dougherty in the bottom of the fifth with Kelseyville clinging to a 6-5 lead. While the Panthers were able to pull even with an unearned run in the sixth, the Knights pushed back in front in the seventh on a one-out triple by Colin Jensen to left-center field and Watkins’ basehit back up the middle. He finished the game 3-for-3 while younger brother Kyle Watkins went 3-for-4. Joey Gentle added two hits, including a double and two RBIs.
Dougherty pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and five runs (three earned) with two strikeouts and four walks.
“Jon pitched well, he just got a little fatigued there at the end,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said.
On finally putting a notch in the win column after an 0-4 start, Shaul said, “I feel like we played the type of baseball we need to play to win games. We put the ball into play, we ran the bases well and took advantage of their errors. It was definitely a good game for us. It was a pretty good darn baseball game to watch.”
Second game
The Knights actually had the early lead in nightcap, pushing ahead 2-1 in the top of the second on RBI singles by Hunter Keener (1-for-2) and Kyle Watkins (1-for-2), but the Panthers broke the game wide open with a 10-run bottom of the third.
With its top three pitchers — Barker, Dougherty and Brock Barrick — unavailable to pitch in the second game, Kelseyville had to rely on the “back of its bullpen,” according to Shaul.
Starter Jensen worked two effective innings but didn’t retire a batter in the third when the Knights needed two relievers to get out of the inning.
Kelseyville had only three hits — singles by Keener, Kyle Watkins and Luke Watkins.
McKinleyville scored six more times in the bottom of the fourth to go up 17-2. When Kelseyville failed to score in the top of the fifth, the game was called because of the 10-run mercy rule.
Schedule
Kelseyville (1-5) hosts Colusa (7-0) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The two teams met March 4 in Colusa with the RedHawks prevailing 5-1.
