UPPER LAKE — Upper Lake’s Nathaly Velasco lit the fuse during a seven-run second inning and an eight-run sixth inning Tuesday afternoon to lead the Cougars to a 16-3 non-league softball victory over the Kelseyville Knights in Upper Lake.
Velasco (2-for-4) homered leading off the bottom of the second and her double got things rolling for the Cougars (5-4) in the sixth when the game was halted because of the 10-run mercy rule (the game should have stopped at 13-3 but accidentally continued until the mistake was noticed).
“She had a big day,” Upper Lake head coach Nick Williamson said of Velasco, who also turned an unassisted double play at third base, one of two double plays for the Cougars. “The defense came up clutch and helped us get out of innings when they had runners in scoring position.”
Shortstop Zoey Petrie (2-for-5, double, 2 RBIs) also started a 6-3 double play, stepping on second to force a runner and throwing on to first for the second out.
Upper Lake didn’t commit an error in the win.
Kelseyville (0-6) briefly tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the second. The Knights scored twice in the top of the sixth to make it 8-3 before Upper Lake broke in open in the bottom half.
“Overall they played well,” Williamson said of the Cougars.
The young Knights continue to make progress, according to head coach Julie Jackson.
“We held them in the middle innings but had some hiccups toward the end,” Jackson said. “We’re not doing a lot of the little things right now, but we can fix it.”
Jackson was happy with Kelseyville’s nine hits, including two each from Taylor Hanson (double) and Audrey Pasalo (2 RBIs). Victoria Rodriguez also had a double and Cali Schnabl went 1-for-2 and walked twice.
“We swung the bats a lot better today,” Jackson said.
Winning pitcher Lexi Wurm worked the first 4 2/3 innings before giving way to Nya Marcks, who finished up. Wurm struck out two and walked three while Marcks struck out two and walked one in 1 2/3 innings. Wurm also went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs while Ruby Wurm added three hits, one of them a double. Jordann Gudmundson went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.
“Upper Lake did a good job finding the gaps,” Jackson said.
Losing pitcher Jayden Paulich went the distance for Kelseyville, striking out six and walking four.
“Jayden is doing real well,” Jackson said. “She’s an awesome leader.”
The Knights host Cloverdale in the North Central League I opener for both teams Friday at 4 p.m. Upper Lake plays St. Bernard’s on Friday at 4 p.m. in the opening round of the St. Bernard’s Tournament in Eureka. The Cougars play two more games Saturday.
