LAKEPORT — Raina Clifton’s three-run home run was the big blow during a nine-run Clear Lake nine-run fourth inning as the Cardinals beat the Kelseyville Knights 15-0 in a North Central League I softball game Tuesday afternoon in Lakeport.
It was the league opener for the Cardinals (1-0, 5-1) while the fell to 0-2 in the NCL I standings and 0-8 overall. The game was called in the sixth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.
Clifton homered to straightaway center field after working the count to 2-2.
“A lot of small goes on with our team and she was trying to protect with two strikes,” Clear Lake head coach Scott Schaefers said. “She did more than protect.”
“It was a solid hit,” Kelseyville head coach and former Clear Lake star Julie Jackson said.
Clifton finished with two hits and also pitched a scoreless fifth inning in relief of starter Lilianna Cruz, striking out two.
“I’m very happy with our team,” Schaefers said. “The girls are a great bunch of student-athletes. They’re awesome.”
Clear Lake staked Cruz to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and kept adding runs from there. The Cardinals were up 6-0 through three innings.
Cruz struck out three and walked one.
Hailee Bussard went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for the Cardinals while Stella Hill went 3-for-4 with a RBI. Clifton, Amber Smart (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) and Camrin Pivniska (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) added two hits apiece. Eight different Cardinals collected RBIs.
“They played really well today,” Jackson said of her alma mater. “They’re always going to be a good team.”
Kelseyville’s youth and inexperience continue to pop up at key moments of games, according to Jackson, and injuries to starters such as Lilly Wiser (ankle), who missed the game, and Olivia Hommer, who jammed and possibly dislocated her thumb during her second at-bat, aren’t helping.
“We’re young and we’re learning as we go,” Jackson said. “We get so discouraged when we give up a few runs, we have to find a way to build our confidence. The game isn’t over until the seventh inning.”
Victoria Rodriguez doubled for Kelseyville lone extra-base hit.
Losing pitcher Jayden Paulich struck out four.
Clear Lake hits the road Friday to play Middletown (1-1, 2-5) while Kelseyville visits Willits.
In other league action Tuesday:
Cloverdale 13, Middletown 1 (5 inn.)
Tori Tacla’s solo home run in the top of the second inning was the only hit Cloverdale pitcher Charlotte Burchett allowed as the Eagles scored 10 times in the bottom of the third to snap a 1-1 tie and beat the Mustangs in a game stopped after five innings.
Middletown pitching had another tough day as starter Emma Hansen walked six in two-plus innings, including each of the first three batters during Cloverdale’s 10-run third inning.
“The pitching isn’t as consistent as it needs to be for us to hang in there with other teams,” Middletown head coach Bob Gunion said. “It’s too much to ask every game to keep coming back from deficits.”
Tacla connected to straightaway center field with two outs in the top of the second to briefly tie the game at 1-1.
“And that was our only hit,” Gunion said. “We didn’t put it in play enough. Their pitcher was consistent.”
Burchett struck out six and walked two. Cloverdale backed her with only one error in the field while Middletown’s defense was charged with six errors.
“It was a combination of walks and errors,” Gunion said of his team’s meltdown in the bottom of the third.
Shay Sims relieved Hansen in the third inning and finished up. She allowed nine runs on three hits and walked two in her two innings of work.
Middletown returns home Friday to play Clear Lake (1-0, 5-1) at 4 p.m.
St. Helena 20, Lower Lake 2
At Lower Lake, in a game that went the full seven innings, the St. Helena Saints, defending league champions, scored nine times in the top of the seventh to extend an 11-2 lead.
The Trojans (0-2, 1-3) made the most of their one hit, a two-run double by Jenna White in the bottom of the third that cut St. Helena’s lead to 3-2. The Saints answered with six runs in the fourth and added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to go up 11-2.
Lower Lake felt the loss of two starters, according to assistant coach Jeremy Mock.
“It really hurt us because we don’t have much depth to begin with,” Mock said. “It left us with just two subs in the dugout.”
Losing pitcher Jessica Hernandez went the distance, striking out nine and walking two.
Lower Lake is on the road Friday against Fort Bragg at 4 p.m.
