KELSEYVILLE — After freezing through the first two innings of his team’s game against Lower Lake on Tuesday afternoon at Lloyd Larson Field, Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said he began to warm up.
So did the Knights.
Kelseyville scored five times in the bottom of the fourth and five more times in the fifth to beat the visiting Trojans 12-2 in five innings in the North Central League I finale for both of these varsity baseball teams.
“I was shivering to death for the first two innings,” Shaul said. “Hail started coming down at one point. It rained a little in the third. By the fourth and fifth it began to warm up and it wasn’t too bad.”
Both teams scored twice in the first inning and it remained a 2-2 game until the bottom of the fourth when the Knights’ bats began to come alive. Hunter Keener singled home a run to put Kelseyville on top 3-2, Reme Strong hit a sacrifice fly, Jake Keithly added a RBI groundout to make it 5-2, and Max Hommer capped the scoring in the inning with a two-run single, part of his three-RBI day.
That was more than enough run support for Kelseyville freshman pitcher Brock Barrick, who needed only 67 pitches to go the distance for the victory. He allowed just one hit — that in the first inning — and one earned run while striking out five and walking one. Barrick also had two of the Knights’ nine hits.
Kelseyville finishes 8-6 in league play and 10-13 for the regular season. The Knights will apply for an at-large berth in next week’s North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs and will likely end up playing on the road either next Tuesday or Wednesday. While the Knights will be a low seed in the Divison 4 field, Shaul said they are capable of making some noise.
“If we come out like we should, if we are focused and get some runs early, we could be tough to deal with,” Shaul said.
Getting his largely young squad a taste of postseason experience could pay dividends down the road, according to Shaul, who will have nearly his entire starting lineup back next season.
