KELSEYVILLE — Zayne Barker pitched a complete game without issuing a walk and he also delivered a big two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning to help the Kelseyville Knight remain perfect in the North Central League I varsity baseball standings with a 7-4 victory over St. Helena on Friday afternoon in Kelseyville.
Kelseyville (5-0 league, 8-5 overall) won its fifth straight game overall while handing defending league champion St. Helena (3-2, 5-8) its second NCL I loss in a row. The Saints went 14-1 a year ago.
“We put ourselves in a good place,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said. “I think we’ve got a good team. We need to play to our ability every single time we’re out there.”
While the Saints out-hit the Knights 9-6, Kelseyville made the most of everything the Saints gave them — four errors, three walks and three hit batsmen.
“We didn’t hit the ball all that well, but we took advantage of their mistakes,” Shaul said. “We also did a good job playing small ball and we ran the bases well.”
Kelseyville also made the most of the field it was playing on. For the second game in row, the Knights had to use the junior varsity diamond at the high school instead of Lloyd Larson Field.
“It was just too wet,” Shaul said of Lloyd Larson Field. “We made the most of a no-fence field. Our outfielders were able to run down some balls. St. Helena hit some deep shots.”
Center fielder Luke Watkins saved at least one run in the top of the fifth when he caught a deep blast on the dead run to end the inning. St. Helena had a runner on base at the time.
“It definitely would have scored a run,” Shaul said.
Tyler Bryant, playing his first game in left field, made a pair of standout catches in the third inning and finished the game with six putouts. Shaul had to move people around on defense after his starting right fielder, Andrew Huggins, took a ball off his foot in the Knights’ 13-5 home win Tuesday against Kelseyville. With Huggins unavailable against St. Helena. left fielder Reme Strong moved to right field, Bryant went from first base to left field, and Trey Broyles played first.
“We used a little bit of our depth today,” Shaul said.
St. Helena took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and held it until Kelseyville scored twice in the bottom of the second, one of those runs coming home on a Joey Gentle single. Kelseyville moved ahead 3-2 in the third and went up 4-2 in the fourth. It was still 4-2 when the Knights picked up three huge insurance runs in the sixth. The first scored on a St. Helena error, the final two on a two-out Barker double down the left-field line as he smacked an 0-1 pitch to give Kelseyville a 7-2.
“The senior stepped up and came up with the big hit right there,” Shaul said. “And he was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts when he came to the plate.”
Barker’s hit became all the more important when St. Helena rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh. The game ended with one runner on base as Bryant hauled in a flyball.
Barker struck out seven during his complete-game effort.
Besides Barker and Gentle, Strong, Bryant, Kyle Watkins and Brock Barrick had the Knights’ other hits.
Kelseyville is on the road Tuesday to play Willits (1-3) before returning home next Friday to take on Lower Lake (1-4) at 4 p.m.
