POINT ARENA — The Point Arena Pirates won their North Central League III tiebreaker game with the Upper Lake Cougars on Thursday afternoon to claim the league’s automatic playoff spot in next week’s North Coast Section baseball playoffs.
While both teams will share this year’s NCL III title, Point Arena’s 4-1 victory guarantees the Pirates an automatic berth in the Division 6 playoffs. Upper Lake (6-3) will apply for an at-large berth in the Division 5 playoffs. The playoff fields in all divisions will be released this weekend.
Kyler Brothers pitched five strong innings for the Cougars, striking out nine and walking three, but the difference in the game was six Upper Lake errors compared to only one for Point Arena.
Upper Lake scored its only run in the top of the third on a Dylan Slater sacrifice fly. The Cougars finished with just two hits, singles by Will Henry (1-for-3) and Johnny Gozony (1-for-3).
Point Arena took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Both teams scored a run in the third to make it 3-1. The Pirates added an insurance run in the fourth.
