Upper Lake starting pitcher Bradley Sneathen struggled with his control during action Friday afternoon at home against North Central League II-leading Sonoma Academy. He fared better at the plate, going 2-for-3 with with a double and a RBI in a 15-4 loss. (Photo by Bob Minenna)
FORT BRAGG — The Fort Bragg Timberwolves scored the game's final seven runs, including two in the bottom of the seventh inning, to stun the Kelseyville Knights 10-9 in North Central League I varsity baseball action Friday afternoon in Fort Bragg.
The loss all but mathematically eliminates the Knights (7-4 league, 9-11) from the NCL I race.
"Give credit to them (Timberwolves)," Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said. "They hit the ball, put it into play and put the pressure on us."
Fort Bragg (6-3) trailed 9-3 going to the bottom of the fifth inning. Kelseyville had just scored two runs in the top half to open up a big lead, but the Timberwolves came right back with four runs of their own in the bottom half.
"That was the killer," Shaul said. "If we get a shutdown inning there we're in pretty good shape."
Fort Bragg rallied against Kelseyville relievers Andrew Huggins and Colin Jensen, who took the loss. Starter Zayne Barker, the team's ace, had to leave after two innings with back soreness, a problem he has fought all season, according to Shaul.
"He left after two and that was not the plan for us today," Shaul said.
Fort Bragg closed to 9-8 in the bottom of the sixth against Jensen and then won it with two runs in the seventh, the first scoring on a one-out double and the winning run on an infield single.
"We were just trying to get out of there, hoping for a line drive right at someone," Shaul said of the bottom of the seventh.
The Knights scored five times in the top of the third to open up a 6-2 lead. Both teams picked up a run in the fourth and Kelseyville added two more runs in the top of the fifth to go up 9-3.
Kelseyville had to shake up its lineup with senior starter Jake Keithly away on a family vacation.
Brock Barrick, a freshman, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Kelseyville. Another freshman, Max Hommer, knocked in two runs with a RBI groundout and sacrifice fly. Joey Gentle went 1-for-4 with a double and a RBI.
Kelseyville returns to action Monday at Middletown against the league-leading Mustangs (9-1), who lost to Kelseyville 8-6 on April 8 in Kelseyville.
St. Helena 6, Clear Lake 1
At St. Helena, the St. Helena Saints scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the first and three more unearned runs in the bottom of the second to beat the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Losing pitcher Maddox Albaum threw 54 pitches in the first two innings, but recovered nicely to throw a 91-pitch complete game with a bit of help from his defense ... and the Saints ... in the form of a rather unorthodox double play in the bottom of the third inning.
With a St. Helena runner at first base and only one out, a grounder to second base resulted in a force play at second. However, the batter thought the force was the third out of the inning, stopped running and turned back toward the dugout, at which point he was called out for being outside of the baseline.
"The home plate umpire said he hadn't seen anything like that in his 15 years," Clear Lake head coach Ed Pepper said.
Only one umpire worked the game rather than the usual two, but Pepper said he did a "fabulous job."
Pepper nearly pulled Albaum in the third inning but decided to stick with, which turned out to be a smart move.
"He pulled it together and kept them off balance the rest of the way," Pepper said. "Maddox should have been out of those (first two) innings, but we had errant throws and catches. It was just a rough first two innings."
Clear Lake's lone run came in the top of the fifth on an Albaum single, one of only two hits for the Cardinals (3-8, 6-11). Ethan Maize had the other.
The Cardinals are home Tuesday against Lower Lake at 4 p.m.
Middletown 10, Willits 8
At Willits, trailing 3-0 after two innings, Middletown flipped the switch on its offense and pounded the ball the rest of the way to beat back a strong effort from the Willits Wolverines.
"They hit really well and made some plays," Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said of the Wolverines (1-9). "But we made the adjustments and woke up a little bit at the plate."
Middletown tied the game with a three-run third inning and pushed ahead 5-3 on a two-run triple by Luke Hoogendoorn (3-for-4, 3 RBIs) in the top of the fourth. Willits scored twice in the bottom half to pull even at 5-5.
The Mustangs pushed ahead to stay with a run in the fifth. They scored three more times in the sixth and again in the seventh to go up 10-5. The Wolverines closed to 10-8 in the bottom of the seventh and were able to get the potential tying run to the plate before reliever Noah Williams recorded the game's final out.
Williams, working in relief of starter Hoogendoorn, pitched 2 1/3 innings for the victory.
Joining Hoogendoorn with three hits on the day were Cole Ketchum (3-for-4), who doubled and drove in three runs, and Hunter Hartzog, who went 3-for-4. Bryan Riel went 2-for-4.
"We'll take what we can get and move on," Holt said.
Hoogendoorn allowed only three hits in 4 2/3 innings but struggled with his control, walking four and hitting one.
Middletown can avenge its only league loss Monday when its hosts Kelseyville, an 8-6 winner over the Mustangs back on April 8 in Kelseyville. Middletown is also home Friday to play Fort Bragg.
Sonoma Academy 15, Upper Lake 4 (6 inn.)
At Upper Lake, with a chance to avenge their only league loss and pull into a tie for first place atop the NCL II standings, the Upper Lake Cougars issued too many free bases to the Sonoma Academy Coyotes, who parlayed them into a lopsided six-inning victory.
Upper Lake's Luke Summerfield takes his lead off second base.
Upper Lake pitching issued eight walks and hit five batters in the loss, which drops the Cougars to 4-2 in league and 7-4 overall. Sonoma Academy snapped a 1-1 tie with a seven-run top of the third.
"A couple of walks, a couple of hit batters and a bases-loaded double is what broke it open for them," Upper Lake head coach Brian Milhaupt said. "We played one really bad inning."
Sonoma Academy had an 11-1 lead before Upper Lake scored again in the bottom of the sixth.
Losing pitcher Bradley Sneathen went 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI. Brody Petrie went 2-for-3 with a RBI and Will Henry also had two hits.
Sneathen allowed eight runs in 2 2/3 innings while Henry allowed the other seven Sonoma Academy runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
Upper Lake's Will Henry sprints to first base. Henry went 2-for-3 against Sonoma Academy.
"It just wasn't our day," Milhaupt said. "They (Coyotes) hit the ball."
Upper Lake plays Credo in Rohnert Park on Tuesday before retuning home next Friday against Technology.
Lower Lake 7, Cloverdale 6
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans (1-9) walked off in the bottom of the seventh with a win over the Cloverdale Eagles (5-5).
Lower Lake game statistics weren't reported.
Lower Lake plays Clear Lake in Lakeport on Tuesday.
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