[New post] Cougars walk off with 5-4 win over Credo
Brian Sumpter posted: " UPPER LAKE — Ruby Wurm's bloop single down the right-field line scored teammate Ashlyn Wurm with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Upper Lake Cougars walked off with a big 5-4 North Central League II softball victory over the C" Lake County Record-Bee
Upper Lake's Maddy Young connects for a triple leading off the bottom of the fifth inning. She later scored on teammate Tristin Rhodes' two-out single. (Photos courtesy of Trett Bishop)
UPPER LAKE — Ruby Wurm's bloop single down the right-field line scored teammate Ashlyn Wurm with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Upper Lake Cougars walked off with a big 5-4 North Central League II softball victory over the Credo Gryphon on Friday afternoon at Upper Lake.
Winning pitcher Nya Marcks allowed just five hits, one of them a two-run home run to Bryn Weigel-Murphy during Credo's three-run fifth inning, as the Gryphon opened up a 3-1 lead, but the junior allowed just one hit the rest of the way as the Cougars improved to a North Central League II-best 3-0.
Marcks also beat Credo 7-5 during the final game of the 2022 regular season, which led to the two teams sharing the league title.
"She killed it today," Upper Lake head coach Heather Wurm said of Marcks' complete game effort, which featured eight strikeouts and three walks, one of those intentional when the Cougars passed on Credo cleanup hitter Hailey Ray, the losing pitcher, in the top of the eighth with the potential go-ahead run standing at second base.
Winning pitcher Nya Marcks allowed five hits, struck out eight and walked three, one intentionally, in Upper Lake's 5-4 extra-inning victory over Credo.After issuing the intentional pass to Ray, Marcks got Maya Malon to hit a comebacker which advanced Weigel-Murphy, who led off the inning with a single, and Ray up to second and third. Tianna Munson followed with a hold-your-breath line drive to left field that was caught to end the inning.
Winning pitcher Nya Marcks allowed five hits, struck out eight and walked three, one intentionally, in Upper Lake's 5-4 extra-inning victory over Credo.
"My hands were shaking," Wurm said of the inning's final out.
On the decision to walk Ray intentionally, Wurm said the Cougars were not going to let her decide the game.
"Their top four batters are pretty good," Wurm said of the first four hitters in the Credo batting order. "They were struggling after that."
All five of the Gryphon's hits on Friday belonged to two players. Leadoff hitter Jazzy Fuller had two of them and Weigel-Murphy the other three.
Upper Lake (3-0 league, 3-2 overall) wasted no time at all winning the game in the bottom of the eighth, that after throwing away a chance to do just that in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, Ashlyn Wurm led off with a four-pitch walk and moved up to second on a passed ball with Ruby Wurm at the plate. The right-handed hitting Wurm worked the count to 3-1 before blooping the ball just beyond the reach of Credo's first baseman and in front of the Gryphon's right fielder. There was no play at the plate.
The Cougars' opportunistic baserunning won the game as much as anything else. Credo catcher Malon struggled behind the plate all day and was charged with a handful of passed balls that allowed Upper Lake's runners to advance when they weren't stealing bases. Ray also was charged with several wild pitches, though many should have probably ended up in Malon's mitt. When a Cougars player reached first on a hit, walk or error, they didn't stay there very long.
"We wanted to put as much pressure on them as we could and we did," Wurm said.
Case in point was the bottom of the second when Marcks reached on an error with one out. She was still on first base with two outs, but that changed in a hurry. A passed ball sent her to second, she stole third, and another passed ball brought her home with Maddy Young standing at the plate.
Credo answered right away in the top of the third. Marcks walked Zoe LaFleur, who moved around to third on consecutive passed balls. Fuller's bloop single into center field tied the game at 1-1. Weigel-Murphy followed with a home run to deep left field to give Credo a 3-1 lead.
Upper Lake's Nathaly Velasco is tagged out at home plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. She was trying to score from second base on teammate Aimee Schaefers' bloop single into right field.
Upper Lake's Nathaly Velasco is tagged out at home plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. She was trying to score from second base on teammate Aimee Schaefers' bloop single into right field.Upper Lake got one of those runs back in the fourth without aid of a hit. Ashlyn Wurm walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ruby Wurm's grounder to shortstop.
Both teams scored in the fifth. Credo picked up a run in the top half on a fielding error but what might have been an even bigger inning for the Gryphon was short-circuited by the Upper Lake defense, which turned a foul popup into a catcher-to-first double play.
Upper Lake answered in the bottom half on Young's leadoff triple to right, the sun field at Upper Lake. The Credo outfielder appeared to have a bead on the ball before losing it at the last second. Young was still at third two outs later when Tristin Rhodes delivered a clutch two-out single into left field to cut the Gryphons' lead to 4-3.
The Cougars pulled even in the sixth on Ruby Wurm's single to left field, a passed ball, wild pitch and Marcks' sacrifice fly into center field as she caught up with a Ray 1-2 fastball and drove it deep enough to score Wurm.
Upper Lake's Ashlyn Rhodes snares a line drive in left field to end the top of the eighth inning with Credo runners at second and third.
Upper Lake should have won it in the bottom of the seventh, the only time during the game when the Cougars didn't press their advantage on the basepaths. Nathaly Velasco got things started with a one-out single to right field and immediately stole second base. Aimee Schaefers followed with a bloop single into right field as Velasco raced around third. The throw home beat her and she was tagged out as Schaefers advanced to second. Rhodes' infield single to shortstop sent Schaefers to third base. With Ashlyn Rhodes at the plate, Tristin Rhodes stole second base. Ashlyn Rhodes fouled off two straight 2-2 pitches before a Ray pitch bounced to the backstop. Schaefers made an aggressive move toward the plate but inexplicably stopped and retreated to third base even though she could have walked home.
Upper Lake's Ashlyn Rhodes snares a line drive in left field to end the top of the eighth inning with Credo runners at second and third."I was yelling at her to go," said Heather Wurm, who was standing in the third base coaches box imploring Schaefers to head in the other direction. Ashlyn Rhodes ended up striking out, which forced extra innings.
The mistake didn't come back to hurt the Cougars, something Wurm said she was grateful for.
"We need to fix some things but overall I thought we played a good game against a good Credo team," Wurm said.
Ray struck out 12 batters and walked two.
Upper Lake turns right around and heads to Rohnert Park on Monday to play Credo again.
"They have an artificial field, so it's a whole different ballgame," Wurm said.
Game notes: Upper Lake has played only five games this season after having nearly its entire preseason wiped out by the abundant rain and snow that plagued all of the county's softball and baseball teams throughout the month of March and into early April. It's probably the lowest number of games ever played by a county softball team this late into the season ... The Cougars return home next Friday to host Tomales before traveling to Calistoga on May 11 for their league finale ... Young, who is splitting her spring sports season between softball and track, also played two sports during the winter sports season (basketball and wrestling), that after a stellar fall soccer season ... "She hasn't played softball since the eighth grade," Wurm said of Young, who is headed to UC Davis in the fall to continue her education ... "She's just a little stud," Wurm added ... Young played third base on Friday and had four chances in the field, throwing out three runners and making one error. Her sun-aided triple in the fifth inning was the first hit allowed by Ray.
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