CRUZ BAT, ARM POWERS CARDS
Freshman left-hander pitches three innings for win, launches homer against Kelseyville
With two former Clear Lake High School softball head coaches looking on, the Cardinals took care of their business on Friday by beating the Kelsevyille Knights 16-1 in a fiveinning North Central League I game at Kelseyville.
It was the league opener for the Cardinals (1-0, 2-1 league) while the Knights fell to 0-2 in league and 0-3 overall under first-year head coach and former Clear Lake catching star Julie Jackson.
Longtime Clear Lake head coach Gary Pickle (1993-2015) and his successor, Doug Wingler (2016-2018), watched current coach Racheal Harmon’s Cardinals jump out to a 9-0 lead after two innings, including a threerun home run by winning pitcher Lilianna Cruz as part of a five-run top of the second inning.
Cruz, who pitches and bats left-handed, drilled a Jo Hellgren fastball deep over the center-field fence.
“It was launched,” Harmon said. “There was no doubt. Her teammates went wild.”
Cruz, a freshman, worked three shutout innings for the victory in her third high school start. She struck out six and walked two. Nya Marcks relieved and pitched the fourth and fifth, allowing one run, striking out three and walking three.
Clear Lake was leading 11-0 before Kelseyville scored its lone
run in the bottom of the fourth.
Joy Ingalls went 3-for-5 with a RBI for the Cardinals, Raina Clifton went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and Sierra Bruch went 1-for-4 with a bases-loaded triple during a five-run fifth.
Clear Lake out-hit Kelseyville 11-2.
“I’m just proud of the way they played, especially with Gary and Doug watching the game,” Harmon said. “Everything came together. The girls really wanted this game. They worked very hard today.”
For the Knights, Makayla Boardman and Ryann Taylor had the only hits.
Jackson said her players were frustrated with the home plate umpire and what she called an “inconsistent strike zone,”
“I’m just proud of the way they played, especially with Gary and Doug watching the game. Everything came together. The girls really wanted this game. They worked very hard today.”
— Racheal Harmon, Cardinals head coach
though she added the officiating did not beat the Knights.
“I didn’t know what kind of advice to give them,” Jackson said. “I didn’t know where the strike zone was either.”
Hellgren pitched the first four innings for Kelseyville, allowed 11 runs on eight hits. Jayden Paulich relieved to start the fifth and allowed five runs on three hits.
Clear Lake is home Tuesday to play Middletown (0-2 league, 1-2 overall) while Kelseyville hosts Willits on Tuesday. Both games start at 4 p.m.