Ollenberger homer puts Cards ahead to stay

Clear Lake pounds Cloverdale 14-8 in NCL I action; Knights, Cougars drop games

CLOVERDALE >> Hank Ollenberger slugged a threerun home run in the top of the fifth inning to break a 6-6 tie and the Clear Lake Cardinals went on to beat the Cloverdale Eagles 14-8 in North Central League I varsity baseball action Friday afternoon at Cloverdale.

Both teams are now 5-8 in league play.

Clear Lake trailed 6-5 entering the top of the fifth. Drake Smart's twoout RBI single tied the game and put runners at the corners for Ollenberger. Smart stole second base before Ollenberger tied into a 2-0 fastball and sent it high over the fence in left field to cap the Cardinals' fourrun inning.

“The pitch was a little inside, but it was in his wheelhouse,” Clear Lake head coach Ed Pepper said of Ollenberger.

When the ball left Ollenberger's bat, Pepper said he wasn't sure it had enough to reach the fence.

“I was watching it and then I saw their left fielder turn his back and I thought it had a chance,” Pepper said. “It landed about 10 feet over the fence. What a momentum boost that was.”

The home run made a winner of starting pitcher Maddox Albaum, who left after four complete innings trailing 6-5.

“Maddox was battling a cold and he said his arm was dead,” Pepper said. “He got us out of the bottom of the fourth and Ollenberger was coming in to pitch no matter what happened (in the top of the fifth).”

Ollenberger ended up protecting the lead he gave the Cardinals by working the final three innings for the save.

“He pitched very, very well,” Pepper said. “He challenged batters, made them put the ball into play and our fielders did the rest.”

Clear Lake scored three more times in the top of the sixth to go up 12-6. Cloverdale got one of those runs back in the bottom half, but the Cardinals added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh for a 14-7 lead.

Needing a win to remain in contention for an atlarge playoff spot, the Cardinals pounded out 13 hits to Cloverdale's 11.

“They were firing on all cylinders,” Pepper said.

Clear Lake closes out league play and its regular-season schedule Tuesday in Fort Bragg at 4 p.m.

St. Helena 13, Kelseyville 9

At Kelseyville, St. Helena (10-1) took a 13-0 lead into the bottom of the third inning, but the Kelseyville Knights fought their way back to make a game of it before falling to the Saints in NCL I action.

After scoring three runs in the bottom of the third, the Knights (7-6, 9-13) pushed across two

more runs in the bottom of the fifth to avoid being 10-runned by the Saints. They closed to 13-8 with three runs in the sixth and scored again in the seventh, leaving runners at the corners when the final out was recorded.

Huddling with his players before they took their turn at bat in the bottom of the third, Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said, “I told them we've got to claw our way back, chip away, and we did that.”

St. Helena took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Saints scored a run in the second to go up 2-0 and had the bases loaded with two outs. Kelseyville was on the verge of getting out of the inning when it all fell apart for his team, according to Shaul.

“They hit a bleeder that scored two runs,” Shaul said of the first of a series of St. Helena hits that mushroomed into an 11-run rally for the Saints, who sent 15 batters to the plate in the inning.

St. Helena picked up another run in the top of the third to make it 13-0.

Kelseyville might have come all the way back had it picked up one or two more key hits along the way, according to Shaul. The Knights left the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth innings.

After the Saints roughed up starting pitcher Colin Jensen for 10 runs in 1 2/3 innings, senior reliever Josh Harding did a good job of keeping his team in the game.

“Harding came in and threw great,” Shaul said. “I was really excited for him.”

Harding pitched the final 5 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out six and walking only one.

“It was nice to see him smiling and having a good time,” Shaul said.

Both teams finished with 10 hits. Andrew Huggins went 2-for-3 with three

RBIs for Kelseyville, Tyler Bryant went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI, and Joey Gentle went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Hardin also had a double.

The Knights, losers of three straight, close out their league and regularseason schedule Tuesday at home against Lower Lake. Kelseyville will then apply for an at-large berth into the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs, which begin the week of May 16. Technology 7, Credo 3

At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars dropped their third straight NCL II game, falling to the Credo Gryphon in NCL II action.

Brandon Sneathen went 2-for-3 with a RBI and worked three innings of scoreless relief for the Cougars (4-4, 7-6). Losing pitcher Kyler Brothers went the first four innings on the mound, allowing all of Credo's five hits and seven runs (three earned).

Credo took advantage of eight Upper Lake errors.