For the most part it is upset alert week in the baseball and softball world.
For the most part Tuesday, avoided the upset.
That was true in all but two games, one which changed a league race. The other upset made a showdown game happening today more important for the team that lost.
The league race that changed is the NCL II Baseball race. The league didn’t look like it would have a baseball race. St. Vincent, the two time defending champion, went into its game at Tomales the only undefeated team in league play. In all four of its league wins, the ten run rule was used, including the first meeting with Tomales, which was the Braves only league loss. Much of the same was expected, as the No. 9 and No. 10 teams in the YSN365.com rankings met.
What we got instead was a pitching duel that didn’t end until the bottom of the ninth, when Willy Lepori hit a two out single to give Tomales a 2-1 win. The NCL II race is now a virtual three way tie, with Rincon Valley Christian joining the other two at the top of the race.
The pitching duel was one we might see again in the next few years between two sophomores, Liam Galten of St. Vincent and Ty Evenich of Tomales.
Evenich went seven innings, giving up one run in the first inning and allowing four hits. He did that against a St. Vincent team that went into the game averaging nearly eight runs overall, and over 18 runs a game in NCL II play. Jacob Brady came into relief and pitched two perfect innings to get the win and raise his record to 4-1.
Galten was in the game until the end. He gave up seven hits and struck out 13 and kept the lead until the sixth when Anthony Feliciano hit an RBI single, scoring Evenich, to make it 1-1,. Feliciano scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on the game winning hit by Lepori.
The two teams combined for 11 hits. Two of them were by Evenich to raise his batting average to .533.
Evenich was the only player in the game that had more than one hit
Tomales, at 5-1 in league play, has played one more game than both St. Vincent and Rincon Valley Christian, who are both 4-1. Tomales handed Rincon Valley Christian its only league loss by the same 2-1 score on April 22nd. Evenich went the distance to get the win in that game.
Because of the weather issues, St. Vincent and Rincon Valley Christian haven’t played. They will play on May 9th and 16th. Tomales will meet Rincon Valley Christian on May 13th.
Until then the league is on upset alert.
Tomales is the only team that has beaten St. Vincent since rejoining the NCL II three years ago. Going into the game the Mustangs were 25-1 in league play. The other loss was also to Tomales last season by a 4-2 score. St. Vincent defeated Tomales earlier 12-0. So in the last two years St. Vincent and Tomales have split four games. St. Vincent outscored Tomales in its two wins 26-4. Tomales outscored st.Vincent 6-3.
The other upset was in the NCL I Softball race, where Lower Lake defeated No. 4 Cloverdale 2-1. The loss is the first in NCL I play for the Eagles and drops them one game behind Clear Lake, who they travel to play today in a make-up game. It is the first of two games between Cloverdale and Clear Lake.
It had to be a sigh of relief for Lower Lake, who is 6-3 in league play. The three losses were by a combined five runs which includes a 7-5 loss to Cloverdale on April 10th. Lower Lake led that game 5-3 going into the seventh.
As we expect in a Softball Game between two good teams, it was quite a pitching duel with Shelbie Harris edging out Teanne Edens. Both pitchers went the distance and struck out ten. The two teams combined for ten hits.
Emma Dieners two out RBI single in the fifth was the game winner. Each team scored the other runs in the second inning.
Cloverdale falls to 11-4 overall and 8-1 in league play going into today’s game at No. 6 Clear Lake. The Cardinals has a ten game winning streak and are 14-3.
Lower Lake is 14-5 overall and 6-3 in NCL I play.
As for the rest of the Tuesday action, it was hard to find a close game and nothing really changed except one less game to play.
SCL BASEBALL
No. 2 Analy has a two game lead over No. 3 Petaluma with three to play. Petaluma has a one game lead over No. 8 Sonoma Valley for second place. The two teams meet today in a make-up game in Sonoma.
Also today, Elsie Allen and Healdsburg will complete their game from last Friday. Elsie Allen leads 2-1 in the fourth inning when the game resumes. The game is at Elsie Allen.
SCL SOFTBALL
No. 1 Petaluma keeps its two game lead over No. 7 Sonoma Valley and No. 9 Analy. They also have three games to go. In Petaluma’s win on Tuesday, Joelle Krist hit her tenth homer of the season.
NBL SOFTBALL
No. 2 Maria Carrillo, No. 3 Rancho Cotate and No. 5 Santa Rosa all won. Maria Carrillo and Santa Rosa are tied for first one game ahead of Rancho Cotate. They each have a game on Thursday before meeting next Tuesday at Maria Carrillo. Rancho Cotate is one game back. They also meet Santa Rosa next week.
NBL BASEBALL
They are on upset alert also today. No. 1 Maria Carrillo travels to Ukiah and goes for their 16th straight win. Maria Carrillo has a two game lead over No. 4 Montgomery with four to go. Montgomery travels to Windsor.
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net