St. Helena is 2-8 against Kelseyville since March of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Saints will venture away from home to take on the Knights at 4:00 p.m. St. Helena's pitching crew has only allowed three runs per game this season, so Kelseyville's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
St. Helena took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They skirted past Cloverdale 8-6. The Saints haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive victory against them.
Xander Kelperis tossed a big game, striking out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits.
At the plate, St. Helena let Sam Beck and Charlie Blaum run wild. Beck scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4, while Blaum went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Oli Harvey, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
St. Helena always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .528. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Kelseyville got themselves on the board against Lower Lake on Friday, but Lower Lake never followed suit. They blew past the Trojans 10-0. Considering the Knights have won five matchups by more than nine runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Brock Barrick was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in May of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and one double.
In other batting news, Kyle Watkins was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Casey Huston, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI.
St. Helena's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-3. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Kelseyville, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-2.
St. Helena came up short against Kelseyville in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, falling 5-1. Can the Saints avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
