Lions open Division 4 tournament at No. 5 Fort Bragg
The El Molino varsity baseball squad is alive and well in the postseason, landing the No. 12 seed in the 14-team North Coast Section Division 4 tournament this week.
At press time, the Lions (9-13) were putting in final prep work for a Wednesday, May 15, visit to No. 5 Fort Bragg in the NCS opener, with the winner advancing to face the survivor of the No. 4 Saint Mary’s versus No. 13 Salesian game in the quarterfinals on May 18 (location and time TBD).
The complete list of NCS Division 4 teams in seeding order is: McKinleyville, Arcata, St. Patrick/St. Vincent, Saint Mary’s, Fort Bragg, Middletown, Piedmont, Redwood Christian, Kelseyville, Lick Wilmerding, St. Helena, El Molino, Salesian and John Swett.
Lions fall in NBL tourney
El Molino represented the fourth seed in last week’s North Bay League playoff tournament, traveling to face No. 1 Windsor in a first-round clash on May 8. The Jaguars put the Lions in an early hole, scoring two runs in the first and three more in the third to take command. Trailing 5-1 after five, the Lions mounted a late rally to make things interesting but would eventually fall 6-3.
Starting pitcher Pat Atkinson (5.2 IP, 8 hits, 3 ERs, 8 Ks) was solid, while reliever Chris Romeo (0.1 IP, 3 hits, ER, K) closed it out. Top hitters were Sam Wilson-Mietz (2 for 4, RBI), Cole Van Stone (1 for 3, 2B, run), Andrew Tait (1 for 3, run), Aaron Daniels (1 for 1, RBI), Atkinson (1 for 3, run) and Jordan Hamner (1 for 4). Â
