WINTERS — Leadoff hitters are the table setters of baseball and Jacky Crachiola certainly was that on Thursday for the Middletown High School varsity baseball team. In fact, Crachiola set and cleared the table as the Mustangs overpowered Rio Vista 9-3 in the opening round of the Winters Tournament.
“Jacky had a weekend in a day,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said. “I hope he”s got something left for today.”
Crachiola, one of the holdovers from last season”s North Central League I North co-championship squad, went 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs, three runs and four RBIs. He reached base in all five of his plate appearances, including a walk in his final at-bat in the seventh.
The senior led off the game with a drive down the left-field line for a home run, belting a 1-0 pitch over the 327-foot mark.
“He led off the game with a bomb,” Tucker said. “It set the tone.”
Crachiola”s two-out RBI single in the top of the second gave Middletown a 2-0 lead. Rio Vista pulled even in the bottom of the second but the Mustangs regained the lead for good with a run in the top of the third.
In the Mustangs” four-run fourth, Crachiola”s one-out double ignited the rally. He picked up his fourth hit with a two-run homer to right-center field in the top of the fifth.
“It was just his day,” Tucker said.
Winning pitcher Jake Strickler went the distance, scattering seven hits and allowing one earned run. He struck out eight and walked five while improving to 3-1 on the season.
Strickler also had two of the Mustangs” 14 hits and a RBI.
Middletown (5-7), a winner of three straight, plays tournament host Winters today in the semifinal round at noon. The Mustangs will keep plenty busy when they”re not on the baseball diamond, according to Tucker, who took his team to a Sacramento River Cats game on Thursday night. The Mustangs also will attend tonight”s Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings game before closing out tournament play Saturday.
