MIDDLETOWN — Trailing 4-0 entering the bottom of the sixth inning against an 0-4 St. Helena softball team, the Middletown Mustangs and coach Lisa Rogers were none to happy about the upset loss that was staring them square in the face.
And then someone flipped the switch.
Middletown struck for six hits and seven runs in the sixth inning to beat the Saints 7-5 in a non-league game at Middletown.
“I thought they were a pretty good team,” Rogers said of the Saints (0-5).
St. Helena pitcher Reagan Blackwood was cruising along with a shutout through five innings, but she walked Alicia Siri to open the sixth. Winning pitcher Jen Emberson followed with a booming double to center field, a blast that missed being a two-run homer by a few feet.
“It”s the longest double I”ve seen,” Rogers said.
Siri stopped at third base on the play but wasn”t there long as the Middletown bats began to click.
“She (Emberson) started the hitting,” Rogers. “It was like the switch turned on all of a sudden, something I had been waiting for all game.”
Siri, Jessica Roush and Marea Bartolucci had two hits apiece as the Mustangs improved to a county-best 5-1.
Gaby Rulon had a triple among the six hits allowed by Emberson, who struck out five and walked two.
In other softball action Friday:
St. Vincent 12, Lower Lake 1
At Lower Lake, Ashley Willard”s single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning broke up Brianna Cabral”s no-hit bid as the St. Vincent Mustangs beat the Lower Lake Trojans in a non-league game.
St. Vincent (2-3) broke the game wide open with a seven-run third inning to go up 9-0. Cabral homered to deep left field in the third and teammate Alyssa Garcia added a solo shot, also to left, during a three-run fourth.
“They were shots,” Lower Lake coach Tim Sherrell said of the home runs, which easily cleared the fence.
Cabral struck out 11 and walked two in the game, which was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
Lower Lake (4-5) plays at St. Helena on Tuesday before returning home next Friday to take on Upper Lake.
Baseball
Middletown 13, St. Helena 7
At Middletown, making his first start at the varsity level, sophomore Eric Schenck worked four strong innings for the victory as the Middletown Mustangs rolled past the St. Helena Saints in a non-league varsity baseball game that almost ended in five innings.
Middletown (4-2) took a 13-2 lead into the top of the fifth and was two outs away from 10-running the Saints, who kept the game going by scoring three times. They added two more runs in the sixth.
“We played well, we just didn”t put them away in that inning,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said of the top of the fifth. “We had some timely hitting, we were patient at the plate, and we made them throw a lot of pitches.”
Seven different Mustangs had two hits apiece, including Johnny Harmyk, who drove in three runs, and Schenck, Eric Tomko and Zach Strickler, who had two RBIs apiece.
Schenck allowed six hits, two earned runs, struck out two and walked two in his four innings on the mound.
St. Vincent 11, Lower Lake 0
At Lower Lake, Isaac Lahr grounded a single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the third inning, Lower Lake”s lone hit in a non-league loss to the St. Vincent Mustangs.
Lahr was the only Lower Lake player to reach base.
The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
St. Vincent (6-2) broke up a scoreless game with two runs in the top of the second inning against losing pitcher George Novak. The Mustangs added four runs in the third, four more in the fourth and their final run in the fifth.
Lower Lake watched a handful of other hit opportunities expire in the glove of St. Vincent shortstop Ian Williams, who ranged deep into the hole three different times to throw out Trojans.
“He made four phenomenal plays on balls I thought would be hits,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said.
Andrew Meiswinkel went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to spark St. Vincent”s 12-hit attack.
JV baseball
Middletown 11, St. Helena 1
At St. Helena, the Middletown Mustangs are pretty good most of the time, including in a pinch. Bryan Holt tossed a five-hitter and struck out eight, and catcher Connor Chick went 2-for-3 with a RBI, three runs and three stolen bases in a non-league win over the St. Helena Saints.
Middletown (7-1) also received a pair of extra-base hits from pinch-hitters Andy Garica, who tripled, and Jake Storti, who smacked a two-run home run to left-center field.
“He hit it to the deepest part of the park,” Middletown coach Charles Russ said. “It was the first home he”s ever hit.”
The St. Helena pitcher threw Storti a fastball down the middle and he didn”t miss it, according to Russ. “It was a legitimate bomb.”
Chick”s play, at the plate and behind it, also drew Russ” praise.
“He did a great job,” Russ said.
Jonathan Tanguay went 2-for-3 and Andre Fernandez went 2-for-4.
