MIDDLETOWN >> Santa Rosa pitching blanked Middletown until the seventh inning and the Mustangs fell 7-1 to the Panthers in non-league varsity baseball action on Tuesday at Santa Rosa Junior College.
Winning pitcher Tyler Kelly tossed four innings of shutout ball, allowing just one of Middletown’s four hits on the day.
“I’m really happy with the way we played them,” Middletown coach Brad Holt said his team’s effort against the Panthers, a Division I school with nearly five times the student body. “They beat out a couple of balls in the infield, I was like ‘holy smokes’ they are fast.”
Ezekiel Perez, the first of four Middletown pitchers, took the loss. Perez worked 1 2/3 innings and left the game in the bottom of the second inning with the Mustangs trailing 6-0. Stephen Amos, Travis Williams and Albert Ruske followed Perez to the mound, combining for 4 1/3 innings of four-hit relief.
Chris Davis went 1-for-3 with a double for Middletown and Amos, Ruske and Brett Pike also had hits.
Middletown opened its 2016 schedule on Saturday at home with a 12-0 non-league win over the Mission Bears of San Francisco.
Travis Williams pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of starter Ruske to notch the victory. He struck out two and allowed just one hit. Ruske, Williams and John Kelley combined on a four-hitter.
Pike went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs to lead a 12-hit Middletown attack. Kelley went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs while Amos went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.
Middletown (1-1) travels to Forestville on Friday to play El Molino at 3:30 p.m. and stays on the road a week from today to play St. Vincent in Petaluma.
Looking to the season ahead, Holt said the Mustangs aren’t lacking for hitting or team speed.
“I thought I was going to be a little short on pitching, but I’ve had three guys step up and throw the ball pretty well,” Holt said. “We’ll be tough at the plate. If the pitching holds up, we’ll be OK.”
