MIDDLETOWN >> Trailing 5-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth inning on Wednesday afternoon against Healdsburg, Middletown’s bats hadn’t done much against the Greyhounds’ pitching.
“She doesn’t overpower you, but she moves the ball around a lot,” Middletown coach Barry Glosser said of Healdsburg pitcher Keely Bullock. “You have to be patient.”
And patient is exactly what Middletown’s hitters were not the first four innings, according to Glosser.
“The main thing was our timing,” he said. “Everyone was out in front of her. You have to wait for the ball to get to you and that’s what we finally started doing in the fifth. It just kind of all came together in that inning for us.”
Middletown banged out six of its 11 hits in that one inning alone, all singles, to rally past Healdsburg for a 7-5 victory. Hannah Flynn’s two-run single put the Mustangs ahead to stay at 6-5 and winning pitcher Olivia Glosser helped her own cause with a RBI single to make it a two-run game.
Glosser, who pitched a complete game, allowed the potential tying runs to reach base in the top of the seventh before working out of the jam and sealing the victory. She allowed eight hits, four earned runs, struck out two and walked one as Middletown pushed its preseason record to 5-2.
Healdsburg (6-4) is now 1-3 against Lake County teams in the preseason. They beat Upper Lake but also lost to Clear Lake and Lower Lake.
Glosser, Mallory Wisely, Aly Ferguson and Kendall Mildenberger had two hits apiece for the Mustangs. Eight different Middletown players had at least one hit.
Healdsburg scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the third inning and Middletown countered with a run in the bottom half. The Greyhounds extended their lead to 5-1 in the top of the fourth.
Middletown is right back at it today at home against Cloverdale at 4 p.m. It’s the North Central League I opener for both squad and it begins a rough three-game stretch for the Mustangs in league play as they face, in order, Cloverdale, Lower Lake (Tuesday) and Clear Lake (April 8). Cloverdale and Clear Lake shared the league championship a year ago while Lower Lake came in third.
