MIDDLETOWN >> Jeff Mielke will have a hard time topping the 22-1 record posted by his Middletown High School junior varsity baseball team in 2016.
The second-year head coach of the Mustangs watched his squad win its final 21 games after a 12-2 home loss to Eureka on Feb. 28, the team’s second game of the season. Middletown never lost again and few of its remaining games were even close. Only one — a 6-5 victory in eight innings over Fort Bragg in the regular-season finale on May 17 in Middletown — was decided by a single run.
By the numbers, the Mustangs were undefeated in their 11 road games and 11-1 at home. The roster featured 11 sophomores and eight freshmen. One of the sophomores, pitcher/second baseman Isaiah Moore, was the team’s most valuable player, according to Mielke.
With Middletown’s varsity club losing eight seniors, most of them starters, to graduation, the Mustangs will be getting an infusion of talent at just right the time.
The varsity finished 8-13 overall this season, 6-8 in league play.
