MIDDLETOWN >> Middletown was on the verge of winning its first game of the season and giving new varsity baseball coach Jeff Mielke his first varsity victory, but the McKinleyville Panthers had other ideas as they rallied to beat the Mustangs 11-10 in eight innings on Friday afternoon at Wes Martin Field in Middletown.
McKinleyville scored twice in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 7-all and then surged ahead 11-7 with a four-run eighth. All of those runs came at the expense of Middletown reliever Ty Chorjel, who despite a big day at the plate ended up taking the loss.
“We just couldn’t close it out,” Mielke said.
Middletown (0-2) nearly tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. The Mustangs scored three times to close to 11-10 and had the potential tying run at second base with two outs when Trevor LaFave hit what appeared to be a single up the middle. McKinleyville’s second baseman was able to get a glove on the grounder at the last second and throw out LaFave in a bang-bang play to end the game.
“If the ball goes through, we tie it,” Mielke said.
Middletown erased a 5-4 McKinleyville lead with a two-run bottom of the fourth. The Mustangs picked up another run in the fifth to go up 7-5 and that’s where the score remained until the top of the seventh.
“They were scrappy,” Mielke said of the Panthers (1-0), who are opening their season with a three-game road swing through Lake County. They play a doubleheader in Kelseyville (1-1) today beginning at noon, weather permitting.
Chorjel went 5-for-5 with a double and five RBIs to power Middletown’s 15-hit attack. John Kelley and Cameron Ketchum added two hits and two RBIs apiece while Aiden Emerson went 2-for-4.
Middletown is off until Thursday when it travels to Dublin to take on Valley Christian. A week from today the Mustangs return home to take on El Molino and Fortuna in a split doubleheader that begins with the El Molino game at 10 a.m.
