ST. HELENA >> The Middletown Mustangs warmed up for their big North Central League I game on Friday with Kelseyville by blasting the St. Helena Saints 13-2 in five innings on Wednesday afternoon in St. Helena.
Middletown (5-1 league, 6-4 overall) is sitting third in the league standings behind Kelseyville (5-0) and Cloverdale (4-0). The Mustangs’ lone league loss was a 13-1 decision to Cloverdale on April 13 in Middletown, and coach Bob Gunion’s squad is looking for a better showing against Kelseyville, the defending NCL I champion looking to repeat under first-year coach Phil Psalmonds.
“The girls are working hard,” Gunion said after watching his players bang out 16 hits against the Saints (0-6). “We’ve been working a lot on our hitting.”
It showed on Wednesday as Devin Clark went 4-for-4, Abi Murphy went 3-for-3 with a RBI, and Mikaili Brown went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. However, the biggest hit of the game belonged to Gracie Armstrong (2-for-3), who smacked a bases-loaded triple, sparking a four-run second inning that put the Mustangs ahead to stay at 4-1.
Middletown also had four-run third and fifth innings.
Winning pitcher Savannah McLaughlin finished with a four-hitter, striking out four and walking two. She allowed St. Helena single runs in the first and third innings.
“She was again very, very focused on her pitching and she’s getting better every game,” Gunion said.
