MIDDLETOWN >> Lake County Record-Bee Coach of the Year Jeff Mielke’s introduction to the varsity coaching ranks at Middletown High School was one fraught with peril.
After leading the Middletown junior varsity baseball team to a 22-1 record and undefeated North Central League I title in 2016, Mielke moved up to the varsity ranks in 2017 and seemingly couldn’t catch a break, unless it was a bad one. The Mustangs opened the season with nine straight losses and didn’t win their first game until late March. After that, Mielke’s Mustangs were a force to be reckoned with. After going 0-9 to open 2017, Middletown won 13 of its final 17, including an 11-3 record in league play that earned the Mustangs an at-large berth in the North Coast Section playoffs.
That winning momentum carried right over into 2018 as the Mustangs started 6-0 and never really looked back. A team that relied primarily on its pitching and defense for the first half of the season, the Mustangs’ offense came online midseason and the end result was a league title run that featured eight straight victories to secure a 12-2 NCL I championship and a 19-4 overall record. Mielke’s Mustangs also made noise in the playoffs, beating El Molino 3-1 in a quarterfinal-round game before falling 11-8 to Piedmont in a semifinal game that featured all kinds of twists and turns. In that season-ending loss, Middletown fell behind 11-0 but managed to get the potential tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, the game finally ending on a deep drive to left field.
“It’s fun looking back at them now,” Mielke said of all the close games the Mustangs played in during the season, most of them coming in the first half of the season.
The Mustangs were 8-1 in one-run games and 2-0 in two-run games.
The game that really turned around their season was an absolutely awful 17-4 home loss to El Molino in a non-league game on April 5.
“We had a team meeting after El Molino, kind of a come to Jesus meeting,” Mielke said. “We talked about playing the game, but we also talked about enjoying the game.”
Middletown excelled in both areas after that and won 12 of its next 13.
Getting Drake Harbison back midseason also was pivotal for the Mustangs. Injured during football season (high ankle sprain), Harbison’s speed and power at the top of the Middletown lineup instantly energized what had been an underperforming offense to that point.
“He was a key puzzle piece,” Mielke said. “The fastest guy on the team (Noah Holguin) was right behind him and if those two guys got on, you were asking for trouble with (Isaiah) Moore and (Jack) Bliss right behind them.”
The second-half resurgence of Justin MacDowell was another key to the team’s dominance over the final month and a half of the season.
“He put it into overdrive, like someone flipped a switch,” Mielke said.
Mielke guided the Mustangs to their first varsity championship in baseball since 2010. Middletown should be right in the mix again next season as several key starters return and join players who will be moving up from the Mustangs’ championship JV squad.
