SANTA ROSA — Middletown rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh to tie it, but Santa Rosa High School pushed across a run in the bottom half to beat the Mustangs 7-6 in the head coaching debut of Jon Hoogendoorn on Wednesday afternoon in Santa Rosa.
It was the season opener for both teams.
“This is exactly what we needed,” Hoogendoorn said of the early-season wake-up call for the Mustangs (0-1), who committed five errors and struggled to hit the ball at the top of the lineup.
“My one through four guys were a combined 1-for-16,” Hoogendoorn said. “I don’t ever foresee them going 1-for-16 again.”
Santa Rosa scored two runs in the bottom of the first against Middletown starting pitcher Keegan Cutting, who didn’t allow another run until the bottom of the fifth. The Mustangs scored twice in the top of the fifth to forge a 2-2 tie, but Santa Rosa, taking advantage of two critical Middletown infield errors, scored four times to go up 6-2.
Middletown rallied to tie in the seventh on two-run doubles by Aidan Skinner and Will Aden, both coming with two outs.
The Panthers snapped the 6-6 tie in the bottom half against reliever Jimmy Rockwell, who took the loss.
Skinner, Cameron Luis and Tyler Crudo each two hits for the Mustangs. Both of Skinner’s hits were doubles.
“We had some early-season jitters, but we’ll be fine,” Hoogendoorn said. “I’m confident in this group. Santa Rosa has a good team. He runs a good program,” Hoogendoorn added of Panthers head coach Paige Dumont, the former Clear Lake High School basketball and baseball star.
Middletown is off until March 1 when it visits Healdsburg for a 7 p.m. game at Recreation Park. The Mustangs make their home opener on March 2 against McKinleyville.
