NAPA — Trailing 8-5 after five innings, the Middletown Mustangs scored four times in the top of the sixth to rally past the Justin-Siena Braves and win 9-8 in their softball season opener Monday afternoon at Napa.
Middletown (1-0) handed Justin-Siena (4-1) its first loss of the season after four straight wins by the Braves to open the 2020 campaign.
“It’s a good start for us,” Middletown head coach Bob Gunion said. “We have a lot of sophomores and some freshmen. It was a good game for us there to battle back.”
Middletown did all of its scoring in two innings. The Mustangs erupted for five runs in the top of the second inning to go up 5-1 only to watch the Braves answer with five runs in the bottom half to take a 6-5 lead. Justin-Siena added two more runs in the fourth for a 8-5 lead.
The Mustangs won the game with a four-run sixth.
“The new kids on the block started hitting the ball,” Gunion said. “I’m pretty proud of them.”
Winning pitcher Maddie Ferguson, working in relief of starter Emma Hansen, tossed three shutout innings to earn the victory.
“She was solid,” Gunion said of the junior.
Hansen allowed all eight Justin-Siena runs during her four innings of work. She struck out four and walked seven. Ferguson had no strikeouts or walks.
Harper Moreno finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Ferguson, Makaili Brown and Alle Vierra each had one hit and one RBI. Jadyn Brown, a freshman, went 0-for-2 but knocked in two runs.
The Mustangs are on the road Thursday to play Healdsburg at 5 p.m.
