MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown Mustangs capped a five-game homestand to open the 2020 season with a 24-0 victory over the Upper Lake Cougars on Tuesday afternoon in non-league varsity baseball action at Wes Martin Field in Middletown.
Middletown (5-0) led 11-0 after two innings against Upper Lake (2-4). The game was halted after 4 ½ innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
“He’s doing a really good job from what I’ve seen the last couple of seasons,” Middletown head coach Jon Hoogendoorn said of his Upper Lake counterpart, head coach Brian Milhaupt. “He’s growing the program.”
The Cougars, a Division 5 team in the North Coast Section, took a big step up in competition against the Division 4 Mustangs, a veteran club that hits the ball exceptionally well up and down its lineup.
“Their team is very good,” Milhaupt said of the Mustangs. “They just pound the ball when they hit it.”
Despite the lopsided outcome, Milhaupt said his young squad took some positives out of the game.
“We had a couple of hits to start the game and it was a good learning experience going up against a team like that,” Milhaupt added. “It’s about overcoming adversity and not quitting.”
Diego Velasco and Jonathon Thiessen opened the game with back-to-back singles against winning pitcher Jimmy Rockwell, who got out of the inning unscathed with the help of a 6-4-3 double play and an inning-ending strikeout. Rockwell worked the first three innings to earn the victory and the two hits he allowed were the only two Upper Lake hits all day. The senior struck out six and walked none.
“Their starting pitcher, he brought it,” Milhaupt said of Rockwell.
Middletown scored twice in the bottom of the first against losing pitcher Velasco before adding nine runs in the second. The Mustangs batted around again during an 11-run third inning.
Among the big blows struck by Middletown’s bats were a two-run triple by Aidan Skinner (3-for-5) in the first, a bases-loaded trip by Tyler Crudo (3-for-4, 6 RBIs) in the third, and a two-run home run to left-center field off the bat of Will Aden (2-for-2, 3 RBIs), also in the third.
Rockwell, Nico Barrio, Isaac Perez and Hunter Blair added two hits apiece. Rockwell also doubled and drove in four runs.
Perez worked the final two innings on the mound for Middletown, striking out five and walking one.
“You cannot win a game with double-digit errors and double-digit strikeouts, I don’t care who you are,” Milhaupt said of what was a tough day for the Upper Lake defense and offense.
Hoogendoorn said he is happy with where the Mustangs are after their first five games.
“We played well, did all the right things,” he said.
The Mustangs hit the road for the first time this season on Friday when they travel to Fortuna for a 7 p.m. game against the Huskies. The Cougars play twice more on the road this week. They visit Potter Valley on Thursday and Clear Lake on Friday.
