MIDDLETOWN — Timely hitting and solid defense were two reasons the Middletown Mustangs knocked the Fort Bragg Timberwolves from the ranks of the unbeaten Friday afternoon in North Central League I varsity baseball action at Wes Martin Field.
But they weren’t the biggest one.
“That was Dax Green,” Middletown head coach Jon Hoogendoorn said of his starting pitcher and the three-hitter he tossed to hand Fort Bragg, the last undefeated team in the league, its first loss.
“He owned that,” Hoogendoorn said of the part Green played in the win over the Timberwolves, which snapped a two-game Middletown losing streak.
“He kept the ball low, he pitched ahead in the count,” Hoogendoorn said of Green, who struck out four and walked three. “He worked really fast and efficiently, getting a lot of one-pitch outs.”
Fort Bragg (4-1) scored its lone run in the top of the fourth to go up 1-0. Middletown immediately answered with a two-run Justin Hollingworth single in the bottom half to take the lead for good.
The Mustangs (4-2 league, 8-5 overall) added two more runs in the fifth on Will Aden’s double into right-center field gap for a 4-1 lead. They added their final run in the sixth on a passed ball.
Scoring the two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth — even though Green didn’t need them as things turned out — helped take Fort Bragg out of its game, according to Hoogendoorn.
“They couldn’t play their small ball, they couldn’t play for just a run,” he said.
Middletown’s seven hits were spread out among seven players. Tanner Pachie (1-for-2) and Tyler Crudo (1-for-3, double) scored two runs apiece.
The Mustangs are on the road Tuesday against St. Helena (3-2) to close out the first half of their league schedule. They open the second half next Friday at Lower Lake.
Notes: Combined with Cloverdale’s walk-off 4-3 victory over Clear Lake and Kelseyville’s 4-0 home win over St. Helena on Friday, Middletown’s win over Fort Bragg has the NCL I standings looking a lot tighter these days. After Fort Bragg at 4-1, Clear Lake, Cloverdale and Middletown are all 4-2 followed by Kelseyville at 3-3.
In other baseball action Friday:
Cloverdale 4, Clear Lake 3
At Cloverdale, a two-run single with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted the Cloverdale Eagles to a walk-off victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Clear Lake starting pitcher Maddox Albaum was forced from the mound because of his pitch count in the seventh, and reliever Drake Smart inherited runners at second and third. He walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, and his first pitch to the next batter was hit back up the middle for a game-winning single.
A victory would have moved Clear Lake (4-2 league, 5-7 overall) into sole possession of first place in the league standings. Instead, the Cardinals are now tied with Cloverdale and Middletown, one-half game behind Fort Bragg (4-1), the team Clear Lake closes out the first half of league play against on Tuesday in Fort Bragg.
“Hopefully we come out with a lot of energy in that game and play our hearts out,” Clear Lake coach Ed Pepper said.
Clear Lake snapped a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth when a Justin Williams single, combined with a throwing error on the play, gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. Clear Lake went up 2-0 in the top of the second on back-to-back RBI singles from Smart and Ryan Ollenberger. Cloverdale tied it with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Albaum had thrown only 77 pitches through five innings and Pepper said he thought his starting pitcher was in good shape to finish out the game, but a 21-pitch sixth inning pushed that count way up.
Albaum and Greyson Wind had Clear Lake’s other hits.
