Lady Mustangs allow one hit, lose 6-5

Middletown infielder Carina Fleenor can only laugh as the sprinklers went off during the Mustangs' home game Wednesday afternoon against Ukiah. Also looking on is Cadence Henry. (Photo by Megan Buckley Cutting) — Middletown infielder Carina Fleenor can only laugh as the sprinklers went off during the Mustangs’ home game Wednesday afternoon against Ukiah. Also looking on is Cadence Henry. (Photo by Megan Buckley Cutting)

UPDATED: March 24, 2022 at 1:01 PM PDT

Middletown's Harper Moreno gloves a grounder at shortstop. (Photos by Megan Buckley Cutting)

MIDDLETOWN — It’s been a long season even if it’s only six games old for the Middletown High School varsity softball team, which dropped another gut-busting non-league decision, falling 6-5 to the Ukiah Wildcats on Wednesday afternoon in Middletown.

While this one might not rank up there with the 12-2 lead Middletown couldn’t hold in a 17-16 eight-inning loss to St. Bernard’s or the 7-0 first-inning lead the Mustangs squandered in a 9-8 loss to Justin-Siena, the Ukiah game had that same kind of feel to it as the Mustangs allowed only one hit and still came up empty.

Middletown's Jaidyn Brown hustles down the line on one her two triples against Ukiah.

“You’re going, ‘OK, this sounds familiar,’ ” Middletown head coach Bob Gunion said of another bitter loss for the Mustangs, who had a 5-3 lead after six innings and a 5-4 lead going to the seventh.

While starter Emma Hansen and reliever Shaylynn Sims combined on a one-hitter, with Sims taking the loss after walking in what proved to be the winning run during Ukiah’s two-run seventh, the two Middletown pitchers also issued a total of 10 walks, which were mixed in with a hit batsman and six Mustangs errors.

“If you walk one every inning, you can get away with that sometimes,” Gunion said. “Ours came in bunches, and when you mix in a hit batsman, a hit and some errors, that’s where you get the runs.”

Middletown catcher Jaidyn Brown returns the ball to the pitcher during non-league action against Ukiah. Brown had a pair of RBI triples in the Mustangs' 6-5 home loss. (Photos by Megan Buckley Cutting)

Added Gunion, “For me it’s very frustrating. It was the kind of day where it’s the same thing because we’re not jumping over the hump yet.”

Ukiah went up 1-0 in the top of the first before Middletown took its first lead of the game with a three-run bottom of the third, including a RBI triple by Jaidyn Brown (2-for-4). Ukiah scored twice in the top of the fourth, Hansen’s final inning of work, to pull even at 3-3. Middletown regained the lead with a two-run fifth, including another Brown RBI triple.

Hansen also had two hits for Middletown, both doubles. Cadence Henry (1-for-3) and Harper Moreno (1-for-3) also doubled and Moreno scored twice.

“Ukiah was a good team to play before the start of league and we were playing well early on,” Gunion said.

The Mustangs (1-5) finished with nine hits.

Middletown plays at Lower Lake on Friday in the North Central League I opener for both teams. First pitch is 4 p.m.