MIDDLETOWN — Cole Ketchum’s three-run homer in the third inning of game one gave Middletown a 3-0 lead although the Arcata Tigers came back to win 13-6 in the opener of a non-league varsity baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Wes Martin Field.
Arcata (8-1) completed the sweep with an 11-0 victory in game two, which was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. The Tigers are 3-0 against the Mustangs (4-8) this season, including a 13-0 win last month in the St. Bernard’s Tournament at Eureka.
Coming off a 14-7 league win on Friday against Clear Lake, a game during which the Mustangs used their top two pitchers, Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said he knew his team wasn’t exactly set up in the pitching department to take on an Arcata squad that hits the ball up and down its lineup.
Noah Williams, Middletown’s game-one starter, earned a no-decision with a solid 4 1/3-inning effort, but was chased during what turned out to be a seven-run top of the fifth for the Tigers, who erased a 3-1 deficit.
“Once he came out we didn’t know what we were going to do,” Holt said of the pitching situation. “Noah did a fantastic job against them. For someone who doesn’t pitch very often, he did great.”
Zach Dubois, the second of four Middletown pitchers, allowed the final six of Arcata’s seven runs in the fifth inning and was charged with the loss.
Arcata had a 9-3 lead into the bottom of the sixth when Ketchum struck again, this time with a bases-loaded double that cut the deficit to 9-6, but the Tigers added four big insurance runs in the seventh to put it away.
Ketchum ended up 2-for-4 with six RBIs.
“He had a pretty good game going,” Holt said of the senior.
Williams, Bryan Riel and Luke Hoogendoorn added two hits apiece.
Second game
The Mustangs used three more pitchers in a pitching-by-committee second game that the Tigers took control of early, scoring twice in the top of the first and four more runs in the second for a 6-0 lead. Ketchum took the loss after allowing nine runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Arcata pushed ahead 11-0 with five runs in the fourth.
Middletown finished with six hits, two of those by Williams and another by Xavier Perez, who doubled.
While it was a tough day on the diamond for the Mustangs, Holt said there were some positives, including Ketchum’s game-one performance and Williams’ strong pitching in the opener.
“We got some JV guys higher-level experience and all of our subs got in and they stepped up,” Holt said.
Middletown, 3-0 in the North Central League I standings, resumes league play Tuesday at home against Willits. The Mustangs then hit the road Friday against Kelseyville Knights (3-0), who are home Wednesday to play Fort Bragg (2-0). The league’s other still-undefeated team is St. Helena (2-0), which plays Clear Lake in Lakeport on Tuesday.
