FORT BRAGG — After the Fort Bragg Timberwolves scored six times in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead, the Middletown Mustangs came right back with a six-run sixth inning as they went on to win 11-6 in a North Central League I varsity baseball game on the Mendocino County coast.
The victory keeps Middletown (5-1 league, 6-9 overall) in the thick of the NCL I race. Weather permitting, the Mustangs host St. Helena (5-0) on Thursday in battle for sole possession of first place, but rain is in the forecast. St. Helena also is scheduled to play a doubleheader Monday in Fort Bragg against the Timberwolves (3-2).
“We definitely didn’t want to dump one more,” Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said of what would have been a second straight league loss for the Mustangs had they not rallied against the Timberwolves.
Middletown had been cruising along with a 3-0 lead behind ace Luke Hoogendoorn when Fort Bragg bunched together most of its seven hits to score six times in the bottom of the fifth. Hoogendoorn retired the first nine batters he faced and had pitched to just one over the minimum heading into the fifth.
The Mustangs’ rally in the sixth began with a Jesse Young RBI double. Middletown had two on with two outs when Hoogendoorn drew a walk to load the bases for Noah Williams, who quickly cleared them with a three-run double into the left-center field gap that put the Mustangs back in front at 7-6.
“That was a little bit of a momentum shift,” Holt said of Williams’ bases-clearing double. “We’ve been know to leave guys on base and we had just the one run until Williams’ hit. We needed two more to tie. That was a big hit.”
Dax Green followed with a RBI single to make it 8-6. He came around to score when Fort Bragg’s right fielder misplayed a flyball off the bat of Cole Ketchum for an error.
Middletown added two big insurance runs in the top of the seventh although Hoogendoorn didn’t need them. Other than the fifth inning, the senior put goose eggs up on the scoreboard.
“Luke did a great job shutting them down in the sixth and seventh,” Holt said.
Middletown built an early 3-0 lead with a single run in the first and a two-run home run by Bryan Riel in the top of the second. Riel, 3-for-3 on the day, hit a shot to right field. He added a RBI double as part of Middletown’s two-run seventh.
Aiden de Jong went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Mustangs while Hoogendoorn, Williams and Young finished with two hits apiece.
Hoogendoorn struck out four and walked two. He owns all six of Middletown’s league decisions this season.
Looking ahead to Friday’s home game with St. Helena, Holt said, “That’s the big one we want.”
As for a crowded league race that is nearly at the midway point, Holt added, “We’ve got our work cut out.”
In other baseball action Tuesday:
St. Helena 8, Kelseyville 2
At St. Helena, Kelseyville’s Jake Keithly doubled to open the game and scored on a two-out single by Tyler Bryant, but the St. Helena Saints answered with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning en route to a victory over the Knights.
St. Helena (5-0), the only remaining undefeated team in the NCL I standings, had a 8-2 lead after four innings. Kelseyville (4-2, 6-9) managed only six hits, two of them RBI singles by the freshman Bryant (2-fof-3).
“Zayne pitched well enough to win, we just didn’t make any plays behind him,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said of Zayne Barker, who allowed eight runs on 10 hits in four innings. Freshman Brock Barrick worked scoreless fifth and sixth innings, striking out five.
“They swing the bat well and their pitcher was around the zone all game,” Shaul said of the Saints, who are scheduled to play Friday in Middletown before hitting the road Monday for a doubleheader at Fort Bragg. “We just never got any loud hits. We didn’t even have any loud outs.”
Shaul said his team’s intensity simply wasn’t there and he’s not sure why given the importance of the game.
“If we win, we’re in first place, so I’m not sure why that was,” Shaul said.
Freshman Max Hommer went 2-for-4 for the Knights.
Kelseyville is scheduled to close out the first half of league play Friday in Lower Lake although rain is in the forecast.
Cloverdale 13, Clear Lake 6
At Lakeport, the Cloverdale Eagles (3-3) won their third straight NCL I game by pounding out 17 hits against three different Clear Lake pitchers.
Cloverdale put up runs in all but the first and seventh innings. The Eagles moved ahead to stay with a five-run top of the third, taking a 6-2 lead. Although Clear Lake (1-5, 4-8) closed to 6-4 in the bottom of the third, the Eagles scored the game’s next seven runs for a 13-4 lead.
“They did their job,” Clear Lake head coach Ed Pepper said of the Eagles. “They put runners on base and brought them home. The ball fell for them, it didn’t fall for us. My guys put the bat on the ball all the way through the lineup, but we hit into outs.”
Starting pitcher Hank Ollenberger took the loss, lasting just 2 2/3 innings. Ethan Maize and Maddox Albaum followed him to the mound.
Maize went 3-for-3 with a RBI at the plate while Cody Hayes (2-for-4) singled and doubled to knock in three runs. Ollenberger and Liam Orr, who also drove in a run, had the other Clear Lake hits.
The Cardinals are scheduled to host Fort Bragg on Friday although rain is in the forecast the remainder of the week.
Sonoma Academy 11, Upper Lake 0
At Santa Rosa, Sonoma Academy shut out Upper Lake in NCL II action, improving to 2-0 in league play. Upper Lake fell to 1-1 and 4-3 overall.
Upper Lake statistics were not reported.
