MIDDLETOWN — Dax Green’s three-hit gem stopped the Kelseyville Knights in their tracks Monday afternoon as the Middletown Mustangs won 2-0 in the face of a stiff north wind Monday afternoon at Wes Martin Field.
Green allowed just one baserunner after escaping a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the top of the second when he struck out Kelseyville’s No. 9 hitter before getting the Knights’ leadoff batter on a fly ball.
“He pitched a great game,” Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said. “He hit his spots, got the outs he needed to. He threw the right pitch at the right time.”
“He located his fastball very well,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said. “He worked it in and out of the zone.”
Middletown improved to 11-1 in the North Central League I varsity baseball standings and 12-9 overall with its seventh straight victory since losing 8-6 to Kelseyville on April 8 in Kelseyville. If the Mustangs win their final two league games — Friday at home against Fort Bragg and next Tuesday at St. Helena — they’ll secure the undisputed league title in Holt’s first season as Middletown’s head coach.
“We need to keep it together now that we’re coming down to the end,” Holt said. “The kids are doing well, they keep moving forward.”
Kelseyville (7-5, 9-12) had scoring opportunities in the first and second innings against Green but couldn’t get the hit they needed off the Middletown senior left-hander. In the top of the first, Kyle Watkins reached third base with two outs but was stranded there. In the second, the Knights loaded the bases on singles by losing pitcher Brock Barrick and Colin Jensen (2-for-2) and a Middletown error before Green wiggled out of the jam.
Barrick, only a freshman, deserved a much better fate, according to Shaul.
“He was very solid. He did not deserve a loss,” Shaul said.
Barrick also went the distance, scattering six hits, striking out eight and walking two while allowing one earned run.
Middletown scored single runs in the first two innings. The Mustangs had runners at first and third with one out in the bottom of the first when Green broke for second base early, got picked off and trapped in a rundown. As the Knights were running him down for the out, Luke Hoogendoorn broke from third and scored.
The Mustangs added to their lead in the second when Aiden de Jong was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a passed ball and moved to third on a single by Bryan Riel (2-for-3). Zach Dubois followed with a RBI single through the right side that deflected off the end of the second baseman’s glove.
Cole Ketchum doubled in the bottom of the third for Middletown, the only extra-base hit of the game and a hit that might have left the yard had it not been caught in the teeth of a brisk north wind that raked the field all game, according to Holt.
“Anyone who hit the ball into the air today was going to make an out,” Holt said. “You had to hit it on a line to have any chance at all,” Holt said.
“The wind was blowing in our face all day,” Shaul added.
Jensen singled in the top of the fifth, Kelseyville’s final baserunner of the day, but was doubled up to end the inning.
Shaul said Kelseyville’s approach at the plate could have been better.
“We teach them to be aggressive but we might have been overly aggressive today,” Shaul said. “Instead of going with the pitch to right field we were overswinging. We only struck out three times, but we hit 11 popups. There were only two balls hit hard all day (both by Middletown).”
While the loss mathematically eliminates Kelseyville from the league race, the Knights’ future is plenty bright given they return nearly their entire starting lineup and roster next season. Kelseyville is also still in the running for an at-large playoff berth in Division 4 with two league games remaining, both at home. The Knights host St. Helena on Friday before closing out the regular season next Tuesday at home against Lower Lake.
Middletown also has one non-league game remaining, that on Saturday against Piner High School in Santa Rosa. First pitch is 12:30 p.m.
