MIDDLETOWN — Micah Dymer’s RBI double sparked a four-run Middletown bottom of the third inning as the Mustangs snapped a 2-2 tie and went on to beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 6-4 in North Central League I varsity baseball action Friday afternoon at Wes Martin Field.
Middletown (12-1 league, 13-9 overall) controls its own destiny going into its league and regular-season finale Tuesday at St. Helena (10-1). If the Mustangs win, they’re the undisputed league champions. If they lose, they’ll have to wait for the outcome of a doubleheader between Fort Bragg and St. Helena on Friday to figure out where they finish in the league standings (either first, tied for first or second). Fort Bragg (7-4) is home Tuesday against Clear Lake before playing St. Helena on Friday in Fort Bragg.
“If we lose to St. Helena, it depends on that doubleheader. We don’t want to leave it in the hands of anybody else,” Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said. “We’ve already beaten them once, and as long we play our game, we can do it again.”
Middletown defeated St. Helena 7-6 on April 14 at Wes Martin Field.
Dymer’s RBI double and a Hunter Hartzog RBI single got the Mustangs rolling in their four-run fourth inning. Fort Bragg came back with two runs in the top of the fifth against Middletown starting pitcher Dax Green, who worked into the sixth before Luke Hoogendoorn came on to notch the save.
“For the situation we were in and the team we were playing, he did a good job,” Holt said of the senior Green, who allowed four runs (three earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked four, allowing nine of the Saints’ 10 hits.
Bryan Riel went 3-for-3 with a double and a RBI as part of an 11-hit Middletown attack. Hartzog and Hoogendoorn added two hits apiece.
Middletown took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Fort Bragg pushed in front 2-1 in the top of the third, but Noah Williams’ RBI double with two outs in the bottom half knotted the score at 2-all.
Before heading to St. Helena on Tuesday, the Mustangs take an eight-game winning streak into a non-league game Saturday against the Piner Prospectors (3-20) in Santa Rosa beginning at 11:30 a.m.
