ST. HELENA — Orlando Segura’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the St. Helena Saints to a dramatic 4-3 win over Middletown on Wednesday night in St. Helena, which prevented the Mustangs from clinching the outright North Central League I varsity baseball championship.
Middletown (12-2 league, 13-11 overall) had a 3-0 lead entering the bottom of the seventh and was leading 3-1 with two outs in the seventh when Jasper Henry, who hits No. 1 in the Saints’ batting order, singled into center field to drive in the tying runs.
The Mustangs got a runner as far as third base in the top of the eighth but couldn’t get him home. Middletown starting pitcher Luke Hoogendoorn allowed a leadoff single in the bottom half of the inning and was replaced by reliever Dax Green, who sandwiched outs around a walk that put runners at first and second. Segura followed with a single into right field, which wasn’t handled cleanly.
“Maybe he scores anyway, but bobbling it made it certain,” Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said.
St. Helena improved to 11-1 in league play with its win, which sets up an interesting finish to the league race as the Saints travel to Fort Bragg Friday for a doubleheader with the 8-4 Timberwolves. If Fort Bragg wins both games, Middletown clinches the outright league title. If the two teams split, Middletown and St. Helena are co-champions. If St. Helena sweeps, Middletown places second.
“We’re rooting big time for them,” Holt said of the Timberwolves.
Missing a chance to wrap up the title Wednesday night, the Mustangs only have themselves to blame, according to Holt.
“We gave it to them,” he said of his team’s inability to close out the Saints in the seventh. “They’re a good team and they can hit, and they did. They put themselves in a good situation with three straight hits in the seventh.”
Hoogendoorn retired St. Helena’s leadoff hitter in the seventh before giving up three straight singles that loaded the bases. The next batter popped up to catcher Cole Ketchum for the second out, but the Saints’ No. 9 batter kept the game alive with a RBI single. Henry followed with his game-tying, two-run single, with the tying run barely beating the throw to the plate.
Middletown took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Ketchum led off with a ground-rule double to center field and Bryan Riel reached on an error to put runners at the corners for Zach Dubois, who singled into left field to score Ketchum. When the left fielder misplayed the hit for an error, Riel came all the way around to score as Dubois advanced to third base. Jesse Young’s grounder to second base scored Dubois to make it 3-0.
Young, Ketchum and Hoogendoorn all finished with two hits.
Hoogendoorn entered the seventh with a two-hit shutout. He struck out six and walked none during his seven-plus inning stint. Green struck out one and walked one.
Middletown takes Thursday off before resuming practice Friday in preparation for the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs that get under way either Tuesday or Wednesday. The at-large and seeding meeting is Sunday, by which time the Mustangs will know where they finished in the league standings.
“We need to heal, we have some sore backs, so we’ll take tomorrow (Thursday) off,” Holt said.
In other action Wednesday:
Credo 7, Upper Lake 4
At Upper Lake, Credo completed a season sweep of Upper Lake in NCL II action despite a 3-for-4 (RBI) days a the plate by sophomore Will Henry and two hits and two RBIs from freshman Kyler Brothers.
Upper Lake finishes the regular season 5-5 in the league standings and 8-7 overall.
The Cougars got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but Credo came right with a run in the top of the second to pull even. The Gryphon surged ahead with a four-run third inning against losing pitcher Johnny Gozony.
Credo extended its lead to 7-1 in the top of the fourth against reliever Bradley Sneathen before the Cougars answered with a three-run rally in the fifth.
Sneathen allowed just one hit over the final four innings while striking out five and walking three. Gozony struck out two and walked two during his three innings on the mound.
Brody Petrie (1-for-3) had the Cougars’ lone extra-base hit, a double.
“Those two guys (Petrie and Henry) the last five games have been the life of our offense,” Upper Lake head coach Brian Milhaupt said.
Although the Cougars didn’t win the game, Milhaupt called it the best seven-inning effort by his team all season.
“We battled the whole way,” he said. “The kids played their hearts out today and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Upper Lake will learn on Sunday whether it has qualified for the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs as an at-large team and, if selected, who and where it will be playing in the first round either Tuesday or Wednesday.
“We’re applying, but I’m skeptical if we’ll make it,” Milhaupt said. “I’m not ready for the season to be over yet. We’ll just keep our fingers crossed.”
Milhaupt and other NCL II coaches meet in Cloverdale on Saturday to select the All-League team. Where a team finishes in the leagues standings determines how many All-League players they get and Milhaupt said the Cougars are looking at three — one each on the first team, second team and honorable mention team.
