MIDDLETOWN — If you open the door for the Cloverdale Eagles, don’t bother closing it. They’ll do it for you and probably slam it in your face, which is exactly what happened to the Middletown Mustangs on Wednesday afternoon in Middletown.
Grounders misplayed into errors during what should have been a 1-2-3 top of the second inning instead mushroomed into a seven-run Cloverdale outburst as the Eagles went on to beat the Mustangs 12-1 in North Central League I softball action. Cloverdale improves to 9-4 in the league standings with one game remaining, that on Thursday against Willits, while Middletown concludes its NCL I schedule at 5-9 and 6-9 overall. Cloverdale will advance to the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs next week as an at-large team while the Mustangs are done for the season.
“We won’t be going anywhere this season,” Middletown head coach Bob Gunnion said after the final installment of his team’s up-and-down year, one during which the Mustangs lost all but one game of their preseason to March rain and snow.
“A lot of us were in the same boat,” Gunion said of area teams. “Some of the other teams were able to play a few more games than us.”
Middletown also lost critical outside practice time because of falling rain or flooded fields.
“You can’t practice a lot of the fundamental things in the gym as much as in the field,” Gunion said.
Cloverdale, a small school powerhouse for decades under current head coach Margaret Fitzgerald and her predecessors, needed a couple of innings to completely adjust to Middletown starting pitcher Brooklyn Wood one day after facing hard-throwing left-hander Cassiti Baroni of the Timberwolves in a 3-2 loss at Fort Bragg. Wood doesn’t throw with nearly as much velocity as Baroni and the Eagles weren’t patient at all in the top of the first, hitting two infield popups and striking out after their dangerous leadoff batter, Tylie Hatcher (3-for-4, two RBIs), opened the game by reaching on an error. She immediately stole second base but was still standing there at inning’s end.
Back-to-back one-out errors by Middletown infielders in the top of the second gave the Eagles their opening. The second error was a two-base throwing error and brought home Toree Hatcher with the game’s first run. After a hit batsman and a double steal, Eagles’ No. 9 hitter Shasta Vlasak struck out. That brought the top of the Cloverdale lineup and Tylie Hatcher back to the plate and she delivered an infield RBI single. After Hatcher stole second, Camie Donahoo singled home two more runs and advanced to second base on the throw home.
A walk to Ginger Garrison and a hard single into center field off the bat of Rylee Reasoner loaded the bases for Abigail Vizcaino, who doubled to center field to score Donahoo and Garrison and make it 6-0. Toree Hatcher drew a walk to reload the bases before Reasoner scored from third base on a wild pitch. Trinity Vlasak struck out to end the inning. All seven runs were unearned, not it that mattered to the Eagles.
Middletown got one run back in the bottom of the second on Breanna Pyzer’s leadoff triple down the right-field line and Wood’s RBI groundout to second base.
Wood worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third by getting Eagles’ cleanup hitter Reasoner on a flyball to center field. After Middletown went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, Cloverdale came back with a five-run fourth that featured four hits, two hit batsmen, a walk and a sacrifice fly.
The first run of the inning scored with one out when Shasta Vlasak was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Tylee Hatcher’s RBI single pushed Cloverdale’s lead to 9-1 and Donahoo’s sacrifice fly into center field made it 10-1. Garrison’s double down the left-field line scored the final two runs of the inning.
Cadence Henry led off the Middletown fourth with a single before winning pitcher Charlotte Burchett struck out the next three Mustangs. Middletown also got its leadoff batter aboard in the fifth when Melanie Gerst (2-for-2) singled down the right-field line, but she was doubled up on a liner into right field that the Eagles’ Vizcaino went down to her knees to catch before throwing out Gerst, who was halfway to second, at first base.
Cora Holley’s single into right field kept Middletown’s season alive for one more batter before Jaylee Doris’ flyball to right field the inning and the game as the 10-run rule came into effect.
The Mustangs finished with six hits to Cloverdale’s 11. Gerst was the only Middletown player with more than one hit. Amanda Hart also had a hit for the Mustangs.
Vizcaino and Toree Hatcher finished with two hits apiece for Cloverdale. Donahoo (1-for-3) led the team with three RBIs while Vizcaino, Garrison and Tylee Hatcher each had two.
Game notes: The Mustangs were without their starting shortstop and catcher, both out with injuries, which didn’t help an already suspect defense … Jaidyn Brown, a senior shortstop, watched the game from behind the backstop a little more than a day after undergoing surgery on her left knee to repair an injury sustained during basketball season … She will play basketball for College of the Marin in 2023-24 … A bit of bad luck hurt the Mustangs during Cloverdale’s five-run fourth inning. With runners at first and second and one out, Alia Sanchez popped out to second base for what could have been the second out of the inning, but Wood was called for an illegal pitch. Given the option of taking the result of the play (the popup for an out) or Sanchez returning to the plate to continue her at-bat and being awarded a ball because of the illegal pitch, the Eagles obviously chose the latter. She was hit by the next pitch to load the bases. Shasta Vlasak also was hit by a pitch moments later to force in the first run of the inning … It was Middletown’s third game in three days after playing Willits at home Monday (17-7 win in six innings) and Willits on the road Tuesday (21-9 win in six innings). The Monday and Wednesday games were the result of earlier rainouts as is Cloverdale’s game Thursday against Willits … Gunion said he likes the nucleus of players the Mustangs have coming back next season, but said he’ll miss his six seniors — Brown, Henry, Gerst, Carina Fleenor, Shaylyn Sims and Pailey Shook. “They had a great attitude and worked hard for me.” And if Gunion has his way, the weather at the start of next season will be a bit more cooperative than the great monsoon of 2023.
