Mustangs knock off defending league champions in North Central League I opener
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MIDDLETOWN >> Jon Hawkins homered leading off the bottom of the first inning for the Middletown Mustangs in a 7-6 win over the Kelseyville Knights in the North Central League I opener for both of these varsity baseball teams Tuesday afternoon at Wes Martin Field.
Middletown (1-0 league, 5-3 overall) has now won as many games under first-year head coach Marc Humphrey as it did all of last season, and Humphrey said it’s been a team effort to this point.
“When the first seven batters in the lineup produce game after game, they are all standouts,” Humphrey said. “And when they pick each other up after an error or a strikeout, these guys are the definition of a team. It’s an honor to be a part of it.”
If Middletown’s promising start to the season has been a team effort, so has Kelseyville’s. The Knights (0-1, 1-9) are the three-time defending league champions but have only starter back from last year. While Kelseyville’s pitching has held up for the most part, the Knights have struggled in the field and at the plate, especially the lower half of the batting order.
Six of Kelseyville’s eight hits against Middletown came from the top five spots in the batting order, with a big dropoff after that.
“We did a good job playing small ball and moving runners over, but when the other team is scoring runs, you need to have some big innings,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said.
Kelseyville managed to put the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh with two outs, and Shaul said he was hoping the Knights could roll the batting order over, but his No. 9 hitter struck out to end the game.
“Same thing, we didn’t get a big hit when we needed it,” Shaul said.
“Credit Middletown,” Shaul said. “They came out swinging the bats one to nine.”
Cody Perez threw a complete game for the Mustangs, striking out four and walking three. He also had a double and a RBI to help his own cause.
Kelseyville staked starting pitcher Reese Johnson to a 2-0 lead before he had thrown his first pitch, scoring twice in the top of the first inning. Middletown immediately answered, Hawkins blasting a 1-2 changeup to straightaway center field for a home run leading off the bottom of the first. The Mustangs tacked on three more runs in the inning to go up 4-2.
The Knights scored twice in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 4-4, but the Mustangs went back in front with three runs in the bottom half. Kelseyville closed to 7-6 with two runs in the sixth.
Hunter Karp went 3-for-3 with a double for Middletown and Hawkins went 2-for-4. Hayden Xavier (1-for-3) drove in two runs while Madden Sutton went 1-for-4 with a double and RBI. Cody de Jong (1-for-3) also knocked in a run.
For Kelseyville, JD Smart went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, Carson Stone (1-for-4) knocked in two runs, and Case Pivniska went 1-for-3 with a triple and RBI.
Working in relief of Johnson, Carson Stone took the loss after 4 2/3 innings on the mound. He struck out two and walked one.
“We had chances, we just couldn’t capitalize,” Shaul said of what has been the storyline for the Knights so far this season.
The same two teams play again Friday at Lloyd Larson Field in Kelseyville at 4 p.m.
