HANSEN HOMER LIFTS MUSTANGS
After blowing 7-0 and 10-5 leads, Middletown beats Clear Lake 12-10 in North Central League I thriller
LAKEPORT >> Ten runs are usually enough to win most softball games, but not on Tuesday afternoon in Lakeport.
The Middletown Mustangs, who lost their first two North Central League I games this season by a combined three runs, including an eight-inning loss to Lower Lake, scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the Clear Lake Cardinals 12-10. Emma Hansen’s solo home run off the solar panels in deep center field snapped a 10-all tie as the Mustangs, after blowing leads of 7-0 and 10-5, nailed down that first elusive league victory.
“The fans were having a lot of fun,” Middletown head coach Bob Gunion said of his team’s rollercoaster victory against the Cardinals (1-1 league, 2-2 overall).
How about the coaches?
“It was entertaining,” Gunion deadpanned.
Hansen, Middletown’s starting pitcher, had to shift to first base after working a scoreless first inning, the result of a groin pull she sustained in the team’s 11-9 loss to Cloverdale on Friday. While she
underwent therapy and felt well enough to start against Clear Lake, Hansen moved over to first base before throwing a pitch in the bottom of the second, and Maddie Ferguson worked the final six innings to record the victory.
“It’s a strain in the leg she uses to push off on (while pitching),” Gunion said. “In the second inning, she looked at me and said, ‘I can’t stay in here.’ “
As the Mustangs’ first baseman, Hansen didn’t disappoint, going 3-for-5 with her tape-measure blast with one out and the bases empty in the top of the seventh to give the Mustangs the lead for good.
The length of her home run was impressive, according to Clear Lake head coach Racheal Harmon.
“It was rocked,” Harmon said. “Doug Wingler (Clear Lake’s head coach in 201618 and a longtime assistant under longtime head coach Gary Pickle before that) said it’s the farthest he’s ever seen one hit at that field.”
“She can play first base for me anytime,” Gunion added.
Middletown (1-2 league, 2-2 overall) scored twice in the first inning and five times in the top of the second to go up 7-0 against Clear Lake starting pitcher Lilianna Cruz, who left the game with a hip injury after two innings.
The injury occurred in the top of the first, according to Harmon.
Cruz made it through the second inning but couldn’t go on. Raina Clifton went the rest of the way, taking the loss in relief.
“And the damage had been done by then,” Harmon said of the 7-0 deficit the Cardinals were looking at on the scoreboard.
But the Cardinals rallied, beginning with Hailee Bussard’s leadoff home run to center field to open a tworun bottom of the second for Clear Lake. The Cardinals closed to 7-5 in the third only to watch Middletown build its lead back up to 10-5 with a run in the fourth and two in the top of the fifth.
Again the Cardinals rallied, this time with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three in the sixth to pull even at 10-10.
“It was a rough start for us, but they fought for it to the end,” Harmon said of her players, including first baseman Grace Gomez, who went 3-for-3 with four RBIs. Joy Ingalls, the Cardinals’ leadoff hitter, also had three hits while Bussard added two more as well as two RBIs.
“Grace had a great day,” Harmon said.
So did Middletown’s hitting machine, Lily Martin, who doubled twice, singled and drove in four runs, to join Hansen and Jaidyn Brown (3-for-4, RBI) with three hits apiece.
In the decisive top of the seventh, Hansen’s jaw-dropping home run was followed by a walk to Lia Crudo, who came around to score on a pair of Clear Lake errors.
Ferguson retired the Cardinals on three straight flyballs in the bottom of the seventh. She struck out seven while walking one.
“It was a good game on both sides,” Gunion said. “There was good sportsmanship and good attitudes all the way around.”
Both teams are on the road Friday. Middletown travels to Willits while Clear Lake visits St. Helena. Action at both sites begins at 4 p.m.
Notes: Each of Middletown’s first three league games has been decided by two or fewer runs. They lost 6-5 in eight innings at home to Lower Lake and lost 11-9 at home to defending league champion Cloverdale.