Middies run early to take win, split series

The weather cooperated for a day after the second game of Midview and Amherst’s two-game set was pushed back from March 26 to March 28. The Middies’ field wasn’t playable, but they were still the home team in the road environment at Amherst’s ball field.

Midview found a way to score early behind spark plug Mateo Lopez’s savvy baserunning, and Spencer Mueller escaped a few gems over six innings of one-run ball to down Amherst, 5-1, for their first win of the young season.

“We’re a different ball club when we jump ahead early on guys,” Midview coach Ryan Morgan said. “We were able to take advantage and kind of run on the basepaths early on. Getting that two-run lead in the first inning, that was huge for us.”

An error in short right field and a passed ball allowed two Midview runners to score with no outs in the bottom half of the opening frame, with Amherst clawing back a run in the top of the second inning as Mueller escaped a tough spot.

It wasn’t Amherst’s cleanest game with the glove. The speedy Mateo Lopez reached base on leadoff walk in the third for Midview and stole second. On the tag up on a Mueller flyout to center field, Lopez was easily coming into third when the throw got past the cutoff man and Lopez rounded third base, putting the Middies’ third run of the day on the board.

“I’m the leadoff hitter, so I do what I’ve got to do to make my team score,” Lopez said. “The ball was hit deep. My goal was to get from second to third easily. I see they made an error (and) Coach is pointing (to) home, I’m out of breath. I’m out here hauling it to put another run up on the board and secure that dub.”

Mueller, whose eight strikeouts over the six frames helped in that effort, also chipped in on the offensive end in the fifth inning with nobody out. Backto-back singles by Camden Scott and Mateo Lopez and a stolen base for each gave the senior Findlay commitment an opportunity to pad the lead.

With the count filled up, Mueller laced a double just over the outstretched glove of the first baseman to make it a 5-1 affair and knock Amherst’s starter out of the game.

“I don’t get to hit in college when I go, so I’m definitely taking all I can when I get to hit in high school season,” Mueller said with a smile. “I just go out there and try to think backside. I got an inside pitch and drove it. It stayed fair, so I got on (second) and scored two more runs.

“It really helped boost my confidence (on the mound). I went out there up two more runs, so it really helped with going out there ready to shut it down.”