[New post] Middletown’s Taber beats Lower Lake with no-hitter
Lake County Record-Bee posted: " LOWER LAKE — Troy Taber not only kept the Lower Lake Trojans winless on their own field Friday afternoon, but he punctuated the Trojans' struggles at home with an exclamation point. On another warm April day in the South county, there was no one ho" Lake County Record-Bee
Middletown pitcher Troy Taber faced just three batters over the minimum while tossing a no-hitter against Lower Lake in North Central League I varsity baseball action. The Mustangs' defense didn't commit a single error during the team's 10-0 win. (Photos by Minenna Photography)
LOWER LAKE — Troy Taber not only kept the Lower Lake Trojans winless on their own field Friday afternoon, but he punctuated the Trojans' struggles at home with an exclamation point.
On another warm April day in the South county, there was no one hotter than the sophomore Taber as he pitched a no-hitter in Middletown's 10-0 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans in a six-inning game called early because of the 10-run mercy rule.
"He did everything he was supposed to do," Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said. "He hit the strike zone. His curve was off a little in the beginning but by mid-game he had it dialed it."
Middletown staked winning pitcher Troy Taber to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning during Friday's varsity baseball action in Lower Lake.
Middletown's defense was locked in too. In a game where the Trojans (3-8 league, 7-10 overall) hit only one grounder, the Mustangs caught a ton of popups and flyballs dished up by Taber.
"Our pitching and defense were the shining stars of this game," Holt said.
"He pitched a great game," Lower Lake head coach Mark Peterson said of Taber. "He was painting the corners pretty good. We hit the ball hard a couple of times, but right at people. It was a great job by him."
Middletown finished with only five hits.
"But they were big ones," Holt said.
The Mustangs (3-6, 3-10) scored three times in the top of the first inning and it was still a 3-0 game until their bats warmed up in the top of the fifth. They bunched together four hits, including a two-run double by Hunter Hartzog, and ended up scoring five times to open up an 8-0 lead.
"We struggled with our hitting a little bit, but we really picked it up (in the fifth)," Holt said.
TJ Allred (2-for-3, two RBIs) also tripled in the sixth as the Mustangs tacked on two more insurance runs for a 10-0 lead. Jon Hawkins also went 1-for-2 for Middletown with a triple and RBI. He also walked twice.
Losing pitcher Jett Guralas went four-plus innings, allowing six runs (only two earned) on just one hit, but he also walked six and struck out six. Reliever Anthony Myer gave up the other four runs, all earned, in a 1 2/3 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. Edward Gutierrez got the last out of the Middletown sixth.
Lower Lake has yet to win at home this season, dropping to 0-5.
Taber issued three walks, but never more than one in an inning. The only Lower Lake runner to make it as far as second base was Cody Gasperoni, who walked and stole second in the fifth.
Middletown is home Tuesday to play Clear Lake and home again next Friday against Cloverdale. Lower Lake has four games on its schedule next week, beginning with a non-league game Monday against Technology in Rohnert Park. The Trojans resume league play Tuesday at Fort Bragg, return home Wednesday for a non-league game against Potter Valley, and remain home next Friday to take on St. Helena in league action.
In other NCL I action Friday:
Clear Lake 10, Willits 4
At Willits, winning pitcher Greyson Wind allowed just three hits and one run during his six innings of work and the top four spots in Clear Lake's batting order were a collective 8-for-16 with three doubles and eight RBIs as the Cardinals knocked off the Willits Wolverines.
"We had a lot of energy today, it was a great game," Clear Lake head coach Brian Horne said.
Cardinals' leadoff hitter Hank Ollenberger went 2-for-2, walked twice, scored three times and stole three bases. The junior is 8-for-8 in his last three league games. Wind went 1-for-4 with two RBIs batting second, No. 3 hitter Cody Hayes went 3-for-5 with a two-run double, two-run single and RBI groundout, and cleanup hitter Jesse Hayes was 2-for-5 with a double and a RBI as Clear Lake improved to 4-6 in league play and 6-8 overall.
"Even on some of our outs we made a lot of hard contact," Horne said.
Clear Lake put the game away early, scoring twice in the top of the first, five times in the second and once in the third for an 8-0 lead. It was 10-1 before Willits scored three times in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Cody Hayes.
Wind struck out five and walked five during his six innings.
Zane McAuley (1-for-3) also drove in a run for the Cardinals, who are on the road Tuesday against Middletown before returning home next Friday against Fort Bragg. Clear Lake has a makeup game scheduled May 11 against Middletown in Lakeport.
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