Baseball Recap: John Finney's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Middletown over St. Bernard's

Middletown extended their losing streak to four on Friday, dropping their season record down to 3-8-1 in the process. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 16-1 to the St. Bernard's Crusaders, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Crusaders this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 16-1 on Friday.

Middletown saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was John Finney, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.

As for St. Bernard's, the victory (which was their ninth in a row) raised their record to 11-3. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games.

On St. Bernard's side, Luke Brunton was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Brunton has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up a single earned run in five consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.

In other batting news, St. Bernard's let Tyler Hinrichs and Tyler Maples run wild. Hinrichs went 1-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base, while Maples went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That triple marked the first that Hinrichs has hit this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Michael Manzi, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with three runs.

Middletown wasted no time getting back out on the field and has already played their next matchup, a 10-5 victory against Upper Lake on the 15th. As for St. Bernard's, they have also already played their next game, a 12-0 win against Hoopa Valley on the 15th.