Baseball Game Preview: Middletown Mustangs vs. St. Bernard's Crusaders

The Middletown Mustangs will challenge the St. Bernard's Crusaders at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.

Last Tuesday, Middletown came up short against Fort Bragg and fell 7-2. The Mustangs haven't had much luck with the Timberwolves recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.

Middletown saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cody De Jong, who went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI. That double marked the first that De Jong hit this season.

Meanwhile, St. Bernard's waltzed into their game on Thursday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. They never let the Cubs get on the board and left with a 14-0 victory. Considering the Crusaders have won five matches by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Quentin Ikeya was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Michael Manzi, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Luke Brunton was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and two RBI.

St. Bernard's win bumped their record up to 9-3. As for Middletown, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-6-1.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Middletown has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like St. Bernard's struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.9 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.

Middletown suffered a grim 10-4 defeat to St. Bernard's in their previous matchup back in March of 2022. Can the Mustangs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.