The Fort Bragg Timberwolves are taking a road trip to take on the Middletown Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Fort Bragg has four straight wins, Middletown has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last four times Fort Bragg and Clear Lake have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Tuesday. The Timberwolves came out on top against the Cardinals by a score of 6-3.
Tyler Casey looked comfortable as he pitched 3.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits.
Chris Hernandez
| 04/29/25 vs Clear Lake | 3 |
| 04/25/25 vs Lower Lake | 3 |
| 04/25/25 vs Lower Lake | 2 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Chris Hernandez, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases and one run. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged two or more in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Beau Hebden, who went 1-for-2 with two runs and one stolen base.
Meanwhile, Middletown didn't have quite enough to beat Lower Lake on Tuesday and fell 9-8.
Jon Hawkins put in work while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over 6.1 innings while giving up three earned (and four unearned) runs off five hits. Hawkins was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in two of his three plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI. Middletown is 2-1 when Hawkins posts two or more stolen bases, but 2-11-1 otherwise.
In other batting news, Hayden Xavier was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one double. That double marked the first that he has hit this season. Austin Davis was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.
Fort Bragg pushed their record up to 14-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.8 runs over those games. As for Middletown, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-12-1.
Middletown's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Fort Bragg hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .339. It's a different story for Middletown, though, as they've only averaged .221. Will they be able to contain Fort Bragg's hitters?
Fort Bragg beat Middletown 7-2 in their previous meeting back in April. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Timberwolves since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
