Middleton takes game one of district championship series

MIDDLETON — Eagle chose to walk Middleton slugger Trey Swygart in the fifth inning. They had every reason to.

He hit a towering home run over the right field wall in the previous inning — his sixth of the season. Down 4-2 with two outs and a runner on first, the Mustangs didn’t want Swygart to extend the lead any further.

When Swygart was walked, he let out a scream to his bench as if he had hit a home run, firing up his dugout.

“I love the intentional walks,” Swygart said. “It fires me up, it fires the team up. Had a freshman come up big and take advantage of their intentional walk. They never work out.”

Instead of Swygart knocking in a run in the fifth inning, it was freshman Cam Lenius who delivered with an RBI triple to extend the Vikings’ lead to three runs. It was part of a four-run inning for Middleton, breaking the game open.

The Vikings held on to defeat Eagle 5-2, taking game one of the best-of-three district championship series.

Even with a two-run lead, it was a big spot for the freshman, batting cleanup behind Swygart and ahead of Brock Silvers, who’s third on the team in RBI. Part of the confidence head coach Bryan Swygart has in putting Lenius in that spot is due to his plate discipline.

In 68 plate appearances this season, Lenius has struck out once.

“Cam loves the big moment,” Bryan Swygart said. “He’s not afraid. We put as little pressure on him as we possibly can. We tell him to put the balls in play. He’s not going to hit it out of the park. He’s not hitting a lot of balls over their head but he’s going to hit balls hard. Whether he succeeds or not, the fact that we trust him there and he trusts himself shows all the confidence in the world.”

Up until the fifth inning, Swygart’s solo home run was Middleton’s only hit. But their consistent approach at the plate finally paid off in the fifth.

It started with the bottom of the order getting on base. Drew Holman drew a walk and Peyton Hess hit a single. Once the lineup came back around to the top of the order, the runs followed. Leadoff batter Boomer Collins hit a two-run triple down the right field line to make it 3-2 to Middleton. Ian Lenius laid down a bunt and reached first base, scoring another run.

Cam Lenius’ RBI triple knocked Eagle starting pitcher Luke Scott out of the game who was charged with all four runs, striking out seven and walking three batters.

All four runs of the Vikings’ (21-4) runs in the inning came with two outs.

“I felt like we were grinding at-bats the whole game and they weren’t going our way,” Trey Swygart said. “We stuck to our approach and it started working out for us. I felt like the pitcher was leaving them over the plate more and we started hitting it, taking advantage.”

Outside of the first inning, Eagle’s (19-3) bats were silenced. Both of their runs came in the first with Jimmy Flynn connecting on an RBI single and then scoring on a sacrifice fly from Brady Barowsky.

Trey Swygart, who started on the mound and pitched all seven innings, got better as the game wore on, allowing three hits the rest of the way and striking out seven for the game.

“It happens every single game. If they score, it’s always in the first inning, then after that I dial it in,” Swygart said. “Getting comfortable, getting the jitters out. Just start having fun.”

Game two of the district championship series is set for Wednesday night at Eagle High School at 6 p.m. If the Mustangs win, game three will be back at Middleton on Thursday.