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MIDDLETOWN — Solid pitching and patience at the plate proved to be the winning recipe for the Middletown Middies on Monday.

The host Middies took advantage of 12 walks and four Warrior errors to win 10-3 over Winton Woods in the opening round of the Division I baseball sectional tournament.

"We stayed positive, we were patient at the plate and we hustled the whole game, and it paid off for us today," said Middletown coach Jason Cave. "We stayed confident the whole game and that was a key, I thought."

Even when Winton Woods rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to cut the lead down to 5-3 in the Middies' favor, Middletown didn't panic.

Instead, they responded by sending nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and added five more runs to pull things out of reach.

"We had a chance there until our right fielder dropped the ball with the bases loaded (in the sixth)," said Warriors coach Mike DeMain. "We had our opportunities. I think we left four or five runners on base, and we hung in there, but the mistakes hurt us today."

With the bases loaded and two out, Brandon Ellis hit a towering fly ball to right field. The Winton Woods outfielder muffed the catch, and that enabled Michael Roberts to scoot home from third base and Alex Fultz to score from second. Philip Sliger then doubled to score Jimmy Hackett and Ellis. Sliger later scored on a throwing error for the game's final margin.

When Ellis wasn't hitting the ball, he was being hit. The Middie lead-off hitter was hit by a pitch, twice. He reached base in four of five at-bats and scored twice.

Sliger led the Middies with two hits on the day. Kyle Schwarber, Corey Bush, Fultz and Roberts also had hits for Middletown.

While the Middies were patient on offense, Middletown right-hander Logan Yerger pitched a solid 5 2/3 innings.

"He did a great job out there," Cave said. "There were two guys in scoring position (in the fifth) and he hung in there and kept them from scoring. He did a fantastic job for us today."

Yerger said he had to work to throw strikes, but was pleased to get the win.

"It wasn't my best day today, and I had troubles finding the strike zone at times. But I just decided to stick with my fastball and let the defense make the plays for me," he said.

Winton Woods ends its season with a 3-15 record.

Middletown (4-19) plays a Greater Miami Conference make-up game with Oak Hills today. They'll then return to sectional tournament play against another familiar GMC foe, defending state champ Lakota West.

"They're tough, but we've played them tough both times this season," said Yerger. "We just have to go in there, play with a lot of intensity from the very first pitch, and do our best."

The second-round game is set for a 4:30 p.m. start at Lakota West High School.

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