Middleton has Caruthersville BB on the upswing in Year 3

CARUTHERSVILLE – The adage that a team is only as good as its last outing may be accurate in some cases, but as far as it relates to the Caruthersville High School baseball program, it is misleading.

The Tigers did indeed drop their last game, a 7-2 defeat to Campbell in the opening round of the Bootheel Conference Tournament, but that doesn’t portray how this spring has unfolded along the banks of the Mississippi River.

“The boys have worked hard,” third-year coach Joey Middleton said. “It stinks to fall short (against Campbell) because we have worked hard and been very solid defensively.”

That is an understatement.

The Tigers (15-8) are allowing less than five runs per game by their opposition, which is nearly half as many as a year ago, and by far the most impressive number since the 2016 team gave up 3.8 runs per game en route to a 22-6 season.

“We’ve been winning a lot of close games,” Middleton continued.

The Tigers have six wins this season by three wins or fewer, including extra-inning wins against 11-win teams from Bloomfield and Holcomb.

As strong as Caruthersville has been defensively, Middleton’s kids have been scoring better than any Tiger team in the past five years, as they have averaged over six runs per game.

“Offensively,” Middleton said, “we have struggled, a little bit, throughout the year, but there have been bright areas.”

Prior to the Bootheel Tournament, Caruthersville went through a stretch of seven games in which it won five of those contests, and those wins came against Bernie (15 wins), Holcomb, Risco (12 wins), and Campbell (10 wins), as well as Doniphan.

“We’ve been winning tight games because of our defense and pitching,” Middleton said.

In the first game against the Camels, a 9-3 Tiger win, Caruthersville got a great pitching performance from junior Kamron Watkins-Isbell.

In that game, he worked six innings, gave up six hits, but only one earned run, and struck out seven.

Watkins-Isbell has joined junior Ryan Guest and sophomore Bill Middleton as the Tiger starters this spring.

“We have three guys who have been consistent,” Middleton said. “All of those guys, every time that they go out there and take the mound, we’re confident that they can be consistent and give us a chance.”

Even though Watkins-Isbell and Middleton combined to allow seven earned runs against the Camels in the tournament, Coach Middleton felt his team’s offensive approach was the biggest factor contributing to the loss, not necessarily the pitching or defense (Caruthersville committed no errors in the game).

“Our approach at the plate,” Middleton said of the difference in the game. “(Campbell) came up looking to make an impact when they stepped in the box, and we were looking to get a call from the umpire.

“We just didn’t have the aggressive mentality.”

Since Middleton has taken over the Caruthersville program, “aggressive mentality” hasn’t been much of an issue.

In his first season, his team won just three games and allowed over 11 runs per game by its foes.

Those numbers improved to eight victories and 8.6 runs last year, before this year’s stellar spring. And the future is very bright for the Tigers.

The only senior on Middleton’s team is third baseman Tristen Hill.

“I like to think that,” Middleton said when being told his program is trending upward, “but (losing to Campbell) was tough.”

Caruthersville will host Cooter (3-8) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.