"They don’t swing at balls and they’re all very comfortable hitting late in the count," the Sauk Prairie Twins starting pitcher said after his team faced Middleton in a Northern Section Home Talent League game. "It’s really a battle because (you know) they’re going to have good at bats."

And oh, did they ever. Middleton, the co-leaders of the Section along with Reedsburg and Cross Plains, banged out 13 hits, and clean-up hitter Josh Hinson belted two home runs — a three-run shot to deep left field for the first, which highlighted a five-run third inning and gave Middleton an early seven-run lead.

And the Twins couldn’t rally, falling 19-6 at Sauk City Athletic Field for their fifth straight loss.

"My location was a little off, and things kind of snowballed," added Koenig, who gave way to Matt Katzman to start the fourth.

"They made me work, and I was just a little off. And when they don’t swing at pitches that are close ... it’s tough."

In fact, getting the third strike proved tough on two occasions in the decisive third. Beau Padfield hit a two-run home run two batters after Hinson, and both home runs came with two strikes.

And both were a welcome sight for Middleton, which, despite entering with a 7-2 record, has struggled to adjust to the loss of its Nos. 3 and 4 hitters from last season.

"We were really missing two big hitters, so last week I moved (Hinson) to No. 4," Middleton manager Darrell Hellenbrand said of Hinson, who was previously hitting third. "It’s making a little bit of a difference."

Middleton added solo runs in the fifth and sixth to take a 9-1 lead, and then Sauk Prairie (4-6) made things interesting.

The Twins loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth and Chuckie Schara was hit by Lucas Beese, who replaced starter Ryan Slaught to start the inning, to make it 9-2.

Chase Suchla followed with an RBI single before relief pitcher Travis Jelle lined a grounder up the middle to score two more. And Trent Sorg capped the inning with an RBI single to make it 9-6.

"The guys kept competing," said Sorg, the Twins’ manager and right fielder. "It sparked a little bit of a nice inning there for us, and just goes to show that we can play ball with one of the best teams in the league.

"It was nice to see the guys battle back."

But Middleton responded with a run in the top of the seventh — capitalizing on the second of three Twins’ fielding errors that allowed Drew Farrell to reach to lead off the inning — and avoided giving it back in the bottom half when Chuckie Schara got thrown out for the final out after getting a slow jump off first base on a two-out double by Chase Suchla.

Sauk Prairie put runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, but couldn’t get either home. And Middleton put the game out of reach in the ninth.

Middleton sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring nine times — highlighted by a three-run triple by Brooks Braga, who also singled and scored to lead off the inning, and a towering two-run home run to left by Hinson for the final five runs — to punctuate the game’s scoring.

"It’s just the game off ball," Sorg said. "You have your up innings and your down innings, and you just have to keep battling. And we didn’t battle early enough and long enough.

"We fought back into the game, but it just wasn’t enough — they’re a good hitting team."