Mountain View baseball extended its latest streak to two.

A streak of tie games, that is.

The Toros could not hold a 5-1 lead after four innings Tuesday afternoon against  Mesquite, arguably the best team in 5A-I at present, and settled for a 5-5 deadlock when their game with the Wildcats was called after nine innings due to darkness.

Just one more game, one more chapter in a bizarre year for the Toros.

Mountain View has a solid record -- 11-6-2. The Toros are 4-1-2 in power-point games. But coach Mike Thiel expected a big year with two-thirds of his starting lineup back and his top four pitchers, including ace lefty Hayden Rogers. He didn't expect losing a starting outfielder for the year before the first game was played or losing his staff ace late last week for who knows how long.

Thiel looked stunned, numb and very much at a loss for words as darkness fell on the Toros field.

"Every decision  I make (strategy) turns out to be the wrong one," Thiel said.

Without a misplay in one game or a hit batter in another it's very conceivable Mountain View could sport a 16-3 record rather than the 11-6-2 that is reality. Coaches talk about the baseball gods often. They haven't  smiled much on the Toros from the get-go.

The night before Mountain View's preseason scrimmage against Horizon in mid-February  juniors Tyler Traasdahl and Sterling Smith were injured in car accident near Mountain View. Traasdahl, an execeptional athletie, is out for the season with a ruptured spleen suffered in the accident. He missed a good chunk of the football season with an injury as well. Traasdahl likely would have started in the outfield. Smith received sevral stitches and a banged up hand. He is practicing and able to play now.

On the field over the last two weeks Mountain View has been in a giving mood. Opponents have obliged by saying thank you very much. Desert Vista and McClintock rallied from deficits late in games in the Mesquite-Gilbert Invitational to snatch 4-3 and 10-9 wins.

In Mountain View's first  game back after spring break pon March 22, Dobson visited and trailed 3-1 late. Dobson took advantage of defensive lapses and won, 5-3. Rogers got Mountain View back on track the next day dominating Red Mountain in a 9-1 win with 12 strikeouts.

That set up the first of the two ties last Friday. Leading Corona del Sol the entire game, including  a 12-7 advantage heading to the last of the seventh, Mountain View got the first two outs. A series of hit batters, hits and misplays led to five runs and a 12-12 tie as darkness set in.

Worse news came than that nightmarish seventh and the tie. Rogers, playing right field against Corona, dove for a ball during the contest and rolled over his right (glove) hand in the attempt. Rogers had a pin inserted in the hand and will have to wait a week or to see if he'll be able to resume playing (pitching only) with the non-pitching hand injury.

Considering all the news going on in the world -- earthquake in Japan, unrest in Libya,  soaring gas prices -- Mountain View has little to worry about.

Just don't tell that to Thiel.