Mustangs Round Up the Rough Riders for 2nd Win

The Mustangs were back in action yesterday for a bout with Boys Ranch. It was warm and windy, and the game lasted forever. Austin Miller started on the mound with Manny Monteiro behind the plate. Miller started strong getting two quick strike-outs. Boys Ranch's 3 and 4 holes proved to be tough throughout the whole night. The three hole got a double which was quickly followed by an in the park home run by the four hole. Miller showed focus though, by striking out the next batter. The Mustangs put together a good amount of hitting to get some runs in. Devin Cornell got on with a walk and he was knocked in by a great Monteiro double. Brady Baggett got on next with a walk, but got thrown out on the bags. However, while the Rough Riders were focused on Baggett, Monteiro slipped in for the run. After a strike-out the Mustangs rallied on two to keep it going. Seth Skarke got on with a walk and was knocked in by a blast from Dustin Ford. Ransom Hollingsworth then came to the plate and also took a shot to left field for a double and scoring Ford. The inning ended with a Kaleb Wood hit that he tried to get an extra base out of and came up a little short, but not before scoring another run. An error and a single got the Rough Riders into scoring position in the top of the 2nd before Miller came back and struck-out three more. Brandon Nichols got things started with a single to center, which was followed by a walk. Monteiro got another hit, scoring Nichols. After another walk and an out the Mustang runners fell down a bit on the bags getting two picked off one after another to end the inning. The three hole was back up to get things going for Boy's Ranch getting a triple to center field. A walk got another runner on, and then a passed ball brought in a runner to score. Miller fought back again though to end the inning. The Mustangs quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, but the couldn't get any hits to score. The Rough Rider began with a walk and and hit by pitch. Getting greedy on the bases, however, led to Monteiro throwing out the runner for out one. Following another walk, Coach Green decided to change pitchers and give Miller some rest. Miller and Skarke traded places, and Skarke took the ball. The three hole came up first for Skarke and after getting a decent hit, the ball rolled right threw the legs of a Mustang. The three hole then scored an in the park home run. Two doubles followed before the Mustangs came back with outs courtesy of Skarke and Wood. Monteiro started at the plate for the bottom of the fourth drawing a walk. After stealing some bases he was in scoring position. Baggett came next and got beaned in the hand to take his base. Baggett then sacrificed himself going to second base to allow Monteiro to steal home. Miller came next and reached on an error and Skarke followed with a walk. Ford came up and hit another great shot to knock in Miller. Hollingsworth followed him up with a great double to score Skarke and Ford. Wood took a walk and began running to second to sacrifice himself to get another score in before the inning ended. Skarke threw strong getting three strike-outs after a walk. At the top of the fifth, Cornell reached with a hit by pitch, followed by Monteiro drawing the walk. Baggett came to the plate and made great contact for the sacrifice to score Cornell. Miller followed with a sacrifice himself scoring Monteiro. The Mustangs got one more on the bags before a strike-out sent us to the top of the sixth. The Mustangs played great defense in the top of the sixth allowing only one run off of a homer. Skarke got a strike-out and Baggett accounted for two of the outs. After a couple of hours of play the Mustangs lit a fire and came out swinging. Hollingsworth got on with a walk and a Wood single scored him. After a fly-out, Cornell reached with a walk and then Monteiro hit a single to score Wood. Baggett came next a ripped one up the middle to score Cornell. Miller also came out swinging and reached on an error made by the third baseman, followed by Skarke with a walk. With the two runners on 3rd and 2nd needed to end the game with a run-rule, Jeffrey Tyree came to the plate and ripped it to center to score Baggett and Miller and win the game. The final score was 19-9. The boys stayed strong throughout a long, windy game. Miller and Skarke had nine and five strike-outs, respectively. Hitting double were Monteiro, Ford, and Hollingsworth (2). The Mustangs also ran aggressively on the bases and racked up 26 stolen bases. They will be in action against the Booker Kiowas on Saturday, at 1:00 pm. Good Luck.

First District Game...Check

Saturday's game with Follett got changed to yesterday due to the high speed winds and rain. Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day for baseball, and the Mustangs took full advantage getting a key district win against the Panthers. Devin Cornell took the mound with Manny Monteiro behind the plate. Cornell came out throwing strong and racked up three quick strike-outs. In the bottom of first, Cornell also came out swinging and hit a bomber over the left-center field fence. Following two strike-outs, Brady Baggett got a good hit for a single, but got picked off at third to end the inning. The Panthers tried to get something going but only managed to get one on with a walk, as three more went down with "Ks." Seth Skarke started the bottom of the second getting robbed of a great hit to the gap. The Mustangs couldn't muster much else and managed to get only one on base before ending the inning with a strike-out. The Mustangs stayed strong in the top of the third allowing only one hit, before retiring the side. Brandon Nichols started the top of the third drawing a walk. Cornell's hit was caught, I think much to the surprise of the left fielder, and a strike-out kept Nichols in his place. Baggett got a great hit up the middle to advance Nichols and get on himself, but the Mustangs were stalled with another strike-out. The Panthers showed some life getting a single, which was followed by a BK called on Skarke at first. I had never heard of anyone other than a pitcher get called for a BK and to clarify the situation if anyone didn't understand, you can't have any part of your body in foul territory until after the pitch is thrown. So now we all know. No one was hurt and the Mustangs stayed focused getting the outs to head to the bottom of the fourth. The Panther's made quick of the Mustangs getting a quick three up three down. The Panthers came out swinging making some contact with the ball but the Mustangs remained perfect getting outs courtesy of Cornell, Skarke, and Kaleb Wood. Ty Owens got things going with a hard hit for a single, however, after a popped up bunt attempt the Panthers made a double play for two quick outs. Another pop-up got Follett their third out, as we went to the top of the sixth. The Mustangs playing stellar defense got a quick three up, three down from great plays from Cornell, Ransom Hollingsworth, and Baggett to send us to the bottom. The boys were determined to put up more runs, and they got them. Hollingsworth and Baggett made contact to get on the bags and get in scoring position. Austin Miller came up next and delivered a hard hit ball down the first baseline scoring two. Skarke drew a walk to get on, and then Tyler Peden stepped up to the plate and layed a fantastic bunt for the sacrifice, scoring Miller. Monteiro came next and crushed a ball that was just a few feet short of going over the fence, to score Skarke. After changing pitchers, the courtesy runner got picked off at second. Owens looked to keep things going getting a great hit, but the inning ended with him getting thrown out while attempting to steal. The boys just needed three more outs to clinch their first district win of the season. The lead-off batter took a hit to the ankle to get on, which was followed by a strike-out. Then in an overzealous attempt to steal third, the runner was thrown out at third from a Monteiro to Peden throw (the proof is on Tyler's leg). It came down to getting that last out and with a ball hit towards second, Hollingsworth made a routine play to end the game. The Mustangs won 5-0. The boys did a great job, especially defensively. There wasn't a single error committed by the Mustangs, and Cornell had a career high 14 strike-outs. Baggett and Owens both went 2 for 3. Miller and Monteiro each got a double, and Cornell had a home run. The boys will be back in action again today against the Rough Riders from Boys Ranch here in Claude at 4:30. Good luck guys.

Mustangs Begin District Saturday

The Mustangs will begin district play tomorrow against the Follett Panthers. The game is scheduled for a 2:00 pm start. The boys are hoping for another District Championship, and another run in the play-offs. Please come out and support the boys. Good luck guys. Remember this about baseball, "It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard...is what makes it great!" ~A League of Their Own

Mustangs can't hold River Road

The Mustangs went to River Road Tuesday for a gorgeous day of baseball. Unfortunately, the Mustangs lost to the Wildcats 1-11. The Mustangs got hits but once again they couldn't string them together to get many runs in. Austin Miller started on the mound and did a great job for not having pitched in a while. The last inning got away from the Mustangs, however, and River Road put up six runs to enforce the run rule. The Mustangs played well, and are now gearing up for district play.

Mustangs' J.V. rolls over West Texas J.V. again

The Mustangs traveled to Stinnett to take on West Texas' J.V., and once again the Mustang J.V. proved to be too much for the Comanches. The Mustangs got their bats going right from the start and kept them going throughout much of the game. With doubles contributed from Ransom Hollingsworth, Brandon Nichols (2), Jesse Mullins, Codie Shaw. Seth Skarke started on the mound and did an excellent job, striking out six and allowing three runs. Hollingsworth took over on the mound and got three strike-outs himself. The boys did an excellent job and beat the Comanches 31-8.

Bushland Tournament

The boys traveled to Bushland March 11 and 12 for the Bushland Tournament. Thursday was pretty nasty weather wise. It snowed, rained, and the wind blew. The boys fought through it all and played a good 1st game against Boys Ranch winning 13-9. Seth Skarke pitched a good game, striking out 7 and allowing only 3 runs. The Mustangs hit the ball well with Austin Miller, Skarke, and Kaleb Wood getting a double each. A few errors allowed Boys Ranch to get back in the ball game, but the Mustangs held on to get the win. The boys only had 15 minutes to get ready for the next game against host school Bushland, and the Falcons proved to be to much for the Mustangs. The Mustangs lost 1-16. Ransom Hollingsworth took the mound and had a difficult time against a good team at the plate. The Mustangs couldn't get much going with their bats. The only hit for the Mustangs came from Hayden Hook. It was a very long day for the boys, yet some had to hurry back to Claude for the Claude track meet. The boys' next game was Friday, against San Jacinto Christian Academy. The boys played well for all but one inning, but the one inning haunted them and the boys lost 2-15. In innings 1, 3, and 4, the Mustangs managed to allow only two hits and no runs. They played solid defense. Inning 2 was a different story. The boys gave up 15 runs and 14 hits that inning. The boys had a better hitting day, they just couldn't get them strung together to get many runs on the board. It was a cold and wet tournament, but then again it's expected of the Bushland Tournament.

Mustangs run-rule Wellington

The Mustangs traveled to Wellington yesterday to play some ball, and play ball they did. The boys jumped on top quickly and got a quick 4-1 lead in the first inning. Hits in the first came from Devin Cornell, Brandon Nichols, Manny Monteiro, and Hayden Hook. Cornell got the start on the mound and he struck-out 3 of the 5 batters he faced in the first. The Sky rockets did manage to score a run though. In the second, the Sky rockets seemed to settle down a bit and after a Ty Owens single, they got a quick 1, 2, 3. In the bottom of the second the Mustangs got outs 1 and 2 quickly courtesy of a Cornell strike-out, and a Cornell to Austin Miller put out. After a couple of walks, Cornell came back and rang-up the batter for out #3. The Mustangs had a hard time getting anything going in the third with two strike-outs and a put-out. The Mustangs came out strong for another good defensive showing with efforts from, Brady Baggett, Tyler Peden, Monteiro, and Miller. The Mustangs got their bats going again in the top of the fourth, and with some hits and walks the Mustangs scored 5. The bottom of the fourth was much like the third for the Sky rockets. Cornell struck-out two, and the third out came from a pop-out caught by Hook. The Mustangs were not going to let down and they came out swinging in the fifth getting five hits in a row, and scoring 5 (the inning of fives, weird). In high school baseball their is a 10 run-rule that comes into effect after the fifth inning. At this point all the Mustangs had to do was not allow four runs, and the game would end. So what did the Mustangs do? They throw a three up three down, that's what they did. Cornell struck-out the first batter. After getting one on with a walk, the boys turned an awesome double-play courtesy of Hook, Baggett, and Miller to end the game (or drive the final nail in the coffin, if you like Dillas baseball). The score after the end of play was 14-1. Cornell had 8 strike-outs on the day, and gave up only three hits. Doubling for the Mustangs were Cornell, Nichols, and Baggett. I thought I would post what one Wellington kid was heard saying after the game. He said, "I can't believe we lost to Claude." Well now they can expect it. Awesome job Mustangs!!!

Game change tonight

I know it's late notice to post this, but the game today has been moved to Wellington. The rain that came yesterday flooded our field, making play today nearly impossible. Thus the boys will go to Wellington to face the Sky Rockets at 4:30.

Mustangs beat Arbor again

The Mustangs traveled to Amarillo on Saturday to face Arbor Christian for a second time. It was a beautiful day to play ball and the Mustangs took advantage of it getting a 19-2 win over the Lions. Kaleb Wood got the start on the mound and did an excellent job pitching allowing only two runs and racking up 6 strike-outs in three innings. Ransom Hollingsworth took over in the fourth and struck-out all three batters. The Mustangs did well hitting once again with 13 of the 14 batters getting hits. Hitting doubles were Devin Cornell, Brady Baggett (2), Austin Miller, and Ransom Hollingsworth. Triples went to Baggett and Hayden Hook (2). Great job guys.

Mustangs put up another no-hitter

On the coat tails of the Mustang J.V.'s no-hitter against W.T. J.V., the boys put down another no-hitter this time against Arbor Christian Academy. Devin Cornell started on the mound and in the first and second innings he racked up six strike-outs out of the eight batters he faced. The first at bat for the mustangs was a little deja vu, from Monday night's game. We almost went through the batting order three times!!! By the end of the first inning the Mustangs were on top 18-0. The second went about the same with more hitting from the Mustangs. By the end of the second the score was 26-0. Brady Baggett came in to pitch in the top of the third and quickly retired the side with three strike-outs. The bottom of the third consisted of more great hitting by the Mustangs, and ended in a 31-0 lead. For the top of the fourth, Kaleb Wood took the mound and he also made quick of the Lions striking out three. The game ended, but the Lions wanted to get everyone a chance to bat so Wood stayed on the mound for three more batters. All in all our pitching staff struck out 13 of the 17 batters faced. The Mustangs also had 35 hits on the day with Austin Miller and Ty Owens each going 4-4 and Manny Monteiro going 5-5. 12 of our 14 batters got a hit with doubles by Cornell (2), Baggett, Owens. Hitting triples were Baggett (2), Miller, and Monteiro. Great job Mustangs on your no-hitter and no error game.

Claude J.V. slaughters West Texas J.V. in a no hitter

On Monday, March 1, the Mustang J.V. played West Texas High's J.V. The Mustangs played lights out having only four errors the whole game. Seth Skarke began the game on the mound and in two innings he struck out four of the ten batters he faced. The bottom the 1st inning got crazy with two Mustang batters batting three time each. The Mustangs had seven singles in the first two innings contributed from Tyler Peden, Brandon Nichols, Jeff Tyree, Manny Monteiro (2), Preston Belfield, and Brandon Sims. Nichols and Monteiro took over the pitching for the third and fourth innings each getting a strike-out. Between the three pitchers, the Mustangs managed a no-hitter. There was more from the Mustang batters in the third and fourth before the game was called due to the decreasing light. Those two innings also consisted of seven hits including a double from Sims. In the end 9 out of the 11 Mustang batters got at least one hit. That's awesome!!! The final score was 35-4, and no the boys and Coach Green were not trying to run up the score. It's just how it happened. Congratulations boys on a great no-hitter game.

Mustangs win 2nd at Post Tournament

Once again I'm behind. The boys went down to Post for the Norm Cash Clash Tournament on February 25-27. The boys didn't play on Thursday, so they got a chance to have a little fun in Lubbock that night. On Friday, the boys got things going against Colorado City. It was a cold and windy day but the boys played well and won 10-2. After a little break the boys went back out to play again. This time they faced Post, the host team. The boys had a few problems in the beginning, but picked it up as the game went on. They ended the game in a tie 6-6, and with the tie breaker rules that were set for the tournament we won. The boys had an awesome day and they got to finish it off with some pizza and a little bit of swimming. On Saturday, the boys' first game was against Anson. The boys played hard, but in the end the went down and lost 13-6. Even with the lose, the boys had earned the right to play in the championship game. Once again the boys would face Anson, and once again the boys played hard but came up short. Not to take anything away from Anson, but they hadn't had to deal with crazy weather like we had too. So they boys' play was pretty exceptional for little to no practice. The Mustangs got 2nd place for the second year in a row, so congratulations boys. There was some great pitching from Devin Cornell, Brady Baggett, Ransom Hollingsworth, Austin Miller, and Seth Skarke. I also think that almost every boy got a hit at some point. I think the boys had a good time seeing how it was complete with Manny being accused of battery, and Coach Green telling the cops what they were and were not going to do. I have more pictures, so I'll try and get them on a later time.

Devin pitching

Waiting to bat

Kaleb hitting

Hayden hitting

Brady hitting

Tyler hitting

Ty hitting

Brady pitching

Alumni Game

Well I vowed that I would keep up with the blog and I've failed miserably. Kynlie got sick and I didn't have a computer to write anything. I'll make an attempt now to get caught up, and I'll start with the Alumni Game. The Alumni game was on Saturday, February 20, at 1:00. It was a little cold and a whole lot foggy. Of course a little fog wasn't going to keep Coach Green and the boys from getting some playing time in. There was a good turn-out of fans and Alumni. It's always fun to watch graduated players come back and play. This was definitely a game not short on laughs. The Mustangs got some hits and went up 1-0 early. That remained the score until the top of the sixth when the Alumni got their bats rolling. The Alumni put up six runs in the last two innings, and with some excellent pitching by Mike Irby, the Mustangs could not muster a comeback. Devin Cornell did a great job pitching, striking out 6 out of the 9 batters he faced. Ransom Hollingsworth and Seth Skarke also got some strike-outs under their belts at 5 and 1 respectively. Alumni in attendance were Derek Hatfield, Brice Sanders, Trevor Johnson, Geoffrey Lemons, Lee Eddlemann, Fred Irby, Chris Gilmore, Eric Eddlemann, Ryan Johnson, C.J. Maddox, Ross Hollingsworth, Austin Howell, Mike Irby, and Russell Irby. I apologize if I have left anyone's name off. The game was followed by a cook out provided by Buster Sanders, Terry Baggett, and Nancy Justice. Thank you to everyone who attended and to those who made a donation to Hayden Hook.