Mustangs beat Shamrock in heated game

The Mustangs traveled to Shamrock yesterday to take on the Irish after their cancellation from Tuesday. It is quite obvious that the boys from each school do not like one another. Emotions ran high, added to by some questionable calls made by questionable umps. Manny Monteiro got things rolling by reaching on an error.Tyler Peden then got a base on balls. A put out from the pitcher got the first out of the game. That was quickly followed by out number two when Monteiro was thrown out at home. A strikeout retired the side. Austin Miller started on the mound for the Mustangs with Brady Baggett behind the plate. An error allowed the first batter to reach. The next batter hit a fly ball to right, that was caught by Monteiro. Monteiro then threw the ball to Seth Skarke at first to get the runner out for a double play. A. Miller finished it off with a strikeout. Tate Wilkerson started at the plate in the top of the second getting a single to left. Two pop ups got two outs, before Brandon Nichols hit a double down the right field line to score Wilkerson. Brady Miller hit a grounder to left for a single. On the next batters at bat, B. Miller stole second and when the catcher tried to throw him out, Nichols scored on a head's up play. A pop up sent the Mustangs back out to the field. A fly ball to right caught by Monteiro recorded the first out. The next batter hit to second, and Wilkerson made the throw to Skarke. The runner was clearly out, but a questionable call from the field ump allowed him to be safe. A. Miller followed with a strikeout for out number two. A walk allowed another batter to reach. An error trying to get the runner on third picked had the ball going into the outfield and a run scored. Another walk got a batter on, before A. Miller came through with a strikeout. Peden started the top of the third drawing a walk. Baggett grounded out for the sacrifice. A fly ball caught by the left fielder was out number two. On the catch, Peden tagged and went home. The left fielder made a heck of a throw to the catcher, who laid the tag on Peden at the plate. The catcher dropped the ball, but another questionable call by the ump had Peden out which retired the side. A. Miller came out firing getting a strikeout for out number one. A walk allowed a batter to reach before a single to left scored a run. Nichols made a great throw to Baggett but he couldn't come up with the ball. Tensions reached a breaking point when the runner ducked his shoulder into Baggett. A no call was made and the game went on. The next batter reached on ball four that went past Baggett and another run scored. Baggett came back and threw the runner on first out at second with a great throw to Peden. A. Miller finished the inning with a strikeout. The top of the fourth started with Wilkerson reaching on an error. Jeffrey Tyree took a base on balls to also reach. A fly out to left got the first out. Nichols hit a great shot to center for a single and scored Wilkerson. A strikeout got out number two. Monteiro came to the plate and ripped on to right center to score Tyree and Nichols. Peden hit a single to left to score Monteiro. A strikeout retired the side. A strikeout from A. Miller started the bottom of the fourth that was followed by line drive caught by Peden. An error allowed a batter to get on bases before a fly ball was caught by B. Miller to end the inning. A strikeout started the top of the fifth. Wilkerson then reached on an error by the third baseman. A great sacrifice bunt was put down by Tyree. A single to left center from Bradley Cornell scored Wilkerson. A put out from the short stop retired the side. Once again A. Miller started with a strikeout. A walk got a batter on, and single to left had runners at first and second. A short line drive was caught by A. Miller, who turned and threw it to Peden at second for double play. A put out was made for the first out of the top of the sixth. Monteiro hit a single to right to get on the bags. Peden took a hit by pitch to follow. Baggett hit a single to left that scored Monteiro. Baggett then sacrificed himself getting into a run down that took the Shamrock players attention away from Peden who also scored. A. Miller drew a walk to reach. After a pitching change, Wilkerson hit a single to left to score A. Miller. Jeremiah Hughes came in to run for Wilkerson. While Tyree was at the plate however, Hughes was picked off at third for out number three. Wilkerson took over on the mound in the bottom of the sixth. The first batter grounded out to A. Miller at first. A walk got the next batter on. Wilkerson came back with a strikeout. A single up the middle had one more reach before Wilkerson set them down with another strikeout. The Mustangs didn't do much in the top of the seventh going three up three down. Wilkerson started the bottom of the seventh off with a strikeout. A double got a runner on, and then Wilkerson got another strikeout. A hard hit ball hit back at Wilkerson bounced off his glove for another batter to reach. Wilkerson ended the game with a strikeout before Shamrock could make any sort of comeback. The Mustangs won 10-4. A. Miller pitched a good game throwing 7 strikeouts. Wilkerson also pitched well getting 5 strikeouts. The Mustangs did a decent job at the plate getting 10 hits. Getting a double for the Mustangs was Nichols. The Mustangs will next be in action Friday in Follett. Good luck guys!

And it begins...

They game today (March 29) in Shamrock has been cancelled. Shamrock's field is wet from the drizzle. As of right now, the game is rescheduled for tomorrow (March 30). Hopefully they'll get to play and not have to move it again. Until then...

Mustangs hang on to get first district win

The Mustangs took on the Booker Kiowas Friday, for their first district game of the season. Seth Skarke started on the mound with Brady Baggett behind the plate. Nerves got the best of the Mustangs in the first inning. A hit by pitch got the first batter on the bases. A single past first had runners at first and third. The runner on first went to steal second and on bad communication the throw down sailed into outfield scoring two. Skarke got a strikeout for the first out. Another error allowed another runner to reach before Skarke got another strikeout. The next batter hit a single, and with another Mustang error another run was scored. The next three batters got on with two hit by pitches and a walk, that allowed another Kiowa to cross the plate. A pop up caught by the Skarke retired the side. Manny Monteiro hit a single to left and with errors was able to cross the plate to get the Mustangs on the board. Tyler Peden hit a single past second base to reach before Baggett drew a walk. Austin Miller hit a single just over second base to load the bases. A strikeout got the first out. Jeffrey Tyree hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Peden. Bradley Cornell hit a single to left to score Baggett, before another strikeout ended the inning. The Mustangs settled down in the second, getting three up three down. It started off with a put out from Tate Wilkerson to A. Miller. A walk got the next batter on, but the runner tried to steal second and Baggett threw him out with a throw to Peden. Skarke got a strikeout for out number three. A pop up to the third baseman started the bottom of the second off. An error on the third baseman allowed Monteiro to get on. Peden then stepped to the plate and hit a hard ball to left center for a triple scoring Monteiro. Baggett then hit a single to left to score Peden. A. Miller then hit a single up the middle. A line drive caught by the short stop got the second out, but the runners were able to advance on an error on the short stop when he tried to pick A. Miller off after catching the ball. Tyree stepped up and hit a single to right, that with errors scored Baggett, A. Miller, and Tyree. A fly out to center ended the inning. The top of the third started off with a walk. A fielder's choice and a dropped throw allowed both runners to be safe. On the next batter, the runner on third got caught taking to big a lead and wound up in a pickle. To get him out the throw went from Skarke to Cornell to Baggett to Peden who laid the tag down for the out. Two Skarke strikeouts retired the side. Brandon Nichols started off the bottome of the third by reaching on an error. Skarke hit a single with errors to score Nichols. Monteiro hit a single to right to score Skarke. A strikeout got the Kiowas the first out. Baggett got on with a walk, before another strikeout got the second out. Wilkerson hit a single to right to score Monteiro. A fielder's choice hit by Tyree got Wilkerson out a second to end the inning. A walk in the top of the fourth got the first batter on the bases. The next batter had a big hit to right field for a two run in-the-park home run. Another Kiowa hit a single to right, before a hit by pitch allowed another batter to reach. Brady Miller then came to the mound to pitch. A walk loaded the bases, before a strikeout got the first out. A fielder's choice let Cornell get the force out a third, but the run home scored. B. Miller came back with a strikeout to end the inning. The Mustangs hit a bit of a wall in the next couple of innings. The Kiowas got three quick outs from put outs from the pitcher and third baseman, and a strikeout. B. Miller got a strikeout for the first out. A walk allowed a batter to reach. The next batter hit a ball that got just enough wind under it to carry it out over the fence for a two run home run. B. Miller fought back getting two strikeouts to send the Mustangs to the dug out. A pop up to the second baseman gave the Mustangs their first out. Peden took a hit by pitch to reach the bags, but he never got any further. A fly out to left and strikeout ended the inning. B. Miller started the top of the sixth off with a strikeout. A hit by pitch and a walk got two batters on the bases. A passed ball got the runners into scoring position. On a hit fielder's choice the runner on third went home and A. Miller made a head's up play to throw home to Baggett to get the out. The next batter hit a hard line drive that A. Miller snagged to retire the side. Wilkerson got a single to left to start the bottom of the sixth. A strikeout got the first out. Cornell hit a single to right center to score Wilkerson. A pop up to the pitcher got out number two, and then Cornell got picked at second from the pop up. The Mustangs needed three outs to end the game. A walk started of the top of seventh. On a fielder's choice Peden made the put out to Wilkerson. A single got another runner on before Booker's catcher hit a hard ball for a ground rule double that scored a run. Wilkerson then took over pitching. A pop up caught by Peden got out number two. A hit by pitch loaded the bases. Peden came through again catching a pop up to end the game. The Mustangs won 12-10. Skarke had 5 strikeouts on the day and B. Miller had 6. Hitting a triple for the Mustangs was Peden. The Mustangs will next be in action Tuesday, in Shamrock to take on the Fighting Irish. Good luck guys!!!

Mustangs vs. Bushland J.V.

The Mustangs traveled to Bushland Monday for a windy day ob baseball. Brady Miller got things started at the plate drawing a walk. It was followed by two strikeouts before Austin Miller reached on an error that turned into him and B. Miller scoring. Tate Wilkerson then hit a single to reach, but a caught foul tip by the catcher retired the side. A. Miller started on the mound for the Mustangs with Brady Baggett behind the plate. The Falcons got things going with a single that was followed by a strikeout from A. Miller. A walk got another run on the bases. A couple of errors allowed the first run to score for the Falcons before A. Miller got his second strikeout. Another walk got another batter on that was followed by more errors to allow another run to score. The Mustangs ended the inning on a put out from Bradley Cornell to Seth Skarke. Brandon Nichols reached the bases on four balls to start the top of the second. Skarke reached on an error, and then Tyson Garner hit a sacrifice grounder to score Nichols. B. Miller stepped to the plate and hit a single over the short stop to score Skarke. Tyler Peden reached on a walk and then he quickly stole second. The Falcon catcher threw the ball down to try to get Peden out, and B. Miller took off for home; however, he didn't make it in time before the throw came and he was out at home. Baggett then came to the plate and hit a hard ball to left for an in-the-park homerun that also scored Peden. A strikeout ended the top of the second for the Mustangs. A. Miller came out firing getting two strikeouts quickly. A walk put a batter on, and that was followed by an error for another batter to reach. A. Miller came back though and ended the inning with another strikeout. A new pitcher came in for the Falcons in the top of the third. Wilkerson got things started by reaching on an error. Cornell laid a bunt down and beat out the throw for a single. Codie Shaw stepped up to the plate and hit a hard grounder up the middle for a single to score Wilkerson and Cornell. After a strikeout, Shaw stole home for another run. After another strikeout, B. Miller hit a single past the second baseman. A fly out to left field retired the side. Baggett came in pitch in the bottom of the third and Manny Monteiro went behind the plate. Four errors by the Mustangs allowed two batters to reach and one of the batters to score. A single brought in another run. Cornell caught a foul ball on the next batter and then threw to A. Miller for a double play. A walk got another batter on, before Baggett got a strikeout to send the Mustangs to the dugout. A put out got the first batter for the Mustangs out. A. Miller hit a single to left to get on the bags. A strikeout got the second out of the game. A. Miller scored on a passed ball and then Cornell hit a single to left. Another strikeout ended the inning. The first Falcon batter hit a triple and then an error allowed another batter to reach. Baggett racked up back-to-back strikeouts for the first two outs. A single to left scored two runs for the Falcons and then an in-the-park home run scored two more runs. Baggett fought back and got a third strikeout to retire the side. Monteiro started things off with a single past the short stop. Jeffrey Tyree earned a walk to have two runners on. A bunt put down by B. Miller showed his wheels as he beat out the throw and scored Monteiro. Peden was the next batter and hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Tyree. Baggett then had a bunt for a single. A. Miller stepped up to the plate and with an effortless swing ripped one over the fence for a three-run home run. A strikeout got the second out of the game before Cornell rocked a double to left. While Codie Shaw was at the plate Cornell got picked off at third to end the inning. Wilkerson came to the mound in the bottom of the fifth. The Mustangs had a three up, three down inning with all three outs coming from Wilkerson strikeouts. Preston Belfield started at the plate in the top of the sixth and hit a single towards third. Monteiro put the bunt down and everyone was safe on an error by the first baseman that also scored Belfield. Tyree hit a single that scored Monteiro, and then the Falcons made a pitching change. A strikeout got the first out for the Mustangs, and then Peden hit a single over short to score Tyree. Keron Staine came in to run for Peden. Staine got to third but two more strikeouts left him stranded. The Mustangs were up by ten and needed to get three outs and allow no runs to cross to end the game. The bottom of the sixth started with a hit by pitch. A foul tip caught by Monteiro got the first out. A single over second base scored a run for the Falcons, thus making a seventh inning inevitable and a long game, longer. Wilkerson came back with a strikeout, and then A. Miller caught a foul ball for out number three. A single to center hit by Wilkerson started the top of the seventh. Hayden Sanders came to the plate and on a a fielder's choice, he was thrown out at first. Jesse Mullins then hit a fly ball to center that was caught. Jacob Reyes drew a base on balls to keep things going. Tyree hit a single to left to score Wilkerson before a strikeout retired the side. B. Miller took over pitching in the bottom of the seventh. He struck the first batter out, but a dropped third strike allowed him to be safe at first. B. Miller racked up two more strikeouts before Monteiro threw down to Peden to pick the runner off at second and to end the game. The Mustangs won 19-9. The pitchers did a great job for the Mustangs. A. Miller had 5 strikeouts, Baggett and Wilkerson both had four, and B. Miller had three. The boys also only allowed four walks the whole game and only one, yes one, hit by pitch. The Mustangs had 18 hits with Cornell leading the way going 3 for 4. Hitting a double for the Mustangs was Cornell. Baggett got and in-the-park home run and A. Miller had an over the fence home run. The boys ran the bases well racking up 19 stolen bases on 20 attempts. Great job guys! The Mustangs start district play on tomorrow (Friday, March 25) here in Claude against the Booker Kiowas. Please come out and support the Mustangs.

Mustangs vs. Naz

The Mustangs traveled to Nazareth during spring break. I was unable to go to the game, but I heard that the boys played well. Naz failed to give Morgan a lineup so the Ipad was hard to use to try and get a play by play. So, I'm going to just give some stats from the game. The Mustangs had seven hits; all singles. Getting those hits were. Tyler Peden, Brady Miller, Bradley Cornell, Jeffrey Tyree, Seth Skarke, Brandon Nichols, and Brady Baggett. Seth Skarke pitched all seven innings allowing only 1 run and 2 hits. He had a no-hitter until the bottom of the fifth. Skarke also racked up an awesome 10 strikeouts. The boys won 4-1. Great job guys.

Claude Tournament - Part 3

The Mustangs took on Bushland JV for a second time on Saturday, March 12. Austin Miller started on the mound for the Mustangs with Manny Monteiro behind the plate. The Mustangs had a three up, three down inning with all three batters hitting towards third base. Tyler Peden was a wall and threw all three batters out at first. Monteiro got the Mustangs going with a single past the short stop. Peden drew a walk. A double play got the Falcons two outs before a strike-out ended the inning. The Mustangs recorded another three up, three down inning. Outs came from two fly outs caught by Brady Baggett and Brandon Nichols, and a pop out caught by Seth Skarke. Tate Wilkerson reached on an error. Jeffrey Tyree put down a sacrifice bunt to move Wilkerson. Nichols drew a walk and then Brady Miller hit a single to right to score Wilkerson. Skarke hit a sacrifice grounder that scored Nichols. a strike-out ended the inning. The Mustangs got their first out courtesy of a put out from Peden to Skarke. An error allowed a batter to reach. A pop up was then caught by A. Miller for out number two. Another Mustang error allowed a batter reach and a run to score. A fly out caught by B. Miller retired the side. Peden started the bottom of third off with a single to left. A fly out got the Falcons their first out. A. Miller drew a base on balls and then Wilkerson hit a single to left to score Peden. Tyree reached the bases on a hit by pitch. Nichols hit into a fielder's choice that got Tyree out at second, but it did score A. Miller. A strike-out ended the inning. The top of the fourth started off with a put out from Peden to Skarke. A double got a runner on before a fielder's choice got a runner out at third. A single to right scored a run. Another batter reached on a hit by pitch. The third out came from a put out from Wilkerson to Skarke. Skarke got things started for the Mustangs with a single up the middle. Monteiro put a sacrifice bunt down to move Skarke. Peden reached on a hit by pitch, but the Mustangs couldn't get any runs in before a strike-out and a fly out ended the inning. The Mustangs got the first batter out on a fly out caught by B. Miller. A double allowed a batter to reach. Nichols recorded the second out catching a fly ball. A single allowed a run to score and then the Mustangs intentionally walked the batter to load the bases to get the force out. A single was hit to allow another run to score that was followed by an error that scored another run. A. Miller tagged the next batter out to retire the side. The Falcons made a pitching change to start the bottom of the fifth. Three strike-outs ended the inning. A. Miller followed with his own three, up, three down with three strike-outs. A put out in the bottom of the sixth got the first out. Skarke hit a single over second to reach the bases. A fly out to right got the second out of the inning. A fielder's choice hit by Peden led to Skarke being forced out at second to end the inning. Tyree caught a fly ball for the first out for the Mustangs. A walk got another batter on before a fielder's choice had a put out from Baggett to Skarke. A hit by pitch got another batter on before an error allowed two runs to score. Wilkerson then came in to pitch. A hit by pitch allowed the batter to get on the bases before a foul pop up caught by Monteiro retired the side. Baggett started the bottom of the seventh off with a single over second. A strikeout by the next batter was out one. Then the ump decided after it seems forever, that A. Miller stepped in front of the catcher not allowing him to make a throw down to second. Thus they called Baggett out as well. With two outs now, Wilkerson hit a single over the second baseman to try and put a rally together. However, a strikeout ended the game. The Mustangs lost 4-7. A. Miller had three strikeouts for the day. Leading the batters were Skarke going 2 for 3, followed by Wilkerson who went 2 for 4.

Claude Tournament - Part 2

The Mustangs played again Thursday the 10th, against the Owls from Hale Center. Seth Skarke started on the mound Manny Monteiro behind the plate. Skarke started off getting a strike-out for the first out of the game. A walk and a single allowed to batters to reach. Skarke came back with a strike-out and a Wilkerson to Skarke put out to get the next two outs. The Owls got the first batter out on a put out back to the pitcher. Tyler Peden got hit by the pitch and Brady Baggett drew a base on balls to have two runners on. Austin Miller then hit a double to right to score Peden. Tate Wilkerson hit a single to left to score Baggett and A. Miller. Jeffrey Tyree drew a walk before the Owls decided to make a pitching change. A strike-out and a fly out to second got the Owls their last two outs to end the inning. The top of the second was a little rough for the Mustangs. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases. Skarke came back with a strike-out to get the first out. Another walk, walked a runner in. Skarke recorded another strike-out before two more walks, scored two more. Wilkerson then took over on the mound and got the last out with a strike-out. The Mustangs were held scoreless in the second, starting off with two quick outs. Peden drew a walk and then Baggett hit a single to have two runners in scoring position. A strike-out ended the inning though. An error in the top of the third allowed the first batter to reach. Two strike-outs from Wilkerson got the first two outs and then a fly out caught by Baggett retired the side. Wilkerson got things going with a double to left. Tyree then drew a walk. A balk by the pitcher allowed Wilkerson to score and move Tyree to third. Brandon Nichols hit a single to score Tyree. After another pitching change, Bradley Cornell hit a sacrifice fly to score Nichols. Two fly outs to the short stop ended the inning. A single started things off for the Owls in the top of fourth. The runner stole second and attempted to steal third but Monteiro had a great throw to Peden for the tag out. A pop up caught by Wilkerson got the Mustangs their second out. An error allowed a batter to reach the bases and move into scoring position before Wilkerson struck out the last batter. By the bottom of fourth, I'm not sure how the boys were seeing the ball. The sun was well on its way down, but they kept hitting. Peden drew a walk to start things off, followed by Baggett who also reached on four balls. A fielder's choice hit by A. Miller got Peden out at third. A single by Wilkerson scored Baggett. A single hit by Tyree scored A. Miller. A sacrifice fly hit by Nichols scored Wilkerson. Cornell hit a double down the third base line. Brady Miller then hit a single that scored Tyree and Cornell. The game was then called because there was pretty much no light left to play. The Mustangs won 11-3. Skarke and Wilkerson each had four strike-outs a piece. Hitting doubles for the Mustangs A. Miller, Wilkerson, and Cornell. Wilkerson also went 3 for 3.

Claude Tournament - Part 1

Coach Green couldn't find another tournament to get into this year so he decided to host one. The Claude Mustangs took on the Bushland JV Falcons for their first game yesterday at noon. Things just did not go well for the Mustangs in the first inning. Brady Baggett started on the mound with Manny Monteiro behind the plate. After two errors to allow the first two batters to reach, Baggett couldn't get comfortable on the mound. Four runs had scored before the Mustangs recorded their first out which came from a Tyler Peden to Austin Miller put out. After three more runs scored A. Miller got the second out on a grounder. Two more runs scored before Baggett fought back and struck out the batter to retire the side. After a quick out by the Falcons, Peden reached the bases on an error that allowed him to be safe at third. Baggett then stepped to the plate and hit a double to left to score Peden. A. Miller then hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Baggett. A strikeout ended the inning, leaving the Mustangs trailing 2-9. The Mustangs continued to struggle defensively in the second. An error and two hit by pitches allowed the bases to load. Baggett was the replaced on the mound by Brady Miller. Miller started off strong getting the first out with a strikeout. However, things went south a bit with two walks and a hit by pitch to put more runs on the board for Bushland. Another error by the Mustang defense allowed more runs to score before B. Miller came back with a strikeout for out two. Out number three came on the next batter with a fly out catch by Jeffrey Tyree. After a fly out for the first out, Brandon Nichols hit a single past the third baseman to try and get something going. Two more strikeouts halted any sort of rally, putting the Mustangs down 2-14 after two. The Mustangs gathered themselves in the third. B. Miller struck out the first two batters quickly. An error allowed the next batter to reach, before a hard rip went back towards B. Miller who caught the ball and threw to A. Miller to retire the side. Once again the Falcons retired the first batter of the inning. Peden came to the plate and ripped a single to left to get things rolling. Baggett followed suit before A. Miller crushed a ball to center for a triple scoring Peden and Baggett. The next two batters went down though, on a foul tip that was caught and a strikeout. The Falcons started the top of fourth off with a double. A sacrifice bunt got the first out for the Mustangs. A single scored a run before the Mustangs got their second out on a fielder's choice from Peden to Tate Wilkerson. Two more batters reached on a hit by pitch and an error before B. Miller got the third out with a put out to A. Miller. Nichols started off with a walk in the bottom of the fourth. A putout gave the Falcons their first out. B. Miller worked the pitcher to reach on four balls before out number two came on a pop up. Peden reached on error that scored Nichols and B. Miller. Baggett also reached on error by the second baseman to score Peden. A putout ended the inning. Wilkerson took over on the mound in the top of fifth. The Mustangs recorded a three up three down inning with two strikeouts from Wilkerson and a putout from Wilkerson to A. Miller. The Mustangs had a huge inning at the plate. A putout got the first batter out for out one. Tyree started things with a single before a fielder's choice hit by Nichols led to Tyree being thrown out. The Mustangs then put on a great two out rally. Bradley Cornell hit a single to score Nichols. B. Miller then hit a hard double to left to score Cornell. Monteiro and Peden both drew walks to load the bases. A single to left from Baggett scored B. Miller and Monteiro. A. Miller came to the plate next and knocked a triple to right to score Peden and Baggett. Wilkerson drew a walk at the plate before a fly out ended the inning. The Falcons had their bats going as well in the top of the sixth starting off with a single and then followed by a two run homer. The Mustangs fought back and got their three outs courtesy of putouts from Baggett and Wilkerson to A. Miller, and a fly out to Nichols. The Mustangs were also swinging in the sixth. Nichols got things going with a single to right center followed by a single from Cornell to left. B. Miller then stepped up to the plate and rocked the ball over the scoreboard for a three run home run and the first Mustang homer of the season. The Falcons made a pitching change before Monteiro hit a single up the middle to reach. Peden laid a bunt down to move the runner for the first out. A fly out and a strikeout ended the inning. The Mustangs made quick work of the Falcons in the top of the seventh. Wilkerson got the first out with a strikeout. Baggett recorded the second out with a putout to A. Miller. A double allowed a Falcon to reach before Wilkerson picked him off at second on throw to Cornell who laid the tag. The Mustangs had one more chance to come back. A strikeout and a fly out got two quick outs in the inning. Nichols tried to start a rally on two with a single to right. A putout from the third baseman ended the Mustangs chances of coming back and it ended the game. The Mustangs made a great comeback from the first two innings losing 16-19. Baggett, B. Miller, and Wilkerson recorded 1, 4, and 3 strikeouts respectively. Hitting doubles for the Mustangs were Baggett and B. Miller. Two triples were hit by A. Miller. Hitting a home run was B. Miller.

Mustangs vs. Arbor Christian Academy

The Mustangs took on the Arbor Christian Academy Lions Saturday, March 5, in Amarillo. The Mustangs jumped out big in the first starting with a single by Manny Monteiro. With a stolen base and a passed Monteiro got into scoring position, and Tyler Peden hit a single to right to score Monteiro. Arbor got two outs from a flyout and a strikeout before the Mustangs rallied on two. Brandon Nichols got on with an error by the centerfielder that knocked Peden in. Bradley Cornell hit a single to score Nichols. Tate Wilkerson came to the plate next and ripped a double to left field to score Cornell. Seth Skarke got a single next before the Arbor got their final out. Skarke started on the mound with Monteiro behind the plate. The Mustangs made quick work of the Lions with two outs courtesy of put outs from Wilkerson and Skarke. A lion reached on a walk before Skare struck out the next batter to end the inning. Arbor got two quick outs in the top of the second with put outs before Brady Baggett hit a double to left. Jeffrey Tyree then hit a single to right to score Baggett. Tyree got a little greedy though and was thrown out trying to get back to first. The Mustangs had three up, three down from a Peden throw out and two strikeouts from Skarke. Cornell and Wilkerson both had singles in the third, but nothing got going after them. Once again the Mustangs had a dreaded third inning. The Mustangs got the first two batters out on a put out by Cornell and a Skarke strikeout. Then things fell apart a bit. Two runners got on with walks and one scored on a passed ball by the catcher. A single scored another run for the Lions. This was followed by a triple to right that also scored a run. Baggett came in to pitch and ended the inning with a strikeout. With one out in the top of the fourth, Peden stepped up and turned a single to right into an inside the park homerun. It was pretty exciting. A flyout to center and a strikeout retired the side. In the bottome of the fourth, two batters reached on a hit by pitch and a walk before Baggett came back strong and got three strikeouts. The Mustangs got their bats rolling again in the fifth. Nichols started things off with a single to right. Cornell reached on a walk. Wilkerson hit a double to left to score Nichols. Skarke forced the walk to load the bases. After a pitching change the Lions got their first out. Monteiro came to the plate next and rocked a double to center to score Cornell, Wilkerson, and Skarke. Tyler Peden hit a single to left to score Monteiro. Bagget also reached base on a single to left. In a pick off attempt Baggett got caught in a pickle and was tagged out and then Peden was thrown out at home. Both were questionable calls, but I'm biased. Baggett came out firing in the bottom of the fifth with with an awesome three up three down, three strikeout, 9 pitch inning. Trust me, you don't see that happen very often. Tyree got thing rolling in the top of the sixth with a double to right and with a bad relay he stretched it to be safe at third. Following a putout, Cornell hit a hard ground ball past the short stop to score Tyree. Wilkerson also reached on a single. Skarke came to bat a laid a beautiful sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. A strikeout retired the side though before any more runs could score. Baggett had another great inning of pitching striking out the first batter. A batter reached on a walk, before two more Lions went down on strikeouts. The Mustangs put up more runs in the top of the seventh. Monteiro started off with a single to right. Peden came next and reached on a fielder's choice that had both runners safe. Baggett hit a single to left center to score Monteiro and Peden. A strikeout got the first out for the Lions before Nichols reached on an error that scored Baggett. The Lions got their next two outs on a put out by the second baseman and one by the first baseman. The Mustangs relaxed a bit too much in the seventh allowing Arbor to put up more runs. It started off with an error that resulted in a in the park home run. A single and a walk followed. With one scoring on a passed ball. Wilkerson came in to pitch. Another run scored on a passed ball before the batter got on with a single. The Mustangs got their first out courtesy of a pop up caught by Monteiro. Another error allowed another runner to score. Peden caught a foul pop up to record the second out. Another batter reached on a single before he was picked off at first from a Wilkerson to Skarke throw and tag to end the game. The Mustangs won 15-7. Skarke had 4 strikeouts and Baggett recorded a career high of 10 strikeouts. Wilkerson went 4 for 5, and Monteiro, Peden, Baggett, and Cornell each went 3 for 5. Hitting doubles were Monteiro, Baggett, Tyree, and Wilkerson (2). The Mustangs recorded 13 RBIs and had 7 stolen bases. The Mustangs played well, but they still have to work on that third inning. The Mustangs will next be in action at the Claude Tournament. They will begin play on Thursday, March 10 at noon against Bushland. They will also play at 5:00 against Hale Center. Good luck guys.

Norm Cash Clash

On February 25, the Mustangs traveled to Post for the Norm Cash Clash Tournament. They boys were supposed to start against Morton, but when they got there they found that Morton had dropped out and they were taking on Lubbock High JV. Austin Miller started on the mound with Manny Monteiro behind the plate. Things started off well for the Mustangs defensively, but the third inning got them again. Seth Skarke came in to pitch during the third. The Mustangs didn't get their bats going until the fifth, but it was too little too late. The Mustangs were dropped by Lubbock High JV 2-15. Miller and Skarke both had strikeouts at 2 and 1, respectively. Getting singles for the Mustangs were Brandon Nichols, Tate Wilkerson, Monteiro, and Jeffrey Tyree. The Mustangs played again that day against Post. The Mustangs played much better against the Antelopes, but they still fell short losing 2-10. Brady Baggett started on the mound pitching 3 1/3 followed by Brady Miller who pitched 2 1/3. Baggett had one strikeout and B. Miller had three. The Mustangs' bats were much better this game. Earning a triple was Baggett. Seth Skarke and Baggett had a double each. Hitting a single were Manny Monteiro, Tyler Peden, and B. Miller. The Mustangs finished play at the tournament against Rotan on Saturday morning. The Mustangs played a really great game on both sides of the ball. They got their bats swinging and never really looked back. They won 19-7. Brady Baggett, Seth Skarke, and Tate Wilkerson each pitched two innings racking up 3, 4, and 3 strikeouts respectively. Austin Miller hit a triple. Getting doubles were Wilkerson, Baggett, and Tyler Peden. Earning singles were Manny Monteiro, Baggett (3), Peden (2), Jeffrey Tyree, Wilkerson (2), Brandon Sims, and Brady Miller. I think the kids had a great time down in Post and Lubbock. The hotel was great (once they finally found our rooms) and there was a lot of fun. The kids were great at 50th Street Caboose and they gave all the tickets they won to Kynlie. We had about 1500 tickets and we still couldn't buy any stuffed animals. That's crazy. She did get some fun things though. Parents your kids are awesome!!! Morgan Little and Nicole Adams progressed in figuring out the new statistics program on the IPad. You two girls are great! The boys got progressively better while we were there, which I think is all you can really ask at a tournament. I hope the progression continues throughout the rest of the year.

Mustangs vs. River Road

I had some issues last week when I was trying to update. It kept freezing up on me, so sorry about the delay. On February 22, the Mustangs took on the River Road Wildcats here in Claude. The Mustangs started off great trailing 1-2 going into the third. Then all heck broke loose. The Mustangs had a terrible 3rd inning, and they could never really recover. The Mustangs lost in five, 1 - 26. Ouch!!! Seth Skarke started on the mound and Tate Wilkerson pitched two innings. Seth had three strikeouts and Tate had two. The Mustangs struggled at the plate, but Manny Monteiro rocked a double and Bradley Cornell had single and an RBI. Hopefully we won't have anymore games like this unless the score is reversed.