Mustangs rally late, but WT edges them out

The Mustangs took on West Texas High, Saturday for a windy day of baseball. Emphasis on the windy!!! Austin Miller started on the mound with Manny Monteiro behind the plate. Things started off rough for the Mustangs. Two walks and three errors allowed four runs to cross the plate before the Mustangs got their first out on a put out from Bradley Cornell to Seth Skarke. Two more walks loaded the bases. A. Miller came back with a strikeout, and then Skarke made a force out to get the final out and retire the sides. Monteiro started at the plate ripping a double to left center. A fielder's choice got the first out. Tate Wilkerson hit a single to left to score Monteiro and get the Mustangs on the board. A. Miller also had a single to shallow center to have two on. A hit ball to short resulted in a double play that halted any more runs from scoring. Two singles started the top of the second for West Texas, with one scoring a run. The runner on second tried to steal third, but he was thrown out by Monteiro to Cornell. A walk allowed another batter to reach the bases. Skarke then took over on the mound. A single got runners on the corners. Trying to pick off the bases runner on first, the runner on third was able to score on the dropped ball at home. Skarke came back and got two strikeouts to send the Mustangs off the field. The bottom of the second started with a put out. Brandon Nichols hit a single to left. Skarke then hit a single to center that the center fielder missed allowing Nichols to score and Skarke to reach second. However, a pop up to short and a strikeout ended the inning. The top of the third started with a strikeout from Skarke. Two singles allowed batters to reach, with one scoring. An error allowed another batter to get on the bags. In a pick off, the runner on first was thrown out from A. Miller to Wilkerson, but another WT run scored. A put out from Tyler Peden to Skarke got the final out to retire the side. The bottom of the third began with a put out. Wilkerson struck out at the plate, but on a dropped third strike he was safe at first. A. Miller came to the plate and knocked a double to center wall to score Wilkerson. A put out got the second out before Jeffrey Tyree hit a single to left to score A. Miller. Nichols hit a single to left, and that was followed by a single to right from Skarke. Tyree was trying to get home, but the right fielder hurled the ball in to get Tyree out at the plate and end the inning. A walk, a dropped third strike, and a hit by pitch started the top of the fourth. The next batter put down a bunt, a throw was made to third but the ump said that Cornell's foot was not on the bag...please. Anyway, all runners were safe with a run scoring. The next batter hit a line drive that A. Miller caught and then he stepped on his bag for a double play. A walk loaded the bases, but A. Miller came through again catching a pop up to get the third out. Brady Miller hit a single to left to start the bottom of the fourth. Monteiro hit a single to right to have two on. A strikeout got the first out, that was followed by B. Miller getting picked off at second. A fly out to right ended the inning. A put out from Peden to A. Miller got the first out in the top of the fifth. A hit by pitch allowed a batter to reach. A fielder's choice allowed Wilkerson to get a force out at second for out number two. A single to left was then hit and the ball rolled past the fielder to allow another run to score. Skarke came back with a strikeout to retire the side. A put out started the bottom of the fifth for the Mustangs. Back to back errors allowed Cornell and Tyree to reach the bases. A single to left from Nichols scored Cornell. Skarke hit a single to right to score Tyree. B. Miller hit into a fielder's choice, but Nichols made a great jump on the ball to score and everyone was safe. Monteiro also hit into a fielder's choice, but this time Skarke was forced out at third for out two. Peden drew a walk to reach the bags. Wilkerson then hit a single to left to score B. Miller and Monteiro. A strikeout ended the inning, but the Mustangs had a great rally. Skarke started the top of the sixth off with a strikeout. An error allowed a batter to reach, but Skarke got two more strikeouts to send the Mustangs back to the bats. The bottom of the sixth started with a hard hit line drive that was caught by the second baseman, and a fly out to left. Nichols hit a double to try a rally on two, but a strikeout ended the inning. A put out from Wilkerson to A. Miller started the top of the seventh. An error allowed a runner to reach. A put out from Cornell to A. Miller had out number two for the Mustangs. A single to left had two runners on. An error then allowed a run score. A single to right allowed two more runners to score. Wilkerson then came in to pitch, getting a strikeout for the final out. B. Miller reached in the bottom of the seventh on an error, but Monteiro hit into a fielder's choice getting B. Miller out at second. Two fly outs ended the game. The Mustangs lost 9-13. The boys had a great game at the plate, but defensively there were too many errors allowed. The pitcher's did another great job on the mound. A. Miller and Wilkerson each had a strikeout, and Skarke racked up 8 strikeouts. Nichols went 4 for 4 at the plate, hitting three singles and a double. Skarke followed going 3 for 4 with three singles. Hitting doubles for the Mustangs were Monteiro, A. Miller, and Nichols. The boys never gave up in the game, and they should be proud of that. The Mustangs travel to Boys Ranch today to take on the Rough Riders. Good luck guys!