Mustangs Baseball Overcomes Slow Start, Wins 3-2

by Marshall Cherrington

Having not won on opening day for three straight years, Dan Pudwill and his Mustangs were desperately searching for that elusive win.

In front of a nice home crowd, the Mustangs (1-0) were able to pull through in the end and capture a victory against the Juanita Rebels (0-1), by a score of 3-2. However, not all was pretty throughout the game for either team.

It was expected that there would be some rustiness from both sides, but maybe not as much that was displayed on Tuesday night. Easy ground-balls back to the pitcher were air-mailed over the first baseman's head. Easy double play opportunities were squandered when fielders tried to put to much "meat" on their throws. Even some ground-balls went through players' legs. Childish mistakes were made by some experienced high school players.

Although the fielding was forgettable, Daniel Bies started off the game on the mound and had a nice outing overall. Even with two errors in the field, Bies had a short-term memory and focused on the task at hand. Bies was smooth and steady on the mound, displaying his exceptional pitching ability. Even though he wasn't getting all of the calls at the plate that he should have, he shook it off and gave up only two runs in four innings of work. He escaped from jams numerous times as he struck a batter out with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning and left runners on base to escape from the second inning.

Bies was provided with some run support early in the game as Bryce Steckler, Lucas Eliason and Brent Firth all strung together hits to open up the scoring for the Mustangs in the bottom of the first. This combo gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead and would prove to be worthy all game. In the bottom of the third, Steckler lead off with a double and everyone could see it coming once again. Eliason then came to the plate and despite grounding a ball to the left side of the infield, Steckler took a risk and moved on to third base. Next up was Firth and he continued his hot-hitting as he screamed a pitch back up the middle for an RBI single to tie the game up at 2-2. 

In relief of Bies, Chandler Homer came in and pitched extremely well. He looked like he was in a groove all night on the mound and recorded five strikeouts in three innings pitched. Even though he didn't get much action throughout the game, Jacob Brady was impressed with Homer's pitching.

"He has great movement on all of his pitches and that's what makes him so hard to hit," said Brady. "Whether it be a curveball or a fastball, you always know that the pitch isn't going to end up in the same place that it started."

Homer didn't let up a run in his three innings of work and recorded the win. However, the win was only possible with the help of his teammate, Kyle Francis. Francis is known for his power at the plate and displayed it well in the bottom of the fifth inning. As he stepped up to the plate to start off the fifth for the Mustangs, Francis knew that the team needed to produce some runs in able to capture the victory. On the first pitch he saw, Francis hit a 375-foot go-ahead home run to dead center field. There was no doubt about it and from the moment he swung, everybody watching knew the ball was gone.

The first four hitters in the lineup for the Mustangs produced all of the teams runs on Tuesday night. This should be a constant theme this season, although the rest of the lineup is capable of providing some serious damage as well. 

The Mustangs take on the Kentwood Conquerors, Thursday at 4 p.m. The game will be played at Hartman Park as the Mustangs look to secure their second victory of the season. 

Highlights:

Steckler: 2-3 with 2 runs scored and a walk

Firth: 2-4 with 2 RBI

Francis: 1-3 with a HR and 1 RBI

Homer: 3.0 innings pitched with 5 strikeouts, 0 runs let up

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