Mustangs remain undefeated with two crucial wins at home; finish the week with a home and away contest
By Calvin Silvers
The St. Joseph Mustangs were in action at Phil Welch Stadium to close the work week, starting with a contest on Thursday against the Carroll Merchants.
In the first meeting between the two, the Mustangs needed 11 innings to capture the 7-4 victory. Their Thursday meeting was another close contest, but the Mustangs finished the job in nine innings.
Merchants got the contest going with a single up the middle, allowing a run to cross for the 1-0 lead. It wouldn’t be until the second inning that the Mustangs got their bats woken up.
Darius Freeman got things rolling with a double of his own, and Dom Felix was walked. That allowed Jayden Little to step up to the plate and single to center field, advancing Felix and scoring Freeman. Mustangs loaded the bases before Carson Schrack grounded out, getting Little home on the play as the Mustangs went up 3-1 in the second inning.
Carroll tallied two singles and hammered a hit to the wall to go up 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Two Mustangs brothers, Truman, and Noah Bodenhausen, both hit singles themselves and brought home Schrack for a 4-4 tie.
Despite being tied 7-7 in the seventh inning, Noah Bodenhausen stepped up with runners on first and second, using a single to center, driving in Felix. Then Freeman, batting in the eighth, got his third double of the day and drove in Mason Holton, to win 9-7.
On Friday, the Mustangs wouldn’t let a team hang around, as the team tallied 6 runs in the bottom of the first inning. It began with Schrack’s skyrocket of a hit, that landed in front of the second baseman and he was able to beat the throw to first.
Later in the inning, with a runner on first and second, Jeter Mauzey smacked the ball up the middle, as it landed between the second baseman and center fielder, allowing Frank Gall to score a run to go up 1-0 early.
Next batter, now with runners on second and third, and Mustangs’ Kyle Hepburn hit the ball into the ground, causing it to bounce up high but nobody could grab it, so Schrack made his way across the base, going up 2-0.
The hits kept coming, as Darius Freeman was next up, and he crushed the pitch to right field, hitting the middle of the fence and two runs scored off the double, as Mustangs extended their lead to 4-0.
Some errors led to more runs for the Mustangs to go up 6-0 after the first inning, and they scored three runs each in the third, fifth, and sixth innings for the 15-1 win. Mustangs remain undefeated at 9-0 this season, and have a home contest on Saturday.
