Mustangs want to continue undefeated season; begin week with two long road trips

By Calvin Silvers

The St. Joseph Mustangs entered the week of June 10 with an undefeated, 11-0 overall record to begin the season, as the team has found their groove earlier than in previous seasons. It’s no surprise the camaraderie can happen quickly, as the team has had only one off day since May 30th.

As the team prepares for another long road trip early in the week, the team builds on the chemistry through bus games like Mafia or enjoying movies picked out by head coach Johnny Coy.

“We have a great connection between each other, this year has been a lot different than all the other years I’ve been here,” outfielder Trevor McCollum said. “The camaraderie is already growing together and it happened quickly. It’s like everybody hit it off on the first day, so that helps out a lot with all the chemistry that’s between this team.”

Another reason for the fast start is the trust among the teammates. The offense has been on fire, as the Mustangs have two athletes in the top 5 for runs batted in and one athlete in home runs leader in the Mink League.

The defense and pitching has been an aspect of the game that can be trusted as well, as the Mustangs’ Andrew Clark has the fourth-best ERA (3.27) in the league, Jaren Guck has the most wins as a pitcher in the league, and Denton Biller is second in strikeouts (12).

“It does a lot. I mean, there’s nothing better than trust on the baseball field,” outfielder Darius Freeman said. “Trust in the guy ahead of you, behind you, knowing that they know what they’re supposed to do, so it just makes everything much simpler and just lets us have fun.”

The team is back on the road for the earlier part of the week, which is how the Mink League usually sets up contests with St. Joseph. They travel to Jefferson City, Missouri, on Tuesday before turning around and heading to Carroll, Iowa, to take on the Merchants

In those two days, the team will spend roughly 13 hours on the bus, which can get tiresome with contests in back-to-back days. The team must ensure their bodies are getting adequate rest to keep the competitiveness up.

“We have early mornings and late nights, so I think finding a way to get our sleep and prepare our body for the next game is probably the hardest part,” McCollum said. “I mean, we leave around 1:30, 2:00 and then we have four four-hour road trip and it’s tough to keep the body and head mentally prepared for the game and ready to go each day.”

With the Renegades up first in the week, they held the No.2 spot in the Mink League, as the Mustangs were four games ahead in the standings. As for Carroll, they sit in seventh place, but the Mustangs haven’t won by more than three runs in the two contests.

Despite an undefeated season on the line and the chance to continue a dynasty that the Mustangs built, the team doesn’t feel pressured.

“You know, this is the loosest I’ve seen our team so far, and I think that’s what plays into our success,” McCollum said. “A lot is the guys just come out here every day. We have a lot of fun with all the fans. You know, I think the pressure gets to us a little late in the games, but I mean, we don’t want to disappoint the fans and that pushes us even harder.”