Mustangs C team clobbers Powell

The Lovell Mustangs C team traveled to Powell on Wednesday, May 21, and got a 17-11 victory over the Pioneers in the team’s first nine-inning game of the season.

Powell jumped out to a big lead early as the scoreboard showed the Pioneers up 7-0 going into the third inning.

Lovell plated one run in the top of the third inning before the bats got hot in the fifth inning, allowing the Mustangs to score seven more runs to take the 8-7 lead.

In the top of the seventh, the Mustangs tacked on another run before Powell scored two in the bottom half of the frame to lock the score at 9-9.

But the rally continued for Lovell as they scored four runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to take the commanding lead. Powell tried to respond but only managed two runs in the bottom of the ninth to end the game at 17-11.

“It was another pretty solid outing for our young group,” Mustangs C coach Jonathan Morgan said. “We came out a little slow with our bats not generating any good hits, and that made it pretty easy on their pitchers.”

Aaiden Walker led the Mustangs’ offense with three hits, while Dax Mangus, Bradley Mickelson, Ryan Grant and Lukas Miller had two hits each. Taysen Yates and Zander Stahl also had a hit apiece. 

On the mound, Grant pitched the first 1.1 innings and struck out one Pioneer batter. Mickelson came in and carried the majority of the load, going 4.2 innings and striking out four and giving up no runs.

Mangus pitched 2.1 innings of relief and fanned four Powell players. Then Walker finished the remaining .2 inning and struck out the final batter of the game to seal the victory.

“We had some kids make some pretty good plays defensively that kept us in it until the fifth inning when we were finally able to get some momentum going offensively,” Morgan said.

Overall, Morgan was pleased with how his team ran the bases, with the team ending with 26 extra bases taken.

“That always helps things get rolling,” he said. “Although we started out a bit slow, I was happy with how we finished.”

The C team will play a doubleheader tonight (Thursday) in Cody with games set to begin at 4 and 6 p.m. They will then host a pair of games against Worland on Monday evening at 4 and 6 p.m. in Cowley.