Mustangs head to Class A State with confidence

The Lovell Mustangs are on a roll as they head to the Wyoming American Legion Class A State Tournament in Sheridan this week.

The Mustangs are 27-21 overall and 7-1 in their last 10 games including a doubleheader sweep Thursday in a district tournament state play-in series in Cowley.

Coming in as the third seed, with top seeds Cody and Powell receiving byes to qualify for State, Lovell crushed the sixth-seeded Green River Knights 14-0 and 11-0 Thursday to punch their ticket to State.

Lovell will now take on Wheatland in the first round of the state tournament today (Thursday) at 1 p.m. at Thorne-Rider Stadium in Sheridan. If the Mustangs win, they will take on the winner of the Cody-Sheridan game Friday at 7 p.m. A loss to Wheatland would land the Mustangs in an elimination game Friday at 1 p.m.

Green River

Green River came in Thursday with a somewhat depleted roster, having sent several starters to either the state B or C tournaments. The Knights played with only nine players and one coach, but Lovell manager Michael Jameson wanted his team to play at a high level, whatever the status of the opponent.

“We just wanted to keep reaffirming how important those games were, and whatever team showed up, we needed to play at a district tournament level of play, a postseason level of play,” Jameson said. “And I think they did a good job of that. We swung the bat really well, and I think all of our pitchers threw well. We were able to get several guys a couple innings of work and use it as some bullpen sessions for some guys. And so I think they did exactly what we wanted them to do and took care of business like we needed to.”

The Mustangs put Green River away early in game one Thursday, scoring five runs in the first inning, two in the second and seven in the third to lead 14-0, which would be the final score via the five-inning 10-run mercy rule.

“We were trying to be aggressive and put ourselves in good position to score those runs early,” Jameson said. “We wanted to get on him (the Green River pitcher) early and put the pressure on him.”

In the first inning, Tucker Jackson doubled home one run, and Kannon Owens and Rocco Rael followed with two-run singles. In the second, a sacrifice fly by Alex Hedges and a single off the bat of Kyle Wilson scored two. Cash Wassmer doubled home two in the third, and Jackson followed with a two-run home run, his seventh of the season. Owen Edwards and Owens added RBI singles, Mac Morgan a sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, Hedges was firing darts at the Knights, throwing a one-hit shutout while walking two and striking out seven in five innings of work.

“Alex hadn’t started for a little while, so we wanted to get him a little more time on the mound,” Jameson said. “I think we played well defensively and made the plays that we needed to make, the routine plays.”

Game two

The second game was more of the same for the Mustangs: four runs in the first, one in each the second and third, and five runs in the fifth for the 11-0 win. Scoring in the first came on an RBI single by Owens, a triple by Jackson, a sac fly by Wilson and a ground out by Edwards. A wild pitch scored a run for the Mustangs in the third, and Wilson singled home Hedges in the third.

Wassmer singled to plate a run in the fourth, and Hedges added a two-run single.

The Mustangs used four pitchers in the game, who allowed only one hit and walked none, while striking out six. Jackson started and threw two innings, and Wassmer, Rael and Lafe Files pitched one inning apiece.

Wheatland

The Mustangs played Wheatland during the Douglas Wood Bat Tournament on July 6 and fell 7-1, but six of the Wheatland runs came in the first inning, and the scoring was even after that. Jameson said he believes the Lovell pitching will hold up, and scoring runs will be the key.

“We have a lot of confidence in several of our pitchers, and, knock on wood, I feel like we’ve got a lot of dudes that can keep them slowed down offensively,” Jameson said. “I think the biggest thing for us is going to be scoring runs, especially against a good pitcher, their left-handed pitcher, if they end up pitching him.

“My confidence in our pitching staff has been high all season, and so I really feel we have three or four guys that can go out there and keep us in a game. It’s just a matter of if, offensively, we can put up the runs to get the win.”

Jameson said the tournament is well balanced this year.

“This could be the most open state tournament that we’ve had in a number of years. I think you’ve kind of seen that throughout the year,” Jameson said. “At times everybody’s beat everybody, and I think it’s a real competitive field. It’s really just a matter of whoever puts the best week of baseball together can be a state champ. I don’t know that there’s a clear-cut favorite.”