Mustangs rebound to take two of three in Green River
After struggling in a doubleheader loss to Cody at home on Tuesday, June 25, the Lovell Mustangs played much better baseball on the road later in the week, winning two of three games at the Green River Knights wood bat invitational.
Lovell fell to Cheyenne Post 6 Thursday 5-3, edged Pocatello, Idaho, Post 4 on Friday 4-3 and pounded Rawlins Saturday 9-0.
Manager Michael Jameson said it was good to see his squad rebound to play good baseball, even with several players missing.
“Those Cody games were kind of crazy,” he said, “as well as we’ve been playing, to come out and play like that against Cody and just kind of come out so flat, without energy. And so I think it’s just still working on that consistency and being able to put together good baseball games consistently.
“But I think, yeah, we were able to kind of let that one go and come out in Green River and play pretty good baseball (though shorthanded). “We kind of scrambled and got some C kids to go down, and they played really well for us and stepped up. And so, yes, good baseball.”
Jameson said, though Cheyenne Post is the second Cheyenne team, technically a Class A team, the Hawks play a Class AA schedule.
One bad inning hurt the Mustangs in the loss to Cheyenne Thursday. Lovell led 1-0 early, but the Hawks got to Lovell starter Lafe Files for four runs in the top of the second inning. Lovell added single runs in the third and fourth to pull close, but Cheyenne added an insurance run in the sixth for the final 5-3 score.
Files and Tucker Jackson hit RBI singles for the Mustangs in the game, and Files had a solid outing on the mound, allowing five runs in six innings on eight hits and a pair of walks, striking out seven.
“Lafe threw great for us and just kept us in the game,” Jameson said. “With the wood bats, obviously, his big strength is pitching to contact and allowing hitters to get themselves out. And he did a good job of that. And we just were a little slow offensively, not able to get runs across the board. And so, yeah, Lafe threw great for us, and it was just a good baseball game overall.
“We were trying to put together a big inning, and we were able to get one across, but being able to score multiple runs in the innings was tough, partly due to being a little bit short-handed. But overall, those kids that were down there competed and played hard, and that’s all we wanted.”
FRIDAY WIN
Game two was a nail-biter as the Mustangs edged the Post 4 Razorbacks of Pocatello, Idaho, 4-3. The game was tied 1-1 and 2-2 before Post 4 scored one in the top of the seventh to lead 3-2. But the Mustangs walked off with the win in the bottom of the inning.
Cash Wassmer doubled and scored on a one-out single by Jackson. Jackson moved up on an error on a grounder to short by Files and moved to third on a bunt single by Blake Wilson, then scored on a throwing error on the same play as Pocatello tried to cut down the lead runner.
“With wood bats, that kind of changes things,” Jameson noted. “So we bunted quite a bit more and tried to put some pressure on. That last one by Blake was actually just going to be another bunt to move those guys into scoring position, and they tried to get the out at third and threw it into left field. It was nice to see us be able to execute some of those things in those close ballgames.”
Wilson started on the hill for the Mustangs and threw one inning, allowing one run. Carlos Rodriguez pitched the final six innings and allowed two runs on six hits and no walks, fanning 11.
Jameson said Wilson’s arm gave him some trouble, hence the single inning of work, and he said Rodriguez threw well in relief.
“It’s been kind of hit and miss with his arm,” Jameson said. “Sometimes it tightens up on him, and sometimes he’s able to throw through it. And so it kind of got tight on him. Carlos came in and was throwing really well. He really kept them off balance.
“I think he’s starting to locate and hit spots and work on some off-speed pitches. His curveball and slider were working really well that day.”
Wassmer, Jackson and Wilson led Lovell with two hits each, and Wilson drove in two runs.
SHUTOUT WIN
Jackson threw a six-inning one-hitter against Rawlins Saturday and fanned 15 batters. He retired the first 12 batters he faced and allowed just three baserunners.
“That was an absolutely dominant performance,” Jameson said. “I mean, he was out there throwing 10-pitch innings. There’s not much more to say, but Tucker was just dominant and completely overpowered them.
“Tucker throws pretty hard, so he relies on strikeouts quite a bit, but I think he’s starting to understand that not every out has to come by strikeout and that it’s OK to give up some contact. He still has the fastball and things like that that he can rely on to overpower people, but I think he’s understanding that’s not always going to be the case and that it’s OK to give up contact as long as we’re making plays behind him.
“He was about as dominant as I’ve seen him be this year, just phenomenal.”
At the plate, the Mustangs banged out nine hits in six innings, two each by Wassmer and Jackson. Wassmer had three RBIs, Blake Wilson two, Mac Morgan, Jackson, Kyle Wilson and Jack Pharoah one apiece.
The Mustangs scored one run in the second, two in the third, three in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth.
“Tucker hit the ball well. He just barely missed a home run to dead center off the top of the fence, and Cash swung it really well this weekend,” Jameson said.
DOUGLAS TOURNAMENT
The Mustangs will travel to Douglas this weekend for another wood bat tournament, meeting Evanston Saturday at 10 a.m. and Wheatland in the following game at 12:30 p.m. Teams will be seeded into bracket play on Sunday.
The Mustangs travel to Powell Thursday, July 11, for a key conference doubleheader starting at 5 p.m., then host Riverton Friday, July 12, at 4 p.m.