A tough decision paid off when the Pershing County Mustangs baseball team hosted Lowry JV last Tuesday.
Each team scored three runs in the first inning. Pershing took an early lead in the second when Aaron Kienbaum drew a walk, scoring one run.
“We played a good game and saw our bats come to life against a JV team that is actually an older team than we are,” said Coach Jared Jensen.
The Mustangs notched four runs in the fourth inning. Izayuh Mcglothin and Conner Fecht singled. Tyler Miller grounded out.
The Buckaroos fought back.
“In the sixth inning Lowry stormed back to tie the game at ten. I decided to put Wyatt Diaz on the mound,” said Jensen. “We had to figure out the right time to put him in so we didn’t run out of pitches.”
It was a calculated risk. The pitching rule of 140 pitches in a four-day span limited Diaz to 29 pitches.
The Mustangs made it work. Diaz got through one-and-two-thirds innings in 15 pitches.
Conner Fecht doubled to start off the bottom of the sixth. Eddie Herrera grounded out and advanced Fecht to third base.
Finally, Diaz grounded out to second base to score Fecht the winning run.
Lovelock seized the win in the non-league matchup (11-10).
“Wyatt did a fantastic job of getting five up and sitting five down. It was a good win for us and helped us gain some confidence as we hit the end stretch of the season,” said Jensen.
Fecht went two for three at the plate. Mcglothin went three for three with a sacrifice bunt. Travis Donaldson went two for three. He also pitched four innings, surrendering only one earned run. Kienbaum threw one and one-third innings in relief out of the bullpen.
On Tuesday, April 19, Pershing County hosted Yerington for the first game of a triple header. Results were not available at press time.
They’ll finish the series in Yerington this Saturday at 10 a.m. and noon.
