Grand finale caps tough softball season

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Mustangs crush Overland, but no playoffs in 5-13 showing.

AURORA -- The end came and it wasn’t how they envisioned it, but Mullen Mustangs have to take it.

Their 2019 season is over. They had a bit of inner turmoil – and they had a trip to Oklahoma cancelled because of it. They were 5-13 overall, 1-6 in the Centennial League.

And there will be no playoffs.

Still, there was no whining on Tuesday, no outward regrets and no finger-pointing. The Mustangs waxed host Overland 16-0 in three innings and remained upbeat.

“There’s no way, we’re just too far down,” Mustangs head coach Alan Colglazier said of his team’s postseason chances.

“I told the girls that a lot of teams can’t finish with a victory and we did, so we can build on that. I’ll try to talk our staff into staying and I told (athletic director Vince Massey) that it would take four years to get to be where we want to be. There are three stages of change – one is initially hard, two is messy, and we’re in the messy stage, then eventually it’s great.”

At least, it was very good for Mullen in its finale, compiling 14 hits, playing cleanly in the field and riding the one-hit pitching of Morgan Margeson, who faced the minimum nine batters over the three innings.

Every Mustangs starter hit safely. Avery Panozzo was 3-for-4 with three runs batted in. Emma DiGiacomo had two hits, drove in one and scored three times. So did Madelyn Bertsch. Lucia Hurtado had two RBIs as did Elizabeth Brady.

Mullen wrapped four-run innings around an eight-run rally in the second, batting around three times against the struggling Trailblazers, who are 5-18, and a winless (0-7) league slate. They will finish against Rangeview.

With 2019 done, Mullen will enter 2020 minus just two seniors, key ones up the middle in DiGiacomo and Bella Hawkins.

“I think we’ve established what we want and I think the girls understand it,” Colglazier said.

“Hopefully, things will start to fall into place.”

Bella Hawkins, for one, will miss it and leaves with no complaints.
In terms of playing on the team, she said, “these girls are unmatched.”
 
MULLEN 16, OVERLAND 0

Mullen 484 -- 16 14 0

Overland 000 -- 0 1 6

Mullen – DiGiacomo 2b 2-3-2-1, Panozzo c 4-1-3-3, L. Hawkins cr 0-0-0-0, Mag. Bertsch 3b 2-2-1-0, B. Hawkins ss 3-1-1-0, Mad. Bertsch lf 3-3-2-1, Hurtado rf 1-1-1-2, Encinias cr-ph 0-1-0-0, Brady 1b 2-1-2-2, Simms cr 0-2-0-0, Margeson p 3-0-1-0, Aragon cf 3-1-1-1. Totals 23-16-14-10.,

Overland – Smith ss 1-0-0-0, Price p 1-0-0-0, Worden c 1-0-0-0, Czerpak cf 1-0-1-0, Crawford lf 1-0-0-0, Henry 1b 1-0-0-0, Johnson rf 1-0-0-0, Perez 2b 1-0-0-0, Torres 3b 1-0-0-0. Totals 9-0-1-0.

E – Smith 2, Torres 3, Crawford. DP – Overland. CS – Czerpak. LOB – Mullen 4, Overland 0.

2B – DiGiacomo, B. Hawkins.

Batteries – Margeson and Panozzo; Price and Worden. W – Margeson. L – Price.  WP – Price. HBP – Mad. Bertsch (by Price); Brady (by Price). SF – Hurtado. T – 1:30.
 
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