Mullen handed first loss of season

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
'Stangs stand 9 runners in 6-2 loss to Pueblo West; team is 2-1.
 
Mullen took a hit on Saturday, but it doesn’t necessarily have to hurt.

The Mustangs suffered their first loss in 2021, a 6-2 defeat to regularly good Pueblo West at home at Santo “Doc” Scavuzzo Field in Class 4A nonleague.

And while Mustangs coach Dave Atencio is enjoying his team playing 4A foes this season – Mullen was permitted to face only 5A Centennial League opponents in the 2020 regular season – he appreciates the tough competition.

“I’m making a prediction,” he said. “(The Cyclones) will be a top-five team going into (the state tournament). (Pueblo) is a great high-school sports town. They all play summer ball, you see them all over with Pueblo athletics. You see them all year-round.”

As Mullen dipped to 2-1, Pueblo West, which is bidding for a 10th-consecutive season with double-figure victories, won its opener.

The Mustangs certainly competed – junior Morgan Margeson allowed only four earned runs and the team had six hits and reached base five other times on walks.

However, Mullen lacked the key hit(s) when it mattered most.

“They just executed a little better than us,” Atencio said of the Cyclones. “When they had runners on base, they scored runs. We didn’t give it to them. They just found holes.”

And they did so at the correct times.

“I told the kids the key to the game was in the bottom of the first (inning),” he continued. “We get the first two runners on base and the next three pop up in the infield, and we didn’t score. That changed the whole momentum of the game and we could have put them back on their heels a little bit if we could have scored two or three runs to smack them right there, but we didn’t … so lesson learned.”

All told, Mullen stranded nine base runners. Bella Aragon, Elizabeth Brady, Romie Gutierrez, Ona Medina, Margeson and Morgan Stewart all hit safely.

Mullen will resume play on Tuesday (Aug. 24) in 4A nonleague against visiting Evergreen, 4 p.m.

“We have to be ready,” Atencio said.
 
PUEBLO WEST 6, MULLEN 2

Pueblo West 010 210 2 – 6  8  1

Mullen 000 020 0 – 2  6  2

Mullen – Aragon cf 2-0-1-0, Stewart ss 2-1-1-0, Brady 3b 3-0-1-1, Medina 2b 4-0-1-0, Walters lf 4-0-0-1. Margeson p 3-0-1-0, Gutierrez c 3-0-1-0, Newman 1b 3-0-0-0, Holz rf 1-0-0-0, Hurtado rf 1-1-0-0, Linares cr 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-2-6-2.

BB – Aragon 2, Stewart 2, Hurtado. LOB – 9.

Pitching – Margeson (1-1) 7 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K’s.

T – 2:02.
 
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