'Stangs come up short in Region 4
Mullen outlasts Montrose in Round 1 before falling late to host Golden; team finished 2023 at 15-10.
GOLDEN – They went out, but they went out fighting.
Sunday’s make-up rounds of Region 4 in Class 4A baseball proved to be a microcosm of sorts for Mullen’s Mustangs, who faced assorted struggles throughout 2023, including at the end.
Consider:
--- They needed two solo home runs in the regulation seven innings to keep pace with Montrose in the regional opener, then a bases-loaded single by Gus Peonio to win 3-2 in nine innings.
--- In the regional finale, the Mustangs squandered two bases-loaded opportunities early, had a runner picked off – oddly – at third base, another picked off first base, erupted for a five-run inning to wipe out a 3-0 deficit, gave up the lead twice more, stranded a whopping nine runners and lost 9-7 to host Golden.
--- In addition, three of the four teams on hand had direct conflicts with graduation ceremonies.
All told, Mullen finished 15-10 in its first season since dropping down from 5A and left the Demons Field on a pleasant Sunday with no rain and wishing they could have advanced to the 4A Championship Series.
“We had our chances,” Mustangs head coach Phil Stanford said. “We left too many men on base early. It’s hard to (advance) when you don’t get the timely hitting early. We waited until the end of the game … but give credit to my guys. They battled. They battled, they could have rolled early, but we were right in this thing.”
Golden, the fourth seed, got to Mustangs starter Thomas Stewart for three runs and two homers to take a 3-0 lead. But Mullen rallied, notably on the first of two homers in the game by Stewart. The Mustangs led 5-3, only to have Golden tie it, then Mullen grabbed its final lead, 6-5, in the sixth.
However, the Demons rolled for four runs in the sixth and survived a rally attempt by Mullen in the seventh.
Stewart had four runs batted in; Dom Gamueda and Sage Hurley each had two hits; Peonia drove home two runs; and Colin Mackenzie, Ryan Jackson, Ryan Brady and Andres Bertaud also hit safely.
The Mustangs also outhit Golden 11-9.
In the opener, Stewart and catcher Ben Krza homered. Krza had two this for the game, and Jackson and Mackenzie handled the pitching.
“It’s a tough one,” Stanford said of ending the season. “It has been a great season to watch this team come together, the way they did it. … we talked about it all season that we had to play clean baseball. It’s elimination baseball and you have to get the timely hitting and pitching, and have it come together. And it just wasn’t there for us today.
“We played scenarios, we did our thing and we absolutely had our chances.”
CLASS 4A REGION 4
At Golden H.S.
GOLDEN 9, MULLEN 7
Mullen 000 051 1 -- 7 11 1
Golden 102 024 0x – 9 9 0
Mullen – Gamueda rf 5-1-2-0, Mackenzie cf 2-1-1-0, Salazar p 1-0-0-0, T. Stewart P-2b 3-2-2-4, Jackson lf-rf 4-1-1-0, Krza c 2-0-0-0, Hurley ss 2-2-2-1, Brady 3b 2-0-1-0, Peonio 1b 3-0-1-2, Bertaud 2b-lf-p 4-0-1-0, Andrews cr 0-0-0-0. Totals 28-7-11-7.
E – Hurley. LOB – 9. SB – Hurley. SAC – Brady. HR – T. Stewart 2.
Pitching – Stewart 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K’s; Salazar (L) 2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K’s; Bertaud 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 Bb, 0 K. Bertaud hit 1 batter.
MULLEN 3, MONTROSE 2, 9 inn.
Montrose 110 000 000 -- 2 5 1
Mullen 000 200 001 -- 3 7 4
Mullen – Gamueda rf 4-0-0-0, Mackenzie cf-p 4-0-1-0, T. Stewart 2b 3-1-1-1, Jackson p-rf 4-0-0-0, Krza c 3-1-2-1, Hurley ss 3-1-1-0, Brady 3b 2-0-0-0, Peonio 1b 4-0-1-0, Bertaud lf 4-0-1-1. Totals 31-3-7-3.
E – Hurley 2, Brady, Jackson. LOB – 5. SB – Mackenzie 2. BB – Brady 2, Hurley, Krza, T. Stewart. 2B – Hurley, Krza. HR – T. Stewart, Krza.
Pitching – Jackson 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K’s; Mackenzie (W) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K’s. WP – Mackenzie. Mackenzie hit 1 batter.
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