Mustangs outplay Regis Jesuit

AURORA – They needed it … boy, did they need it.

Never mind the team they beat dropped to 1-10. Mullen could have played a team of 3-year-olds and still felt extremely good about the victory.

On Monday, the Mustangs downed host Regis Jesuit, a longtime parochial rival, 8-5 in nonleague and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

In addition to beating their Catholic-school foes of decades, the Mustangs improved to 3-7, looked very good doing it and put behind them a difficult stretch that included a cancelled out-of-state trip.

“We showed some resilience and that’s what we have to do,” Mustangs head coach Alan Colglazier said. “We had a rough week, but we have to move forward.”

Indeed, the Mustangs grew a bit on Tuesday, and in multiple ways.

For one, pitcher Morgan Margeson and the Mustangs got out of a first-inning jam by allowing just one run, leaving the bases loaded and surviving three walks and an error.

For another, Mullen twice rallied past deficits. “We started hitting the ball,” Colglazier said.

For another, third baseman Maggie Bertsch turned a brilliant double play with Regis Jesuit holding second and third, and no outs, when she snared a screaming line drive and beat a Raiders runner to the bag. Plus, second baseman Emma DiGiacomo had a terrific, running catch of a pop-up in foul territory.

For another, Bella Hawkins ripped Mullen’s first home run of the season, a shot over the fence in left-center. “I knew right off the bat and it felt good,” she said.

And for still another, Mullen’s defense threw out two Raiders on the bases, survived three shots off the fence by Regis Jesuit and Margeson went the distance after settling in from a touchy start.

“That was a good way to come back,” Colglazier said.

Maggie Bertsch added a double and a triple. Bella Aragon tripled and scored twice. Hawkins had two hits as did DiGiacomo. Elizabeth Brady added a double, single and sacrifice fly.

The Mustangs also utilized successful bunting.

“Hopefully,” Bertsch said, “we’ll grow from this.”

Said Hawkins: “It was huge for team moral, especially now. We’re having fun playing again, a team effort all across the board.”

There’s plenty of season to play, Colglazier said, “and it was all positive and now we’re ready for conference.”

Mullen will open play in the Centennial League on Thursday, 4:30 p.m., at Cherry Creek in Greenwood Village.

 

Mullen – Aragon cf 3-2-1-1, Panozzo c 2-1-0-1, Mag. Bertsch 3b 3-1-2-2, DiGiacomo 2b 4-0-2-1, B. Hawkins ss 3-2-2-1, Mad Bertsch lf 4-1-0-0, Hurtado rf 4-0-0-0, Brady 1b 3-1-2-2, Margeson p 1-0-1-0, L. Hawkins cr 0-0-0-0, Medina ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 28-8-10-7.

Regis Jesuit – Simco 2b 3-0-2-0, Valdez ss 3-2-2-0, Stortz 3b 4-1-1-1, Smith p 4-1-4-2, Taylor cr 0-1-0-0, Carey lf 3-0-3-1, Kersey c 4-0-1-0, Sato rf 3-0-0-0, Michalek 1b 3-0-0-0, Redden cf 3-0-0-0. Totals 30-5-13-4.

E – Mad. Bertsch 2, B. Hawkins, Valdez. DP – Mullen. SAC – Margeson, Panozzo. Caught stealing – Simco. LOB – Mullen 5, Regis Jesuit 7.

2B – Smith 2, Simco, Stortz, Carey 2, Mag. Bertsch, Brady. 3B – Aragon, Mag. Bertsch. HR – B. Hawkins, solo in 4^th.

Batteries – Margeson and Panozzo; Smith and Kersey. W – Margeson. L --Smith. SF -- Brady. T – 2:02.