It was nothing but high marks for the local Mustang A all-star
team in Sectional Tournament play at Britton last weekend. In its
tourney opener on Saturday, the Mustang A team edged Blossom Valley
No. 3 8-7.
It was nothing but high marks for the local Mustang A all-star team in Sectional Tournament play at Britton last weekend.
In its tourney opener on Saturday, the Mustang A team edged Blossom Valley No. 3 8-7.
Then, on Sunday, the Mustang A squad downed Los Altos No. 2 13-6.
The victories advanced the Mustang A’s to the winner’s bracket finals on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Britton.
Play continues on Tuesday in both the Mustang and Bronco all-star tourneys at Britton.
In Saturday’s narrow victory, the Mustang A squad battled Blossom Valley No. 3 in a nip-and-tuck affair that saw several lead changes.
The local Mustang A team took a 2-0 lead in the second inning only to see Blossom Valley come back in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-2 lead of its own.
Morgan Hill took a 6-3 lead with a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings, but Blossom valley came back with three runs to tie in the bottom of the fourth.
The MH Mustang A all-stars tallied another two-spot in the fifth to take the lead for good, but Blossom Valley pulled within a run in the bottom of the sixth (and final) inning and had the tying run at third with just one out.
However, MH Mustang A pitcher Nedlson Pyle closed out the game by striking out the last two batters.
Morgan Hill’s Franky Palmer started and went two innings, followed by Jerry Jacob, who picked up the win, and Pyle, who picked up the save.
Morgan Hill was led at the plate by Jakob Conlan, who was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored; Ben Hartl, who had a hit, an RBI and a run scored; Franky Palmer, who had a hit and a run scored; Pyle, who added a hit, an RBI and a run scored; Andy Muller, who had three RBIs; Steven Villarreal, who had two hits and a run scored; and Jacob, who had two hits and a run scored.
In Sunday’s win, the MH Mustang A’s used a 10-run fourth inning to vault past Los Altos No. 2.
Trailing 4-3, the Mustang A team batted around
Morgan Hill got excellent pitching as Andy Muller started and earned the win with four solid innings, while Jordan Dexter finished up the final two innings.
And, the team also played oustanding defense. Nelson Pyle recording all three outs at first base in the sixth, climbing the ladder to snag a liner out of the air by the lead-off batter, charging a soft blooper by the second batter and then scooping up a dribbler up the first base line and tagging out the runner.
Pyle also went 2-for-4 , with three RBIs and had a key home run in the big fourth inning.
Other offensive highlights for MH included: Steven Villarreal: 2-for-3, walk, RBI, two runs scored; Jakob Conlan: 2-for-3, triple, walk, two RBIs, run scored; Andy Muller: 1-for-4, RBI, run scored; Jerry Jacob: 1-for-1, run scored; Michael LemMon: 2-for-2, double, RBI, two runs scored; Ben Hartl: 3-for-3, double, two RBIs, three runs scored; and Ryan Mason: walk, run scored.
