Minors Mustangs finish 2-2 at district tourney

The Big Horn County Little League Minors all-stars finished one game from a state tournament berth at the district tournament in Mountain View last week by finishing 2-2.

To lead things off for pool play on Wednesday, the Mustangs faced off against familiar foes from Cody.

The Cubs have had the Mustangs’ number in previous games, but it appeared that the outcome would be different when Lovell jumped out to a seven-run lead through the first three innings.

Cody chipped away at the lead to score a couple in the bottom of the third, but the 12-run bottom of the fourth really hurt the Mustangs’ chances.

Even though the Mustangs rallied to pull within one, the comeback fell short with a final score of 14-13 in favor of Cody.

“The main thing that stands out to me in the Cody game is how proud I am of our team for bouncing back and fighting to the end,” head coach Nicc Crosby said.

“It would have been easy to give up after losing the lead we built behind solid pitching, fielding and hitting, and our players hung in there and gave Cody a run for their money and set the tone for how our players would battle all week long.”

Jace Jameson was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Mustangs, while Taysom Butler followed with a pair of hits and Spencer Walker, James Henderson and Luke Bischoff had one apiece.

Jamen Crosby kept the Cubs at bay from the mound with a very strong performance in the first 2.1 innings by striking out four and walking none.

Bischoff, Henderson and Logan Timpany provided relief pitching throughout the game to combine for six strikeouts and six walks in the final 2.2 innings of work.

RIVERTON

On Thursday, pool play continued with Lovell matched up with Riverton.

Having 11 hits at the plate helped the Mustangs edge out the 19-15 win over Riverton.

Jameson continued to stay hot at the plate to lead the Mustangs with three hits.

Butler also connected for two hits of his own, and Walker, Henderson, Hudson Morgan, Kooper May, Thayne Walker and Bischoff each had a hit.

May, Henderson and Esson Anderson combined for the first 2.1 innings on the mound and collected four strikeouts while remaining under pitch counts to be available during bracket play.

Jameson pitched the remaining 3.2 innings and struck out eight batters and walked only two for the win on the mound.

“Jace got in a rhythm pitching, and I hated to leave him in and use up all his innings, but I felt like we really needed to get the win and not go 0-2 in pool play,” Coach Crosby said. “We didn’t want to have to play one of the top seeds in the first round of bracket play.”

BRIDGER VALLEY

The Mustangs’ pool play standings led to a first-round match-up with host team Bridger Valley, and the Mustangs edged out a 24-21 win.

“Both teams had a hard time fielding the ball in this game, but fortunately for us, our hitting and base running kept us in the game until we finally made them start earning their runs from the fourth inning on,” Crosby said.

The high scoring game took well over three hours in the summer heat to complete, and the effects were evident in both teams’ defensive play and led to more than 20 hits from each squad.

For the Mustangs, Henderson had an impressive 4-for-4 hitting display, also adding four RBIs and scoring four runs himself.

Jameson, Thayne Walker and Bischoff added three hits each in the game, while Spencer Walker, Morgan and Kali Jameson all had two apiece.

Anderson, Butler and Crosby also added a hit each.

Bischoff got the start on the hill for the Mustangs but only pitched .2 innings to stay under the allotted pitch count to stay available the next day.

Crosby came in and got the win on the mound, completing the next three innings and collecting three strikeouts before Timpany saved the final 2.1 innings.

ROCK SPRINGS

The first-round win over Bridger Valley paired the Mustangs with top seeded Rock Springs in the semi-finals, where the winner clinched a spot in the state tournament.

Rock Springs struck first, plating two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Mustangs scored two of their own to tie it up in the third.

Unfortunately, Rock Springs rallied with another three runs that the Mustangs weren’t able to match to fall 5-2 and be eliminated from the tournament.

Henderson had a very strong outing on the mound for the Mustangs, going 4.2 innings and striking out five in his maximum number of pitches while the team’s defense rallied behind him, turning three double plays to get out of tough spots when Rock Springs threatened to score more.

“I’m so proud of how we played against Rock Springs,” Crosby said. “They were the most talented team there, but we didn’t back down and really gave them a scare.

“Our defense backed a strong pitching performance by James, including turning three double plays, which is not something you see often at all in the Minors division. We also had some great at-bats and were able to score some runs against some excellent pitching and fielding.”

The loss eliminated the Mustangs from the tournament and concluded their season.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the progress our team made,” Coach Crosby concluded. “We really worked hard, came together and didn’t back down from anyone. I hope the kids had fun, learned some valuable lessons and made some memories that will last a lifetime.”

Added coach Davin Crosby, “There were some really talented teams there, but we were able to hang with them because our kids were really coachable and played their tails off.”