Mustangs bunt way to title
Not many prep baseball coaches would ask his No. 3 hitter to bunt. Shadow Ridge’s Frank Tousa had Logan Hold do it twice on Wednesday.
That’s how committed the Mustangs are to playing small ball this season.
“One through nine better be ready to bunt at any time,” Tousa said. “That’s what we’ve been doing all year. The kids have bought into it, and they’ve done it very well.”
Using small-ball tactics at the plate and aggressive baserunning, Shadow Ridge rolled to a 10-2 win over host Centennial to capture the Gold Bracket title at the Blazer Spring Bash.
The Mustangs (16-1) won all five games in the tournament and signaled they are ready to challenge Arbor View and Sierra Vista when Northwest League play opens next week.
“We’ve definitely been under the radar,” said Shadow Ridge shortstop Brady Hoskins, who was 2-for-2 with a solo home run and a double. “People are starting to notice the special things we’re doing.”
Centennial (9-10) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Ryan Huerta’s run-scoring single before the Mustangs answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning.
Leadoff hitter Alec Pittsenbarger reached second thanks to two Bulldogs errors, and Travis Caskie’s bunt single put runners on the corners.
Hold followed with a safety squeeze to score Pittsenbarger, and Ben Fitzhugh knocked in Caskie with a single to left. After Hoskins’ sacrifice, a wild pitch scored Hold to make it 3-1.
“We know their style, so we expected that,” Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone said. “They make you make plays.”
The Mustangs played small ball again in the fourth to go up 7-2. After Caskie’s one-out double, Hold followed with another sacrifice bunt. Caskie never slowed down around third and easily beat the throw home.
Hold was 2-for-2, and Caskie went 2-for-3. Alex Ayers was 2-for-3 with two triples for the Mustangs.
Centennial threatened in the top of the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out. Tyler Burton came on in relief for the Mustangs and got Huerta to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
“Sometimes you hit a hard ground ball, and you get a bad result,” Cerrone said. “I feel good about our strides to get to the championship game. We’re still young. To get to this game was meaningful.”
Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.
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WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS BASEBALL
■ Durango’s Anthony Parry capped a nine-run seventh inning with an RBI single to plate the winning run in the Trailblazers’ 12-11 victory over Minarets (Calif.) in the Blazer Spring Bash at Durango.
■ Desert Oasis’ Jordyn Compehos hit a tie-breaking grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Diamondbacks’ 10-8 win over Centennial (Calif.) in the Blazer Spring Bash at Durango.
■ Chaparral’s Zach Harman singled home Chad Clark with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Cowboys’ 11-10 win over Mojave in the championship game of the Desert Pines Tournament.
■ Green Valley’s Anthony Hatch drove in Jarrett Perns with the go-ahead run on a bunt single in the top of the seventh of the Gators’ 5-1 win over Corona del Sol (Ariz.) in the Big League Dugout National Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz.
■ Legacy’s Joey Ingarra doubled to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in the Longhorns’ 9-8 win over Western in the Grizzly-Bengal Spring Break Invitational at Spring Valley.
