Mules vs. Presidio (Area) (5-15&16-2015)

Mules vs. Presidio (Area) (5-15&16-2015)

The Mules made Muleshoe High School baseball history over the weekend by defeating the Presidio Blue Devils two games to one. The wins gave the Mules the Area Golden Glove trophy in the Texas High School Baseball Playoffs.

During the three-game series neither team ever led by more than one run.

“These guys (Mules) won this series with the leather gloves on their hands,” said Mule coach Wes Boatmun. “We had talked all week about having a short memory, knowing the situation and playing in the now.”

“We did not want to worry about what we should have done but what we were going to do on the next pitch. We were not perfect but we beat a very good team in this series.”

“We had been told Presidio would make mistakes if we could put the ball in play. We did not put the ball in play much but when we did they did not make many mistakes. Our kids have developed a mental toughness that has elevated our game.”

“It was a long trip to Monahan’s and it was great to see all of the fans in the stands. We do appreciate the support they show for us.”

The Mules climbed on a chartered bus Friday for the long trip to the Monahans’ Lobo Field with an escort by the Muleshoe Police Department. The Blue Devils and Mules took the field at 4:00 PM and after seven complete innings the game was still tied at 0-0.

The visiting Blue Devils scored in the top of the eighth inning to briefly take a 1-0 lead. Bryce Mauricio drew a one-out walk just prior to Braden Bessire blasting a double over the head of the centerfielder to score Mauricio from first base and tie the game.

Nathan Rejino looped a single into shallow right field. The Blue Devil second baseman and right fielder failed to communicate and the ball fell to the turf. Bessire was running on the crack of the batted and sailed around third base and slide safely across home plate for the winning run.

The Blue Devil designated hitter slammed a homerun over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the first inning of the second game Friday. The Mules only run was scored by Wes Clarkson in the top of the fourth inning.

Presidio scored the winning run in the bottom of the fourth inning to defeat the Mules 2-1. The three-game series was tied at 1-1 with the tie breaker to start at 11:00 AM Saturday morning.

A storm blew through the area over night but the field was in shape by game time due to the work of the host Monahans’ coaches.

The Mules won the flip to be the home team Saturday morning.

Presidio scored first in the top of the third inning on a pair of doubles.

The Mules answered quickly with Bessire drawing a lead-off walk. Grey Johnson moved Bessire to second with a bunt single. Felipe Guerrero dropped a single into short-right field to load the bases. Bessire scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. The Mules could add no more runs in the inning.

A lead-off single resulted in a second run for the Blue Devils in the top of the fourth inning.

Johnson singled up the middle to start the bottom of the fifth inning. That was followed by an error on the second baseman that allowed Guerrero to get to first base. Rejino sent a ground ball to the shortstop and Guerrero was forced out at second but Johnson was safe at third. Johnson scored on a wild pitch to retie the game at 2-2 after five innings.

The Mule defense continued to shut down the Blue Devils through the top of the seventh inning.

Bessire walked with one out and scooted to second base on a Johnson ground ball to third base. Johnson’s groundball tied the hands of the third baseman for an error. Guerrero then ripped a ground ball back up the middle.

Bessire took off for third on the pitch and was waved around third by Coach Wes Boatmun. Bessire slide home well before the throw home arrived for the series winning run.

Dustin Smith was on the mound in the first game and pitched all eight innings. He gave up nine hits for two Presidio runs. The Mules stranded 11 Blue Devils on base, committed two errors and turned three double plays.

Smith fielded a hard-hit ground ball back to the mound in the second inning with the bases loaded. He threw home to Rejino for the force out. Rejino relayed the ball to Clarkson at first to complete a rare 1-2-3 double play.

Jason Florez charged a ground ball in the third inning. He scooped up the ball and threw to Bessire at second for the force out. Bessire turned and threw to Clarkson at first to complete the Mules’ second double play.

Smith fielded a bunt in the top of the fourth inning and went to Bessire at second for the force. Bessire again relayed to Clarkson to complete the third Mule double play.

The Mules only two hits in the first game came in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Danny Campos pitch a complete seven-inning second game. He had four strike outs, walked two, gave up five hits with one being a home run, left four on base and the Mules made no errors.

The Mules had five hits in the second game and stranded seven runners on the bases.

Campos started the final game and gave up a base hit to the first batter he faced. Campos fielded a sacrifice bunt and went to Clarkson at first for the first out.

The base runner rounded second and attempted to steal third but Clarkson gunned him down at third base with Guerrero applying the tag. A fly ball to center was handled easily by Johnson for out number three.

Campos gave up a second base hit to the lead-off batter in the second inning and an error put Blue Devils on first and second.

Smith took over on the mound and fielded a sacrifice bunt and tossed to Clarkson for the first out. Smith again fielded a bunt for the second out and the runner attempted to steal home. Clarkson pegged him out at home with Rejino applying the tag to complete the double play.

Presidio scored a run in the top of the third and fourth innings.

Smith struck out the first man he faced in the fifth inning. Clarkson fielded a ground ball and stepped on first for the second out. A fly ball to left field was caught by Guerrero as he had moved to the outfield during the pitching change.

Florez went deep in the hole twice for the first and last out in the sixth inning. Bessire camped under a fly ball at second for the second out.

Florez raced back and toward third base to field a hard-hit ball and fired a strike to Clarkson for the first out of the top of the seventh inning. A fly ball to Johnson in center resulted in the second out.

The number nine batter in the Presidio order singled to left field. Campos charged the infield to snag a ground ball to throw out the lead off batter at first to secure the win for the Mules.

The Mules had made the most of three hits, five walks and one Presidio error in the final game.

Three teams from District 2-3A will play in the Regional Quarterfinals this week. The Shallowater Mustangs will play the Alpine Bucks in a three-game series.

The Mules will face the Littlefield Wildcats for the third time this season in a best two-of-three-games series. The first game will be played Friday at 7:00 PM on Sundown’s Roughneck Field.

Saturday the Mules and Littlefield move to Levelland’s Lobo Field . The first pitch Saturday is scheduled for noon and a third game if necessary will be played 30 minutes after the completion of the first game.