Mule Baseball @ Tulia (3-2-4-2017)

Mule Baseball @ Tulia (3-2-4-2017)

The Muleshoe Mules brought home the second place trophy in the Tulia Wooden Bat Tournament

this past weekend. New rules regarding the number of pitches a player can throw before being

required a given period of rest ran the Mules out of pitchers.

The Mules won two games on Friday but at the cost of available pitchers for Saturday’s game

against the host Tulia Hornets. The Mules fell 12-1 in the finals Saturday afternoon.

Jason Florez was hit by a pitch in the top of the first inning. He stole second base and third bases

but did not score before a Mule was thrown out attempting to get back to first base after drawing a

walk.

The Mules went in order after that until the top of the fourth inning. J. Florez led off with a base hit

down the line to right field. Florez went to second on a throwing error by the pitcher attempting to

pick him off first base.

Blake Parker flew out to left field that moved J. Florez to third base. JoJo Rejino scored J. Flores

with a high bouncer that went over the pitcher’s head and into shallow left field. That was the only

Mule to cross home plate on Saturday.

The first Tulia Hornet to the plate lofted a fly ball to centerfield. Matt DeLeon had to come racing

in to make a sliding catch in shallow centerfield. The next Hornet flew out to Raul Sierra in right

field.

The third Hornet to plate singled to shallow right field but took to long a lead and Reese Orosco

fired a strike to Blake Parker at first. The throw was to the front edge of the bag, and as the base

runner dove back he tagged himself out to end the inning.

The second inning proved to be more fruitful for the Hornets. The first Hornet to the plate in the

bottom of the second inning took the count full, fouled off three pitches before drawing a walk.

Orozco got a called third strike for the first out. A base hit to center scored the first run of the

game. A second base hit scored the second run. Moises Vasquez threw out a base runner at third

base. Keelan Florez applied the tag.

K. Florez moved to left field with a pitching change and made a running catch for out number

three. Four Hornets had scored in the bottom of the second inning.

J. Florez made a diving stop on a ground ball near second base and threw the batter out at first base

for the first out in the bottom of the third inning. K. Florez moved to centerfield on a second

pitching change and drifted back for a catch for the second out. The Hornets scored one run in the

bottom of the third inning.

The wheels came off in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Mules struggled to find a pitcher and

the Hornets posted seven runs.

Tulia was scheduled to visit the Mules on Monday but canceled the game on Sunday. Coach

Boatmun scrambled to find replacement games for the Mules on Monday. The Olton Mustangs

answered Coach Boatmun’s call.