WEEKI WACHEE – After obliterating their competition on day one of the Farm Bureau Classic tournament, the Weeki Wachee Hornets (8-7) fell 7-4 to the Mitchell Mustangs (10-4) in their second matchup of the invitational.
Tuesday’s matchup got off to a rocky start, but the Green and Black rebounded nicely before the visiting Mustangs galloped out to an insurmountable three score lead late. Hornets Baseball Head Coach Patrick McHugh discussed what went wrong after the game.
“We didn’t execute well […] We got into that fifth inning, we couldn’t get out of our own way,” the Hornets’ head coach said. “We were missing locations, missing spots with pitches. They were executing and they put us in a hole where we couldn’t climb out of. They got it to 6-3 after that inning. They are a good ball club, and that’s tough to beat.”
Unfortunately for the home team, the night got off on the wrong foot as the Mustangs put two runs on the board in the top of the first frame thanks in large part to four hits, an error, and a steal. Singles to left and right field ran Juniors Johnathan Rodriguez and Drew Weiberg across home plate for the early 2-0 advantage.
A quick, scoreless second inning passed before Weeki Wachee responded with a trio of scores in the third. A single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with only one out before the home team started to do some damage.
Another walk on the very next at bat would give Coach McHugh and company their first score of the evening. With the bases still loaded, an error would allow Jayden Allen to cross home plate and tie the game at 2-all.
Hoping to get out of the jam, Mitchell went to their bullpen and tasked Junior Pitcher Nate Ealy with the job. Though he would be largely successful, the first batter to face Allen (Weeki’s Saul Melendez) would drop a lead-grabbing single between defenders.
The Hornets put themselves in position one more time, but they were unable to capitalize late. Coach McHugh summarized the missed opportunity well on Tuesday:
“We put ourselves in too much of a hole to get out tonight,” he said. “In the bottom of the sixth, we got it to 6-4, we had a runner on third with one out. We got to execute, be able to score on them, put pressure on them, get them to 6-5, and then see what happens. We’re just a little off tonight.”
Coach McHugh praised his squad’s “constant fight,” and noted that their confidence is certainly intact considering they were on the back end of a four-game winning streak against “very good competition.”
Moving forward with the tournament, the Hornets should go on to play the Hernando Leopards (8-6) in the losers’ bracket at 4 PM on Wednesday afternoon.
