101The Lovell Chronicle I July 21, 2011 www.LovellChronicle.com
Mustangs sweep Sheridan Jets to gain momentum
BY DAVID PECK
It was a great way
to finish the regular sea-
son. The Lovell Mustangs
American Legion baseball
team wrapped up the reg-
ular season Monday after-
noon with a doubleheader
sweep over the Sheridan
Jets, 9-8 and 10-8.
The wins were sorely
needed for a team that had
crammed six games into
the previous five days, all
of them losses.
In the first game Mon-
day, manager Ray Peter-
son told his young team
that they should be able
to compete well against
the Jets, the junior varsi-
ty squad of the Class AA
Sheridan Troopers, be-
cause they would be facing
players their own age -- 16-
and 17-year-olds. Indeed,
the Mustangs played with
confidence as they scored
a lot of runs and made key
plays on defense.
With the team having a
lot of tired arms, the Mus-
tangs turned to Dino Col-
lins, normally the starting
catcher, on the mound, and
Collins did a good job, al-
lowing four runs in five in-
nings. 15-year-old Brandon
Dickson pitched the final
two innings.
Lovell took an early
lead with two runs in the
first and two more in the
second to lead 4-1. Dillon
Pickett hit an RBI double
in the first inning, and Col-
lins singled home a run in
the second, followed by a
double by Pickett.
Sheridan plated one
run in the third and two in
the fourth to tie the score
4-4, but Lovell respond-
ed with two in the bottom
of the fourth to lead 6-4.
Collins singled home Jake
Adey with one of the runs.
Staying hot on a hot
afternoon, the Mustangs
scored three more runs in
the fifth to lead 9-4. Back-
to-back triples by Kyle Pe-
terson and Adey, followed
by a sacrifice fly off the bat
of Dillon Pickett plated two
runs, and Steven Pickett
singled home Collins, who
had been hit by a pitch.
The Mustangs relieved
Collins with young Dickson
in the top of the sixth, and
the Jets scored four runs,
but in a pressure-packed
seventh, Dickson retired
the side in order to pre-
serve the victory and re-
cord the save.
"We've played a lot of
baseball over the last two
weeks," Peterson noted.
"Our defense is getting
more sure, our pitching
arms are getting stron-
ger and our hitting is im-
proved. Our batting eyes
are better."
In game two, Sheridan
built a 7-1 lead after 2½ in-
nings that the Mustangs
cut to 7-4 with three in
the third as Collins, Dillon
Pickett and McKayan May
crossed the plate. Sheridan
went up 8-4 in the top of
the forth, but Dillon Pick-
ett relieved starter Hunter
Hinckl.ey and blanked the
Jets over the last three in-
nings.
Lovell rallied for two
in the fourth, three in the
fifth and one in the sixth.
May had a two-run double
in the fifth.
EARLIER GAMES
The Mustangs com-
peted in the Billings Ha-
los Fellowship of Christian
Athletes State Invitational
Wednesday through Fri-
day.
In game one Wednes-
day afternoon, the Mus-
tangs fell to the Billings
Cardinals 14-3. The game
was close early as Hinck-
ley shut out the Cards over
the first two innings. But
as the Billings squad start-
ed seeing Hinckley for the
second time they began to
hit him and scored eight
runs in the third, three in
the fourth and three in the
fifth.
- The, Mustangs didn't
score until the fourth, when
they plated two runs, then
added a run in the fifth
when Dillon Pickett reached
on an error and scored on a
single by Hinckley.
Hinckley went the dis-
tance on the mound.
"We got off to a slow
start. I don't know how to
get this team jazzed up, but
it might be because it's a
young team," Peterson said.
"They were hitting the gaps
and we weren't."
Playing back-to-back
games, the Mustangs then
met the Halos and played
well against the strong team
thanks to strong pitching by
starter Steven Pickett, fall-
ing 3-0.
"Steven pitched a good
game," Peterson said. "He
has good speed and a good
breaking ball, and he hits
the corners."
Lovell got on base
against the Halos, banging
out seven hits, but the Mus-
tangs stranded nine run-
ners. Pickett blanked the
Halos in five of six innings,
allowing only a three-run
fourth.
The Mustangs played
a conference game against
Cody Thursday afternoon
as part of the FCA tourna-
ment, falling 8-3 in a make-
up game from a June 7 rain-
out.
Peterson said it was a
"tough one to lose" as the
Mustangs were competitive
but couldn't get over the
top. Hurler Dylan Hultgren
was tough on the mound
for the Mustangs, allow-
ing only three runs in the
first four innings, then five
in the fifth before blanking
the Cubs in the sixth. But
the Mustang bats were cold
until the seventh inning,
when they scored three
runs on consecutive hits by
May, Nathan Ballard, Ste-
ven Pickett (RBI double),
Adey, Hultgren and Kyle
Peterson.
Rain shortened the tour-
nament, and the Mustangs
played a final game on Fri-
day, falling to Livingston
9-3. Starting pitcher Bal-
lard shut out the Montana
team in the first and third,
but allowed four in the sec-
ond, one each in the fourth
and fifth and two in the
DAVID PECK
Dylan Hultgren of the Lovell Mustangs focuses in on an incoming pitch during
Lovell's 9-8 win over the Sheridan Jets Monday afternoon in Cowley.
sixth before Dillon Pickett
came on in relief.
Again, the Mustang
bats were silent for six
out of seven innings. They
scored all three runs in the
sixth on hits by Ballard
(double), Hultgren (double
following a walk to Steven
Pickett) and Peterson.
The bone tired Mus-
tangs had to travel to Pow-
ell Sunday evening for a
pair of make-up conference
games. Only nine players
could make the trip, and
Powell swept the Mustangs
11-1 and 19-0. Steven Pick-
ett was solid on the mound
in the first game, blank-
ing the Pioneers in the first
and second innings, but the
good-hitting home team hit
Pickett when they saw him
again, ripping a pair of two-
run homers in the third and
adding three runs in the
fourth, three in the fifth
and one in the sixth.
Lovell scored its lone
run in the fifth when Cody
King doubled and scored.
Game two was all Pow-
ell as the Pioneers got to
Hultgren for four runs in
the first inning, 12 in the
second and three in the
third before the game was
mercifully called. Kyle Pe-
terson had the only hit for
the Mustangs.
TOURNAMENT TIME
Now 8-25, the Mustangs
are the fourth seed from the
Northwest heading into the
North District American
Legion Tournament in Gil-
lette Thursday.
The Mustangs must
take on top Northeast seed
Gillette Thursday at 7 p.m.
and would then meet either
Cody or Casper Friday at 1
p.m. (with a Thursday loss)
or 7 p.m. (with a Thursday
win).
"The kids have stuck
with it, and they're im-
proved," Peterson said. "Ev-
ery player will be back next
year."
The Senior League
baseball teams will spon-
sor the Cowley Pioneer Day
barbecue luri6h in the park
Saturday atnoon. Peterson
said he would appreciate it
if parents of Babe Ruth and
American Legion players
would help serve the meal
on Saturday.
Babe Ruth All-Stars win one of three at district
BY DAVID PECK
The North Big Horn
Babe Ruth All-Stars made
the short trip to Cody for
the 13-15-year-old District
IV Tournament Friday and
Saturday, winning one of
three games.
Manager Ray Peterson
said the all-stars played
well at times, though they
tended to get off to slow
starts and then battle
back.
In the first game Fri-
day, host Cody stopped the
local stars 13-3. Starting
pitcher CJ Murphey did a
credible job on the mound
for North Big Horn, but
he received little offen-
sive support as NBH didn't
score in the first four in-
nings.
"We just started slow
in that game," manager
Ray Peterson said. "We
had the four innings with-
out any runs, and we had a
lot of strikeouts."
Meanwhile, Cody plat-
ed two runs in the first and
two more in the third to
lead 4-0, then exploded for
five runs in the fourth as
Murphey gave way to Bill
Despain.
North Big Horn scored
its only three runs of the
game in the top of the fifth,
but Cody matched that to-
tal in the bottom of the
frame to lead 12-3. Cody
won the game on the 10-
run rule when the Park
County squad scored a sin-
gle run in the bottom of the
sixth.
NAILBITER
North Big Horn came
from behind in the next
game to edge Greybul114-13
ED MATYHEWS, CODY ENTERPRISE
Caleb Horrocks, left, celebrates with teammates
Alex Connour (center) and Bill Despain (top) after
Horrocks scored the final run in the seventh inning
on a sacrifice fly by Connour to push Lovell past
Greybull in the loser-out bracket Friday.
and stay alive in the tourna-
ment.
North Big Horn took
a 3-0 lead in the top of the
first when Despain singled
home a pair of runs and a
third crossed the plate off
the bat of Alex Connour.
Greybull, however, got to
North Big Horn starter Con-
nour for four runs in the top
of the second and four more
in the third to lead 8-3 be-
fore NBH mounted its come-
back, though Greybull kept
scoring- one run in each the
fourth, f-h and sixth and
two in the seventh.
"Greybull came to play,"
Peterson said. "They scored
in every inning except the
first. But our kids fought
back, didn't give up and
had good fifth and sixth in-
nings."
North Big Horn scored
three runs in the bottom of
the third to trail 8-6 as De-
spain, Connour and Demi-
trie Montuy drove in runs,
but Greybull built the lead
to 10-6 before NBH respond-
ed with four in the bottom
of the fifth to tie the score.
Aaron Monterde had an RBI
double during the uprising.
Greybull went up 11-10
in the top of the sixth, but
North Big Horn plated three
in the bottom of the frame to
lead 13-11. The never-say-
die Greybull nine scored
two in the top of the seventh
to knot the score 13-13, but
North Big "Horn won the
game in walk-off style in
the bottom of the seventh.
Caleb Horrocks led off
the inning with a walk, then
stole his way to third. With
one out Connour lofted a fly
ball to center field. Horrocks
tagged up and came in with
the winning run.
Asked about his team's
offensive turnaround, Peter-
son noted, "The kids started
catching on that they could
steal on their catcher and
they started becoming more
aggressive on the bases."
Horrocks not onl: scored
the winning run, he was the
winning pitcher, throwing
in relief of Connour.
FINAL GAME
North Big Horn met
Powell in a loser-out game
Saturday morning and fell
22-7. Powell scored four
runs in the first off Lovell
starter Mysen McArthur,
then exploded for 11 in the
second to lead 15-0.
"Mysen did a good job,
but we must have had a
dozen errors," Peterson
said, "bobbled balls, not
making plays. Everybody
started getting down on
themselves."
Murphey relieved
McArthur and slowed Pow-
ell to seven runs over the fi-
nal three innings.
North Big Horn scored
two runs in the second, four
in the third and one in the
fifth. Despain had a two-
run single in the third.
COURTESY PHOTO
Eli Moody, left, and Dimas Patina competed in
freestyle and folkstyle wrestling at the Big Sky
Games Saturday in Billings.
Moody, Patina excel at
Big Sky E-,a0000es
A pair of Lovell High School athletes competed in the
Big Sky Games over the weekend in Billings.
Eli Moody and Dimas Patina, both of whom will be
seniors at Lovell High School this fall, competed in both
freestyle and folkstyle wrestling at the Games.
Opening ceremonies were held Friday at Wendy's
Field, with both boys receiving Big Sky Games T-shirts.
The wrestling competition was held at West High School
on Saturday, with freestyle wrestling in the morning and
folkstyle in the afternoon.
Each wrestler had to move into a higher weight brack-
et in order to compete with Patina giving up more than 20
pounds and Moody giving up 38 pounds.
Moody received a gold medal in freestyle wrestling
and a silver in folkstyle. Patina went undefeated on the
day and won g01d in both freestyle and folkstyle wres-
tling.
Both boys said they enjoyed the competition and
were glad they participated. Moody missed the past wres-
tling season and is still healing from the broken leg he
suffered during the homecoming football game. He was
worried about being rusty on the mat, but he came out
strong, Matty Moody said. Patina wrestled well through-
out the day, she said, adding that both had fun watching
the younger kids wrestle and enjoyed the opportunity to
coach each other.
Both are looking forward to the upcoming football
season, Matty said.
