When the final out was recorded Saturday night there was no doubt who had the best team in the annual Eunice Wooden Bat Tournament held last weekend.
The Mustangs opened the tournament on Thursday morning with a commanding 12-6 win over Kermit and followed that performance with back to back shutouts over Portales 5-0 and Floyd 11-0 in the championship game Saturday night.
As a result of their dominance Cameron Garcia and James Chatham were named to the All Tournament team and Broedy Burris was named as the tournament’s MVP.
In the opening game against Kermit the Mustangs pushed across 7 runs in the first two innings and added 5 more in the 4th and 5th innings on 12 hits. The Yellowjackets scored single runs in both the 3rd and 4th innings, 3 more in the 5th and 1 in the 6th before the game was stopped due to the 2 hour game time rule.
Freshman Braden McGary paced the Mustangs with a perfect 3 for 3 day, scored 4 runs, and had 2 RBI’s. Burris had 2 hits, and Chatham, Isaac Yanez, and Justin Riley all finished with one hit.
Burris went the first 4 innings on the mound and got credit for the win. He gave up one earned run on 2 hits, struck out 6 and walked 2. Israel Vasquez and Luis Rodriquez split time over the last 2 innings with one inning each.
In the big win over Portales Burris had the big stick accounting for all 5 Denver City runs. He had a grand slam in the 1st inning while his 5th RBI came on a single in the 5th. Chatham had a perfect day at the plate going 4-4, Burris and Aaron Villerreal both had 2 hits and Garcia and Riley both had one hit each.
McGary went the distance for the Mustangs giving up two hits in the shut out, issued two base on balls and struck out 4.
And in the championship game the Mustangs jumped out in front with 4 runs in the 1st, one more in the 2nd, 4 more in the 4th, and 2 in the 5th to end the game on the 10 run rule.
Chatham continued his barrage at the plate having a perfect 3 for 3 night that included 4 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Burris had 2 more hits and 2 more RBI’s, and Garcia, McGary, Villerreal, Jeremy Castillo, and Luis Rodriquez all had 1 hit.
Garcia had a complete game on the mound giving up just 1 hit, struck out 8, and had 3 base on balls.
The three wins upped the Mustangs season record to 11-4.
This marked the second consecutive year the Mustangs have won this tournament where every player must bat with a wooden bat.
After a trip to state ranked Shallowater on Tuesday the Mustangs will open district play on Friday when they host Idalou in a 12 noon start.
