DIVISION III BASEBALL: Free passes cost Mustangs in loss to Yerington

Needles coach Ken Parker hoped momentum from a win over South No. 1 seed Lincoln County earlier in the day would ignite his second-seeded Mustangs on Friday at the Meadows in the Division III state baseball tournament.

Holding a 2-0 lead after two innings in the late elimination game, things looked pretty good for Parker’s troops.

Then Yerington coach Vince Angle erupted on his Lions prior to the start of the third, loud enough that those from Lyon County who didn’t make the trip, might have heard him.

The Lions sent 12 batters to the plate in the top of the third inning, and used four hits, four walks and a catcher’s interference to score seven runs en route to a 13-4 win.

“They’re a young team and a lot of times they get in their own head and think about things,” Angle said. “They start thinking about things instead of just going out and doing it. And yeah, they needed a wake-up call.

“Sometimes they just need somebody to just kick them in the butt and say ‘this isn’t our team.’ They’re playing like a JV team out there and they need to know it’s unacceptable and we can play 100 times better.”

All but one of the batters who got up in the third inning got aboard, as the momentum swiftly shifted toward the North’s No. 2 seed.

Yerington meets Incline at 9 a.m. Saturday at Durango for the state championship. If the Lions win, a second game will be played.

Starter George Clark went the distance for the Lions, firing seven innings while scattering seven hits and striking out two. Austin Shlegelmich triggered the offense for Yerington, going 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and three runs scored.

After Needles cut the lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the third, the Lions continued the onslaught, plating four more runs in the top of the fourth.

“We took the momentum for the morning and we go right at it, and eight walks later and a couple hit by pitches — it’s not a good mix,” Parker said. “The whole momentum, the tempo, they see it and good teams take advantage of that.”

Collectively, three Needles pitchers scattered seven hits, but allowed 10 walks and only managed four strikeouts.

“Give credit to them, but I think it’s a different ball game if we don’t give them (all those) free passes,” Parker added.

Trenton Poe-Evans went 2-for-3 with two runs to lead the Mustangs offensively.

Needles 6, Lincoln County 5 — At The Meadows, the Mustangs took advantage of six Lincoln County errors, including two in the top of the sixth, when Needles broke a 4-4 tie by scoring two runs and eventually held on to eliminate the Lynx.

Mason Paget opened the sixth by getting aboard on an error. After Benny Robinson struck out, Dylan Hetrick powered a deep triple that scored Paget. Hetrick later scored when Reid Shaver reached first on a dropped third strike.

Lincoln County scored once in the bottom half of the sixth, but couldn’t finish the comeback.

Paget got on board all five times he came to bat, and went 3-for-5 with a run scored for Needles, which also got offensive help from Poe-Evans, who was 2-for-5 with a run scored, and Hetrick, who was 2-for-3 with a triple and a run.

Preston Robbins (2-for3) and McClain O’Connor (2-for-4) led Lincoln County.

Incline 7, Yerington 3 — At The Meadows, the Highlanders scored three in the bottom of the first and tacked on another three in the third to open a 6-2 lead and held on to advance to the championship game.

Incline starter Thomas Thompson fired a complete game, limiting the Lions to just hits and striking out nine. Thompson retired eight of the last nine batters he faced. Tristan Summers went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Highlanders.