Meadows rebounds to dodge sweep

Aware his team could face Lincoln County in the Class 2A Southern League baseball playoffs, The Meadows coach Frank DeSantis thought it was crucial to avoid being swept by the Lynx on Friday.

The Mustangs were able to achieve that small consolation in their home opener, rebounding from a 7-5 loss in the first game to win the second, 4-3.

“It was big just that we beat them once,” DeSantis said. “Any time you get swept by somebody going into the playoffs, and you have to play them again, there’s still that doubt.”

DeSantis would be content if The Meadows (7-5, 4-2), a team with six freshmen and only three seniors, could enter the postseason with the league’s second seed. That’s where the Mustangs stayed in the standings with the split.

Freshman Garrett Gosse pitched a complete game for the Mustangs’ victory. The right-hander scattered five hits, walked six and struck out three.

“The umpire had a tight strike zone,” Gosse said. “I was just trying to use my fielders behind me and let them make the plays.”

DeSantis added: “I thought Garrett threw all right. I didn’t think he threw his best game. But he’s going to be a good pitcher. He’s a great kid and works hard.”

The Meadows scored three runs on five walks and a hit batter in the fifth inning to take a 4-2 lead.

In the opener, the Mustangs hit into three double plays and stranded 11 runners, six in scoring position. Brian Fahey was 2-for-4 and Bobby Pisanelli drove in two runs for The Meadows, which has won five of its last six games.

Lincoln County (4-6, 4-4) was the team that failed to hit in the clutch in the second game, leaving 10 runners on base.

“It’s a negative,” Lynx coach Danny Lloyd said of the split. “We should have won both of them. At the end, we lost from mental errors, kids not taking signs and everything else.

“The first game, (our players) came out to play. Second game, they hung their heads right off the start, and that’s not them.”

Lincoln County’s Craig Rice was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the first game, and Ryan Lloyd went 2-for-3 in the second.