Mustangs advance to Championship Monday
Chris Quebedeaux is the sports editor for The Crowley Post-Signal. He can be reached at chris.quebedeaux@crowleytoday.com or 337-783-3450.
Adapt and overcome.
That was the theme for the Crowley Americans Sunday morning in their bracket play finals of the 2014 Mustang Zone Tournament.
After losing a heartbreaking 9-8 decision to Fort Worth Optimist early in the day and falling behind to the same team 6-3, later in the day, the Americans rallied for a 14-9 victory that sent them into Championship Monday with three other teams.
“We got off to a slow start in both of our games today,” said Americans’ coach Allen Story. “We trailed in both games but we just kept telling the kids to keep battling.”
And battle they did in the second game.
The Americans erased their deficit in the fourth inning by pushing across 10 runs on seven hits and four walks to swing the momentum and take control of the game.
“That fourth inning was huge for us,” said Story. “We had five guys get on in a row and then we had a triple with the bases loaded that really got us going.”
Parker Story delivered the big blow, a three-RBI triple. Hunter Hoffpauir added an RBI single in the frame.
Fort Worth added a pair of runs in the fifth inning before being blanked in the sixth.
Alex Stevens earned the victory in relief after surrendering six runs on seven hits and four walks. He struck out four in five innings of work.