Baseball: Mitchell Remains Undefeated

Mitchell coach Scot Wilcox wasn't sure when, if ever, the Mustangs have started a season 4-0. It has this season as Mitchell scored six runs in the first two innings Tuesday night as beat Countryside 6-5 in the Class 6A-District 7 opener for both teams.

"I'm not sure it's ever happen before," Wilcox said. "But we definitely have some momentum. The guys believe in themselves and we need to realize we belong on the field - especially with our district opponents."

The Mustangs overcame some shaky defensive play - committing five errors which led to four unearned Countryside runs. But even that showed the maturity of this year's Mitchell team. In the fourth inning, Countryside (2-2) scored three runs without a base hit as the Mustangs committed three errors and threw two wild pitches.

After the errors, two consecutive on ground balls, the infield held a meeting on the mound to talk about it.

"That's our senior leadership," said Wilcox, who has 10 seniors on his 16-man roster. "I think it was [Patrick] Schuster that coordinated the meeting. And that's exactly what we need him doing. He's a great talent but right there, he makes the people around him better."

Schuster is Mitchell's No. 1 pitcher and has signed a baseball scholarship with the University of Florida.

Starting pitcher Matt Hewitt (2-0) struggled early, giving up two runs on two hits and a fielding error in the first inning. But he settled down after that and didn't allow another hit and struck out eight.

"That's typical Hewitt," Wilcox said. "If he's going to have a bad inning, it's going to be one of the first couple. When he settles in, he gets stronger."

Mitchell bounced back to take the lead in the bottom of the first as the Mustangs sent eight batters to the plate, scoring three runs on two hits, two walks and a Cougars error. They forced Countryside starter Kyle Leja (1-1) to throw 41 pitches in the inning.

The Mustangs increased their lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the second on station-to-station hitting - three singles and a double. Leja settled down after that, setting down Mitchell in order in the third and fourth innings but came out after reaching 93 pitches in four innings.

Countryside 200 300 0 - 5 2 1
Mitchell 330 000 x - 6 7 5
W - Hewitt (2-0). L - Leja (1-1). 2B - Torres (C); Brown, Hart (M). Records - C 2-2, 0-1 6A-7; M 4-0, 1-0 6A-7.