Mustangs rally past North Shelby for 2-1 victory

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by Troy Treasure

NEMOnews Media Group

Runs were hard to come by Thursday at North Shelby.

Pitchers Rob Uhlmeyer of North Shelby and Marion County’s Spencer Whetstone combined for 23 strikeouts during their complete game performances as the Mustangs edged the Raiders 2-1.

For Marion County, winning baseball sure beats the most recent past.

Against North Shelby, the Mustangs trailed 1-0 from the first inning until the top of the seventh.

The game went south for North from the get-go of the final inning with all the damage done with no outs.

Whetstone reached first base on an error. Jackson Stewart followed with a single to right field. Clean-up hitter Cooper Stotts ripped an RBI double to left-center scoring Whetstone while Stewart advanced to third.

The Mustangs (5-3) took the lead when Stewart scored on Jonathan Goodwin’s infield single.

Whetstone finished off the Raiders (5-3) in the bottom of the seventh with two strikeouts, then induced a game-ending ground out. The left-hander finished with a four-hitter, one walk and 11 strikeouts.

“It was pretty exciting, just knowing we didn’t score the whole game. Then we came in with some timely hits there at the end,” Whetstone said. “The defense also stepped up tonight.

“It’s a great win that will help with our district seeding,” he added.

North Shelby’s lone run in the first occurred with two out.

Kyle Smith singled to right field. Casey Shockley, the Raiders clean-up batter, laced an RBI double to left.

Raiders’ head coach Scott Gaines indicated the game was a victory that got away.

“You have to tip your hat to the Whetstone kid. He threw a heck of a game,” Gaines said. “At the same token, we’ve got to put the ball in play.

“Robert (Uhlmeyer), he threw one heck of a game,” Gaines continued. “We just had an unfortunate error in the seventh inning that kind of got the ball rolling for Marion and it snowballed from there.”

Uhlmeyer scattered five hits with no walks and 12 Ks.

“North Shelby’s our rival; you can’t slice it or dice it any different so that’s a huge win for us,” Marion County head coach Henry Whetstone said.

“I told the boys, ‘Look at the scoreboard. 2-1. That’s a baseball score. That’s a good game,’” he added. “We’re looking forward to playing more baseball right now.”

Stotts and Root Cheney both had two hits for the Mustangs.