The Marion County R-II baseball team opened the season with a 2-0 home win over Knox County last Monday behind the impressive pitching of Cooper Stotts.
The senior left-hander did not allow a hit over 5.2 innings while striking out 15 and walking just three in earning the mound victory.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs scored two scratch runs, one in the first and the other in the fourth.
Root Cheney opened the first inning by getting hit by a pitch, and he stole second and moved to third on a ground ball before Joey Lagemann drove him in with a single.
Stotts helped himself in the fourth when he walked to lead off the fourth, and scored on Jared Stewart’s single to left which was misplayed into a two-base error.
Stotts struck out 15 of the 22 batters he faced and only one of them managed to hit the ball out of the infield, a fly ball to right in the fifth.
He struck out the side in order two times and struck out the side two other times.
Stotts left the mound withtwo outs in the sixth after logging 104 pitches, and was relieved by Spencer Whetstone, who finished the game, giving up just one hit while striking out one.
The Mustangs were also scheduled to play Community and Atlanta last week, but both games were postponed due to rain.
This week, the Mustangs are scheduled to travel to Bevier, Monday, and South Shelby, Friday.
2022 Mustang
Baseball Schedule
3/19 at W-M ppd.
3/21 K.C. W 2-0, 1-0
3/28 at Bevier
4/1 at South Shelby
4/4 at Clopton
4/9 Marion Co. Tri.
LaPlata
Silex
4/11 at Van-Far
4/13 at Green City
4/18 at Brashear
4/21 North Shelby
4/22 MMA
4/25 Madison
4/26 Highland
4/29 Higbee
5/2 Louisiana
5/6 at Novinger
5/9 at MMA
5/13-22 Districts
