Mustangs rally for win over Wildcats
By Jarvis Williams
Special to the Times
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| Font: N / N+ / N++ A strategic move by Mustang head coach Mitch Nelson late in the game added to a rally that helped Monument Valley secure an important 13-12 win over Chinle in the 3A North Region tournament on Monday.
When asked about the move that put a sophomore pitcher on the mound with the Mustangs down by 1, Nelson said, "They had seen Marvin (Russell) all game, he had more than 100 pitches, and so they hadn't seen Jon (Delmar) so we went to Jon. It worked."
"I was nervous in the beginning but I gained some confidence when we got the second out," said Delmar.
With two pop flys to Mustang first baseman Tyler Stanley for the first two outs of the inning, Delmar finished the next Chinle batter with three straight pitches to close the inning with a strikeout.
Stanley said of his catches, "I lost the ball in the sun and tried to relocate the ball but I pulled through and caught them."
The Mustangs gained a run in the bottom of the sixth inning off a stand-up double and an errant throw from the Chinle catcher to the pitcher that sent the Mustang runner to home plate and cut the lead to one, 12-11.
The Mustangs went into the bottom of the 7th inning down by one and looked to the heart of their batting order for a chance to win the game.
Chinle pitcher Brent Jones was on the mound to close out the game for a victory but ended up doing the opposite, walking to fill the bases with Delmar on deck.
Looking at 2-1 count, Delmar eyed the next pitch with confidence.
"The pitch came inside and I took it. I was confident," said Delmar.
The grounder slipped past the shortstop and brought the game-winning runs home giving the Mustangs the victory, 13-12.
Chinle head coach Chris Dorman said, "We knew it was going to be a close one. We went back and forth the whole time and just lost it at the end. They know how to close out the close games and we've been struggling with that all year."
The loss for the Wildcats puts them out of the regional tourney but hopefully not out of the state tourney.
"I'm hoping that we can still play next week with the power point rankings," said Dorman.
The Wildcats were No. 12 in the Arizona Power Point rankings at the time of the game with the Mustangs.
"There still a lot of baseball left to play and we want our players to be in top condition heading into the state tournament and the rest of the regional tournament," said Nelson following the game.
The 17-11 Mustangs advance to play Window Rock on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Winslow High in a 3A North Region tournament semifinal.
