Last Friday, May 2, the Mustangs traveled to Ignacio for the district baseball tournament, first playing Dove Creek. That’s the team they’d just played for their last home games on April 28, which saw two walk-off wins, 12-11 and 11-10.
Then last Friday, the Mustangs beat the Bulldogs again, 13-2, with Brycen Rummel “throwing a really good game.”
“And the kids hit the ball really well,” said head coach Randy Gabriel. “And they played defense, so we did everything we were supposed to do.”
In the second game, with Jackson McCabe pitching, they beat Sergeant 17-2, taking the district title.
Gabriel said there was a lot of fan support with as many as 30 people in the bleachers, and the Mustangs are now the No. 5 seed in the final 16 teams. Regional play happens this weekend, May 10. Now, they head to Simla to play Rocky Mountain Lutheran.
Gabriel said the guys have “totally improved.” Each year, he designs T-shirts with different wording, messages that speak to the current team. This year has a line that says “respect the processes,” and that’s something coach said is important. He said it might take until district games for the guys to buy in, but they do.
“Respect the processes — that’s what we do as a team,” he said. “It’s what we believe in, what we practice. You keep doing those things right, it becomes muscle memory.”
Gabriel said in addition to hitting the ball better — the first few games were .150, and now the guys are at .384 — they’ve cleaned up their errors. They’ve had some injuries, but they’ve come together, and it’s fun. Hayden Branham pinch hit the last game in district play with an RBI for the win.
“That’s fun to see,” coach said.
And, they’re good in the outfield. He said Rummel and Cole Bray work really hard. Coulter Shumway made the winning catch at the end of district play. Jace Bonacquista has his swing back, Holten McCluer plays four different positions, and Jackson McCabe can play anything. Josh Platt has been an overall good leader, he catches both games, even in double-headers, and bats well too. He and Rummel are over .500.
The guys are 12-8, but would’ve been more like 18-2 if they’d won their close games. Needless to say, Gabriel is relieved they swept Dove Creek a week ago at the end of regular season play.
Right now it’s bittersweet with “Captain Kirk,” assistant coach Ben Kirk, retiring and moving out of state. Gabriel said everyone will miss Kirk terribly. He’s transported Norwood kids to the Nucla field, had kids doing homework during downtime, and in general has been just a good influence and leader for the combined team.
Also doing an amazing job are the “stat girls” running the technology: Darcy Bray, Kendra McCluer and Maria Camacho.
“They do a good job. They’re good kids, and we are lucky,” Gabriel said.
Mike Redd is also assisting.
He added it seems like everyone is contributing and working, and the proof is the result of the district tournament win, where it all came together. Coach doesn’t even mind that some of the boys are running track too. In fact, he’s proud the 4x100 relay team is ranked No. 2 in the state. That’s Brycen Rummel, Owen Tackett, Daniel Zunich and Cole Bray. He said the guys don’t miss baseball practice ever, and he supports their track participation.
Three seniors are walking into regionals for their last time: Josh Platt, Jake Hulst and Paxtin Caruso. Coach said Caruso has made the comment that it’s the closest the team has been in his four years.
Gabriel agreed the guys are a really good group of kids. In fact, Nucla High School Principal Joshua Ledford got a message after district play from an umpire who worked the game. He said umpire was so impressed with Nucla’s sportsmanship and conduct, he wanted to let the administrators know. Gabriel said he had someone come up to him inside Walmart and say the same thing.
“They represent the school well,” he said. “They trust the processes.”
He added he’s also pleased they hustle on and off the field like they’re supposed to.
