Senior Kellen Smith was nervous, taking his first varsity start on the mound.
When he gave up a home run to U.S. Grant's leadoff hitter, the nerves only worsened. He recovered from then on, and held the Generals scoreless the rest of the game in a Mustang 13-1 run-rule win Thursday in the home opener
Smith said he relied on a breaking ball to get the job done.
“Curveball was my big pitch — about halfway through the game, and toward the end I was really using that curveball,” he said.
Smith struck out six hitters and gave up just five hits on the afternoon, but it was the MHS bats that got going early.
The Broncos scored five runs in the opening inning. Kyle Lacy, Garrett Crain and Jake Matson each singled in the bottom of the first inning.
Brandon Taylor brought in a pair of runs with a line drive to right field. He went 3-for-3 with four RBIs in the contest. Mustang batted through the lineup in the frame.
The Broncos added two runs in the second and third innings before scoring four in the fourth inning and ending the game. In the regular season, teams are supposed to play atleast five innings, but exceptions can be made.
“That's what he (U.S. Grant coach) said in the last inning 'I'm good with 12,'” Mustang coach Tony Evans said.
Lacy finished the day 2-for-2 from the plate and scored a pair of runs.
Mustang didn't commit any errors in the contest.
The Broncos improved to 3-0 after a 5-2 win over Lawton Tuesday. Lacy got the win on the mound, going six innings without giving up an earned run. Colin Baker came on for the save.
“Looking at the schedule, we expected to be 3-0,” Evans said. “We've gone through the easy part of the schedule, but now the games are going to get harder.”