Mildren, Mustangs blank Red Raiders
HOPWOOD – With their fourth consecutive Section 2-AAA championship on the line Monday against Uniontown, the Laurel Highlands Mustangs turned to ace pitcher Ethan Mildren. And his performance was vintage Mildren as the senior right-hander blanked the Red Raiders 4-0 on a seven-hit, six strikeout performance. The victory assured the Mustangs of sharing the section crown with Mount Pleasant.
Laurel Highlands (15-4, 12-2) scratched out all the runs it would need with a two-run first inning, and added a pair of third-inning insurance runs.
Max Beatty led off the Mustang first with a single, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. One out later, Carmen Congelio walked, and stole second as Beatty scored on the back end of a double steal. Mildren’s infield ground out drove in Congelio for a 2-0 lead.
Uniontown (5-13, 4-10) threatened in the second as Cody Cross and Bobby King each singled around the first out of the inning. The Mustangs turned their second double play in as many innings to end the threat, and started a streak of eight straight batters retired by Mildren.
A two-base error opened the door for the Mustangs in the third as Nick Forsythe moved into scoring position on the miscue, then reached third on a wild pitch. Congelio followed with an RBI double, and scored two batters later on Dylan Clifford’s single for a 4-0 lead.
In the fifth, Lewis and Lucas Mosco singled for the Red Raiders, but Mildren struck out the final two batters to end the threat.
In the seventh, Cody Cross led off with a single and the ball was thrown into the dugout for an error. Lewis singled, but left fielder Chase Frankhouser’s perfect throw to Beatty caught pinch runner Jordan Stinger at the plate. Mildren got the last two outs to preserve the shutout.
“Ethan threw well for us for the past four years,” said Laurel Highlands coach Tom Landman. “He did a great job in our last home game against our arch rivals. He kept them off balance. To Uniontown’s credit, they battled. Coach Hruby did a great job with them all year.”
Landman praised his defense as well. “We needed to win to tie Mount Pleasant at 12-2 (for the section title). The kids knew that and responded well. We turned a couple double plays and made some plays in the infield. Chase made a great throw to home plate and Max did a great job blocking the plate and making the tag.”
Hruby said, “Ethan did a tremendous job today. J.D. (Lewis) did a great job for us all year and a fantastic job against (Laurel Highlands) the first time as well. We battled hard all year. Hats off to Laurel Highlands. They have a great program. We’ll keep working hard, finish the season off and come back hungry next year.”