Mustangs Fall Short in State Title Game

MURFREESBORO (May 24) — The Huntingdon Mustang baseball team, after playing two dramatic games on Friday to reach the state title game for the second year in a row, ran up against a talented Lakeland Prep team on Saturday and lost 9-1 to the Lions to claim a second consecutive runner-up finish in the state tournament.

The Mustangs, after recording 59 hits in their first five games of the tournament, only managed five hits on Saturday. They faced a situation that left them short with their pitching and walked seven Lion hitters and committed two errors in the game.

The Mustangs fell behind early as Lakeland scored three in the first and three in the second to lead 6-0 after two innings and added two more in the fifth as the Lions used the bunt-and-steal to their advantage to give the Mustangs an 8-0 hole before a Hayes Eubanks home run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the score to 8-1, but a sixth-inning run gave the Lions a 9-1 lead and they held on for their first-ever state championship.

Silas Sharp recorded two hits for the Mustangs, Braylon Rich and Caleb Ezell singled, and Eubanks provided the only run with his homer in the fifth. Owen Kreuziger took the loss on the mound as the starting pitcher.

The Mustangs finished the season with a 32-6 record and their second consecutive state runner-up. This was the Mustangs tenth appearance in the state tournament in the 21 years Alan Eubanks has been head coach.