One thing that has always remained true about Huntingdon Mustang baseball is that they play a tough schedule early. And they also play in several tournaments around the area and play other schools from each of the classifications. The Mustangs will take on some of the better teams, and in some years they fair very well against better competition.
For Coach Alan Eubanks, this serves several purposes in that he plays different line-ups and experiments with different pitchers to simply find out who he can depend on later in the season. Coach Eubanks is not afraid to take some losses as he searches for the players that are going to carry them through tournament time at the end of the season. The real season doesn’t begin until district play and district tournament starts, and the tough schedule early gets the Mustangs ready when that time arrives.
The Mustangs played nine games before earning their first win of the season. Then the Mustangs had a week in which you could see the improvement in the team. The Mustangs even had a two-game winning streak as they defeated Union City 4-1 and Westview 2-1. The Mustangs had lost to the Chargers 19-3 earlier in the season, so you can see the team improving.
The pitching, which I believe will remain the key to the success of the season, has gotten better in the two-game winning streak. The Mustangs then lost to Milan in a game they could have won if not shortened by rain, and then they finished the week with their second tie of the season 7-7 with South Side.
The Mustangs have technically not played a district game, although the schedule called for four. Clarksburg didn’t have enough kids to field a team, and Big Sandy cancelled two games. The true mark of improvement will come this week and will happen before may people read this column as the Mustangs took on McKenzie Monday and Tuesday. The Rebels appear to be the class of the district, but something tells me with what I have seen recently, the two games will be exciting to watch.
