The Mustangs varsity baseball team defeated their I-66 rival Skyline Hawks by a score of 10-3 on Friday night. The win marks the fifth consecutive victory for the Mustangs since dropping their first two contests against Brentsville District High School.

The Mustangs’ offense produced nine two-out RBIs and plated all ten of their runs with two outs. The Mustangs wrapped up their first half of district play with a 4-1 record, 5-2 overall.

The game between the Hawks and the Mustangs appeared to be shaping up as a pitcher’s duel in the early innings, with the Mustangs and Hawks deadlocked at zero heading into the bottom of the third inning. 

The bottom of the Mustangs’ order grounded out and popped out to open the frame, and Hawks starting pitcher Blake Sibert found himself on pace for another quick and easy inning. The top of the Mustangs order came to the plate in the third inning with two outs and zero runners aboard and proceeded to put the game out of reach in the blink of an eye. 

Center fielder Troy Ehrlich tripled to center field, starting pitcher Peter Villa doubled to center field, third baseman Thomas Downs reached base on a four pitch walk, catcher Alex Lacroix singled to center field, first baseman Patrick McDonald tripled to center field, and right fielder Bobby Asel tripled to center field before the designated hitter Matthew Teague grounded out to close the frame.

The Hawks found themselves chasing five runs heading into the fourth inning and the game never felt like it was within reach for the remainder of the night. Mustangs ace Peter Villa was dominant throughout the game, tossing five shutout innings before being removed following a trio of defensive errors from the Mustangs to open the sixth inning.

Downs and McDonald each tossed an inning in relief to close the door on the Hawks. Neither junior reliever allowed a hit, and both walked a batter. 

The Mustangs offense came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth with just a three run, 6-3 cushion, following three unearned runs scored by the Hawks in the top of the sixth. three-hole hitter Downs singled to center field with two outs to start the sixth inning rally. Clean-up hitter Lacroix went deep to right to clear the bases for his first career home run. McDonald singled to left field and Asel hit a home run to center field to cap off the Mustangs’ offensive explosion. The Mustangs led 10-3 after six innings and that was all she wrote.

The middle third of the Mustangs order (Lacroix, McDonald, Asel) terrorized Hawks pitching all night, combining at the plate to go 7-10 with two home runs, two triples, three singles, a walk, and a hit by pitch, while striking out zero times in twelve combined plate appearances.

The scorching hot Mustangs head into the second half of district play atop the district table at 4-1. The Mustangs are set to go on a four game road trip including games at Brentsville and at Monroe next week on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. The Mustangs will return home for their season finale against the Central Falcons on Tuesday, June 8th at 6pm.