Pictured is #40 Nate Brewer
With a final winning score of 8-2 over the Acorn Tigers, the Mansfield Tigers played one of their best games of the season. The Tigers are flyin’ high and feelin’ good as they earned their third straight victory placing them with a 5-4 record. Mansfield took it slow and went easy on Acorn in the first two innings but by inning three, it was lights out as the Tigers picked up speed leaving Acorn in their dust.
“Last night was overall our best game yet,” expressed Coach Layton Robinson. “We not only played good defense but we had four guys come and attack the strike zone, put multiple hard-hit balls in play, and got eight stolen bags as well. We are a pretty balanced team throughout and everyone has something that they can do to help put us in the best position to win.”
Mansfield was first on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Nate Brewer scored his first run of the night from a Fisher Willsey pop fly that reached an error by an Acorn shortstop. Acorn acquired their only two scores at the top of the second and third innings allowing the Tigers to be unleashed in the bottom of the third where Mansfield pulled in four runs.
Nate Brewer landed his second run in the match when Fisher Willsey delivered a fly ball that sent Aaron Brewer advancing to third. From there Aaron and Fisher scored on back-to-back passed balls while Braxton Byers doubled on a fly ball letting Cody Fudge upgrade the score to 5-2 Mansfield. As the game reached the bottom of the fourth, Randy Claude scored on a Peyton Martin fly ball to right field. Martin went on to score on the next play and although two more innings would be played, Aaron Brewer ended scoring for the Tigers with one final run from third.
“Overall, we are a really young team with not a lot of high school knowledge. To improve, we just need to play games and get some experience. We’ve done well cutting down on striking out but that is something that we can always work to be better at.” Next up for the Tigers are the Dover Pirates on March 31. “There is really nothing different that we need to do in our game tomorrow. It’s a great opportunity to play against a quality team and gain experience. If we go in and play well in all four aspects of the game, then we will have a chance to come out of there with a win!”
Photos courtesy of Raven Jackson
