Baseball Recap: Mandarin Triumphs

The third road contest was the charm for Mandarin, as they earned their first road win of the season. They blew past the Menendez Falcons 10-1 on Friday. The Mustangs' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.

Gavin Loper made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He tossed five innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed since back in March of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in hits (two).

Cole Rusak

Runs Batted In (Career)

02/21/25 @ Menendez	4
02/20/25 vs Nease	1
02/14/25 @ Middleburg	1
04/11/24 vs Stanton	1
04/04/24 vs Englewood	1

In other batting news, Cole Rusak was incredible, going 2-for-3 with four RBI, one triple, and one stolen base. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Samuel Smedley also deserves some recognition as he stolen his first stolen base of the season.

Mandarin's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for Menendez, they now have a losing record of 2-3.

Coming up, Mandarin will head out to take on Bishop Kenny at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Menendez, they will welcome Matanzas at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Menendez is facing Matanzas at the right time seeing as Matanzas is stuck on a five-game losing streak.