There’s always another game. That’s the motto in the regular season, especially in baseball and thanks to the weather recently, they’re all packed togehter week after week for just about everybody. Just a day removed from falling on the road to Western Albemarle, Monticello bounced back nicely in a second straight road game, this time in a 4-1 win over Albemarle to complete a busy week for the Mustangs.
“The good part about baseball is that it’s about having a short memory,” said Monticello coach Corey Hunt. “I told my guys that when we get up in the morning it’s a new day and it’s time to go. It was a long week but we grinded it out and we’ll get right back at it after the weekend.”
The story for Monticello up until he had to leave the game because of an elbow injury was Luke Cieslewicz who threw four and two thirds innings.
“He was really good tonight — all his pitches, all three were working tonight,” said Mustangs catcher Jack Decker. “He threw them all for strikes and he was getting ahead a lot so he could use his stuff later in the counts.”
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Cieslewicz gave up his first hit, but he had to come out shortly there after.
“He grinds out every start he has,” Hunt said. “Hopefully all is well but we’ll have to see what comes out of it.”
He picked up the win nonetheless and struck out three batters and walked just one. Albemarle got just two hits in the game and both came in the fifth — a solo shot from Jacob Nash and then a single to Andrew Porter.
“We got great pitching tonight which was fantastic because last night we walked nine batters and that doesn’t win any games,” said Patriots coach Jimmy Bibb. “Tonight if we got a few hits here and there maybe it’s different but they did a great job with their opportunities and (Cieslewicz) was really good too on the mound. I really hope he’s okay — that’s always scary when a pitcher grabs their arm.”
Monticello on the other hand was able to get rolling offensively fairly early. In the second Jon Heurcheurt led the inning off with a single and later scored on an RBI double-play. Then in the third, Decker made it 3-0 on a two-run homer.
“They started me off with a couple of curve balls and low so I was sitting fastball,” Decker said. “I got one inside and I was able to turn on it.”
In the sixth the Mustangs picked up some insurance with John Page leading off with a single. After two wild pitches he was brought home on and RBI sac-fly by Heuchert.
