At this point there may not be a kind of a game that Monticello’s baseball team hasn’t won.
The Mustangs used four pitchers and overcame surrendering 10 runs against Rustburg Friday to win a 12-10 barnburner in the Region 3A West title game, securing region title and a high seed in next week’s state tournament.
Just a few days after Parker Heinemann did the heavy lifting on the mound in a 2-0 battle in the region semifinals, this time the Monticello offense carried the day.
The Mustangs’ lineup exploded for 17 hits, with Tre Dudley, Jack Decker, Jon Heuchert, Caleb Archer, Kyle Jarrell, Ben Riley and Heinemann all had multi-hit games with everyone in the Monticello lineup getting at least one hit.
Monticello jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half inning, but surrendered five runs in the bottom half of the first to fall into a 5-3 hole. Things got tougher in the second inning when Rustburg tacked on four runs and took a 9-3 lead.
But the Mustangs, who’ve shown a knack for rallying and fighting their way back into games throughout the season scratched out a run in the third, but really got going in the fourth with a six-run explosion, hitting around the order with seven singles in the frame. That pushed Monticello ahead 10-9 after four complete. Rustburg didn’t answer in the fifth as Carter Lee posted a 1-2-3 inning on the mound for the Mustangs. Monticello added a pair of insurance runs from Heinemann and Reid Huffman RBIs in the sixth to take a three-run lead and then Rustburg pulled within two in the sixth as Robbie Deane took the mound.
Deane was unfazed by that single run in the sixth though and made the lead hold up in the seventh, closing the game out by retiring the side with a groundout and two flyouts. Lee picked up the win while Deane got the save. Deane also reached base three times and scored twice in five at-bats.
The Mustangs will play the Region 3A East runner-up Friday at 3 p.m. at Liberty University.
