March 29, 2024

Mustangs get back on track with rout of Gilbert

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MONROE — Prairie City-Monroe senior Courtney Bridges wears her emotions on her sleeves. She tends to celebrate each and every hit by raising her hands and pointing to her friends in the dugout.

Bridges isn’t trying to show anyone up. She’s just having a blast playing a sport she loves. Bridges also knows her time as a Mustang is almost over. That gives her and a group of eight seniors much more urgency in their final season together.

“I know I have only so many at-bats left, so I try to make the most out of it,” Bridges said. “I don’t get to feel that too many more times.”

Bridges celebrated two doubles Tuesday night, senior Kayla Jennings took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and the Mustangs dominated Gilbert, 10-0, in five innings during Heart of Iowa Conference play.

Jennings struck out eight and allowed two infield singles in the top of the fifth inning. The her only other blemishes were a walk in the first inning and a hit by pitch in the fourth.

“Her rise ball was working and her curve ball was jumping,” PCM coach Scott Bridges said. “Courtney (Bridges) told us right away that her curve ball would be a go-to pitch. We just tried to keep them off balance as much as we could.”

PCM (12-9 overall, 10-3 in the HOIC) is hitting .355 at the plate this season. The Mustangs tallied eight more hits against the Tigers.

The Mustangs led 3-0 after one inning, 4-0 after two and then ended the game early with a four-run third and a two-run fourth.

In the first, senior Jayci Vos reached on a swinging bunt single and then she stole second. Jennings drove in Vos with an RBI double and then junior Madison Foster singled to put runners on the corners.

Foster stole second and then Jennings scored on the throw down. Foster eventually scored on a Gilbert error.

The Mustangs made it 4-0 in the second when Gilbert committed two errors.

The home team extended the lead to 8-0 in the third inning. Courtney Bridges led off the frame with a double but was thrown out at home when Jennings reached on a fielder’s choice.

Jennings came across to score when Foster drilled an RBI triple to center field.

“With me it’s all about confidence, and the coaches have confidence in me so that is helping,” said Foster, who finished with two hits, two runs and an RBI. “We had a lot of fun tonight, and when we have fun we tend to play better.”

Senior Katie Vande Wall kept the inning going when she drew a one-out walk. Senior Brooke Nicholson singled after that before sophomore Anna Shaver had an RBI groundout and senior Jaiden Rogers struck an RBI single to make it 8-0.

“They responded well tonight,” Coach Bridges said one day after the Mustangs lost 7-3 to Class 2A No. 5 CMB. “I liked our energy the last couple of nights. The kind of energy we have played with the last few nights is the energy we’ll need the rest of the season as playoffs near.”

In the fourth, Vos opened the frame with a walk. Bridges brought her around with her second double of the game. Bridges’ courtesy runner, freshman Regan Freland, scored the 10th run of the game after Jennings walked and got caught in a rundown between first and second base.

Bridges’ two hits helped raise her batting average to a career-best .352.

“We got back in the groove tonight.” Courtney Bridges said. “I have been working on looking the ball in more lately and it’s starting to show in the games.”

Coach Bridges moved a few players around in the lineup. Foster batted seventh against CMB on Monday but hit in the No. 6 hole Wednesday.

The changes, which also included moving Vande Wall, Shaver and Nicholson down a few spots in the order, were not made because of what players weren’t doing, according to Coach Bridges. The first-year Mustang coach is trying to figure out where everyone fits best as the team gets closer to the postseason.

“After you get so many at-bats, you can start looking at some data to see what is working and what is not,” Coach Bridges said. “It’s that time of year when we need to figure out what our best lineup is. We are getting close.”

Vos had one hit, one walk and scored twice. She is now batting a team-best .526 and she’s scored a team-high 30 runs.

Jennings doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in a run. She is currently batting .420.

Jennings was even better in the circle against the Tigers (4-17, 1-12). She improved to 9-6 in the circle, her earned run average is now 1.28 and she has 108 strikeouts in 104 innings.

Gilbert’s only threat came in the fifth when Molly Laws and Bella Saad both reached on infield singles. it was the only inning Gilbert got beyond first base.

The Mustangs play Class 3A No. 10 West Marshall at 7 p.m. Thursday in State Center. The Trojans are 21-2.