TRINITY — The Mustangs and Seahawks seemed evenly matched, with comparable win-loss records and pitching stats.
For the first five innings Tuesday night, those similarities were obvious. Then Sunlake (9-5) broke away in the sixth, and the game was over.
The Seahawks defeated Mitchell on the road 7-4. Both teams earned three runs in the first inning and remained tied until the fourth.
“A lot of times, when a team jumps out in front like that and then lets the other team in, they struggle to come back,” Sunlake coach Dick Rohrberg said.
David Castillo and Colton King had back-to-back base hits, and Omar Cala hit a grounder to leftfield that took Castillo home. Zac Howard was the next up to bat, and his double allowed King to score.
Ryan Talburt came to bat with two outs, but was able to send Cala home before the inning was over.
Mitchell (9-6) rushed back to even the score in the bottom of the first. Zack Detty hit a double that pushed Kyle Frick to score.
The next batter, Mike Freeman, hit a grounder that gave him his first RBI when Detty made it home. Ryan Fontaine was next at the plate, and Freeman scored on his hit.
In the fourth inning, Castillo made it to first on a walk, but he stole second base, allowing him to earn a run before the Mustangs ended the inning after just four at-bats.
Anthony Moe had a walk to get to first, but a couple of solid hits got him to third by the time Cobi Johnson was on the plate. Johnson batted him in, and the Mustangs tied it up again.
Sunlake’s Jesse Williams hit a grounder to start the sixth inning, and Colby Stoltz was his pinch runner. Cala batted him in, and Howard hit a shot that allowed King to score on the next play.
“The kids did a good job,” Rohrberg said. “They kept battling.”
Austin Vogt pitched the first three innings for the Seahawks. Castillo pitched the last four and had three strikeouts.
Mitchell started Jake Fowler on the mound. He had two strikeouts in four innings. Tyler Vanderveer pitched in the fifth, earning a strikeout, and Ryan Slaughter finished the last two innings with two strikeouts.