By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

WEST ORANGE — The West Orange-Stark Mustangs rolled over the Orangefield Bobcats 12-2 in just five innings of play Tuesday night at Ronnie Anderson Park in District 22-4A action.

There wasn’t one key hitter for the Mustangs, it was a team effort that enabled the victory. The Mustangs(15-3, 4-0) ended with nine hits in five innings, scoring 12 runs on the night.

Pitcher Tre Bernard three the complete game with four strikeouts, allowing six hits and two runs.

For the Bobcats (12-4, 2-2) Dylan Anthony and Brett Fregia had the only RBI’s on the night. Anthony’s on a long double and Fregia’s on a hard single to right.

The Bobcats had three pitchers on the night, starter Johnny Armstrong recorded the loss with 34 pitches in two innings pitched.

The Mustangs opened to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. BB Tezeno got on to lead off the inning, then stole second. Jack Dallas had a hit to third which caused an error allowing the speedy Tezeno to score from second base to put WO-S up 1-0 early.

Orangefield threatened to score in the top of the second with runners Mason Gonzalez and Kent Micheal on second and first, but shortstop KJ Miller made a diving catch to throw out Micheal at second to end the threat keeping the lead at 1-0 for West Orange.

The second inning the Mustangs picked off where they left off in the first with two more runs. Tre Bernard got on after an error by the shortstop and Jarron Morris came in to run for him. Terron Brown quickly picked him up with a hard grounder to the hole on second base created by Morris stealing second base. That grounder from Brown knocked in Morris for the innings’ first run. After Brown stole second base Kaleb Ramsey knocked him in with a hard hit to left-center field for the second run of the inning.

The third inning was another slugfest for the Mustangs. Miller hit a long double off the left field wall. Jack Dallas hit a hard single up the middle to drive in Miller. Ryan Ragsdale hit a long rope to left center driving in Dallas from first base while he got to second base. Chad Dallas drew a walk for Tre Bernard to come up with two runners on. Orangefield had another error on Bernard’s hit driving in Ragsdale from second base.

After a wild pitch, pinch runner Ja’vonn Ross scored from third base for the Mustangs making it 7-0, and that would be all for the third inning.

The Bobcats threatened again in the top of the fourth inning by getting Mason Gonzalez and Andrew Hoyland on second and third, but Bernard shut down the threat with a couple of strikeouts.

The Bobcats would fight back in the top of the fifth with their first two runs. Dylan Anthony hit a long double to right center driving in Ryon Stubblefield, who drew a walk. Brett Fregia would hit a long single and drive in Anthony from second to make the score 7-2 in the top of the fifth inning.

The Mustangs kept up the hot bats in the bottom of the fifth inning with two more hits. Chad Dallas and Ryan Ragsdale reached base to set up Bernard who had a hard liner to right field to bring both runs in. Jarron Morris would pinch run for Bernard and score off of a Kaleb Ramsey bunt, which he reached base on.

Still in the fifth Tezeno would reach base off an error from the Bobcats, Miller and Jack Dallas would both be walked. Dallas’ walk would drive in Ramsey who had been moved around because of the walks. The score was 11-2 at this point for the Mustangs, and Ragsdale would force another walk for the team scoring the final run of the game forcing the 10-run rule to come into play.

The Mustangs will welcome in Silsbee Friday for a big first-place showdown while the Bobcats visit Bridge City.