There is probably no better definition of resilience than the Stanhope Elmore baseball team this year.
The Mustangs hosted the Spanish Fort Toros for the third round of the playoffs, and in Game 1, it was anybody’s game. Both teams went scoreless through the first four frames before the Toros got two runs on the board. The Mustangs responded with two runs from Jacob Tharpe and Adam Wooten, where yet against the Toros posted two more to put themselves in the lead.
Stanhope Elmore found itself down heading into the bottom of the seventh inning with a one-run deficit when it was able to put up some late-game heroics. A single to bring in Hayden Anderson tied things up and advanced Tristen Wilson to third base. Jordan Jones came up to bat, hitting a perfectly placed bunt to advance Wilson in for the game-winning run to take Game 1 of the series.
“I mean, just never gave up,” Stanhope Elmore head coach DK Shuman said. “They just competed. And that's one thing that's been their calling card all year, for us, is just they don't quit. They're resilient. They keep playing and keep playing, and they don't care what the score is. They just don't give up.”
The momentum carried over into Game 2, with other than one impressive inning for the Mustangs, it was practically a stalemate. While each team racked up strikeouts for most of the game, it was the Mustangs’ discipline at the plate that propelled them to a victory.
At the top of the second inning, Stanhope Elmore had the bases loaded. In an at-bat that never seemed to end, Mack Boswell faced a full count while fouling off five pitches in a row before drawing the walk for the first score of the day. Bases were still loaded with Jackson Stallworth coming up to bat, where he narrowly missed out on a grand slam, bringing in three runs in the process.
“They've been disciplined all year, it goes back to the same way that they're unfazed and all facets of the game they don't get rattled,” Shuman said. “They understand that it's a long game and that the inning that gets away from you is only because you let it get away. It goes the same way with their approaches, I might have got out the last time, but this new count, new AB. I get another chance.”
Stanhope Elmore is now knocking on the door of a state championship appearance with a series against Chelsea looming in the distance. Even so, the goal remains the same for Shuman and the Mustangs — competing until the very end.
“I just wanted our guys to continue to compete,” Shuman said. “Throw strike one and make the plays they're supposed to make. Dominate the routine plays, throw strikes and give us a chance. We can hang around, find a way to win it at the end. That's what we've been doing a pretty good job of.”
