The Sunrise Mountain High School Baseball Team hosted regional opponent Moon Valley High School on Wednesday afternoon, defeating the Rockets 11-1.

 

The sun played a factor in, as it was 95 degrees with minimal cloud coverage at the start of the game. Both teams seemed to get off to a slow start, as the game was scoreless at the conclusion of the first inning.

 

Senior Trevor Pruitt got his first start of the season and did not disappoint, striking out three batters and allowing no hits or walks in two innings of work. This was enough to earn him the win for the game.

 

Moon Valley batted first, failing to score a run through the first two innings. Junior third baseman Caleb Thomason scored the first run of the game off of a triple by Eserasua Junior. Junior would go on to score and outfielder Noah Thompson scored the last run of the second inning to make it a 3-0 game going into the third inning.

 

“It was good. Kind of slow-starting, not putting up any runs in the first inning,” Sunrise Mountain shortstop Tyler Pruitt said after the game. “We got back to ourselves and kind of got in our comfort zone and put some runs up on the board.”

 

The Rockets scored their lone run of the game in the top of the third inning as junior catcher William Meeks hit a single to drive in freshman outfielder Jake Simington.

 

The Mustangs, who are now on a nine-game winning streak, seemed to really wake up after seeing Moon Valley score a run. Moon Valley recorded their only three hits in the third inning and never got on base after that. Sunrise Mountain head coach Eric Gardner seemed to believe that his defense slacked a little bit during the inning.

 

“We’ve got to play the game at an intense level all the time,” Gardner said. “We can’t just take plays off because of the opponent.”

 

The Mustang offense came out in the bottom of the third inning and seemed poised to impose their will. They opened the game up during the inning, scoring seven runs off of seven hits to make it a 10-1 game heading into the fourth.

 

A more positive attitude as the game went on may have been largely to credit for the Mustangs’ hitting in the third.

 

“I think positive energy is really contagious,” Pruitt said. “It keeps us loose instead of having a lot of stress.”

 

Almost everybody in the batting order got a hit during the third inning and some players even got the opportunity to bat twice before the inning was over.

 

The Rockets failed to score a run in the fifth inning, prompting the umpire to call the game because of the 10-run deficit.

 

“The team is poised to make a run. We looked really good as a team,” Myers said. “I think we just need work on oneness as a team. We have all the skill. We have all the people for it. We just need oneness as a team.”

 

Junior believes that the Mustangs can have great success in the postseason if everybody in the program knows their respective roles and the team makes sure to stay focused and unified.

 

“I think we’re going to be fine rolling into the playoffs,” Pruitt said. “We’ve been playing well, hitting well, and playing good defense.”

 

While the team’s main goal this season is to play in the state championship on May 14, they aren’t too worried about it. They just want to play their best and have fun while doing it.

 

““I think these guys just kind of go with the flow,” Gardner said. “They’re a little bit different. They’re going to play with what the game gives them and they’re going to go from there.”

 

The Rockets move on to play at Cactus High School Thursday at 3:45 p.m. while the Mustangs try to extend their win streak to double digits as they host region rival Greenway High School on Monday afternoon.