Starting the baseball season in Branson made opening weekend memorable for Mexico baseball, but there were more reasons to remember it.

The Bulldogs went 1-3 in the Steve Lael Leadoff Festival with a 12-3 win against Lebanon and losses of 13-0 in five innings to Hickman, 6-5 to Marshfield and 13-7 to Glendale. However, Drew DeMint finished the weekend 5-for-12 with two RBIs to become Mexico’s all-time hits leader. Chance McCarty went 3-for-11 with three runs scored and was hit once in the final game against Glendale to become the program’s leader in hit by pitches. 

DeMint currently stands at 104 career hits after going into the season tied at 99 with Andrew Jurgesmeyer while McCarty now has 19 hit by pitches after heading into opening weekend tied at 18 with Frank Nickoley. 

DeMint had Mexico’s only hit against Class 6 Hickman, but Mexico bounced back that same day against Class 5 Lebanon after finishing with 11 hits. Brady Fox stood out on the mound with 6⅓ innings pitched with nine strikeouts and one earned run and also led at the plate by going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Colton Dickey was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Zach Jahn finished 3-for-4 with one RBI, McCarty went 2-for-4 with one RBI and DeMint was 2-for-5 with one RBI.

Brayden Arnold was 1-for-3 with two RBIs against Class 5 Marshfield, and DeMint also had one RBI and went 1-for-3. Arnold pitched four innings with seven hits and three earned runs in a game Marshfield was able to win after scoring three runs via a two-out three-run home run in the sixth inning.

Jahn capped the weekend against Class 6 Glendale with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with three RBIs, but Glendale scored nine runs from the fourth to sixth innings. Arnold went 2-for-3 and Dickey was 1-for-4 with one RBI. Kaden Benne pitched 3⅔ innings with three strikeouts, and Jahn had two innings with a strikeout. 

Mexico hosts Class 5 Fort Zumwalt East (2-0) at 3 p.m. today for its home opener.