Throwing strikes was a big factor in Friday’s home game for Mexico.

Eldon walked the Bulldogs 13 times while senior Kaden Benne walked two Mustangs in an 11-1 five-inning victory for Mexico. Benne struck out six and allowed two hits in five innings.

In Friday’s chilly weather made worse by strong winds, head coach Daniel McCarty said his players were focused on giving their best to Eldon, who went into the matchup undefeated and played one-run games against Mexico in three of the previous four meetings. 

Mexico vs Eldon Photo Gallery

“Our guys knew these guys were coming together a little bit,” McCarty said. “We wanted to embrace that challenge. The kids took it to heart today during batting practice by slowing things down. It carried over today as we were very patient today, we hit the ball and we struck out zero times tonight.”

Drew DeMint walked three times and had two RBIs, and Chance McCarty went 2-for-4 with three runs and one RBI. Benne, Zach Jahn, Brayden Arnold, Gatlin Denham and Kinser Groves each had one RBI. 

McCarty said there were plenty of “quality at-bats” that put pressure on Eldon’s defense. Meanwhile, Benne did what he could to keep the Mexico defense active but not pressured by limiting the free passes. 

“He had 73 pitches,” McCarty said. “That’s being efficient, that’s using the defense and that’s being around the zone. He handled the game well for us.”

Benne said the focus was on throwing strikes and using his defense, which rewarded his trust with no errors. He tried to stay around the zone to swing at pitches and wasn’t fazed even at times he fell behind 2-0 in the count.

“It’s definitely hard when you fall behind 2-0 to not walk a hitter,” Benne said. “My perspective when I get down 2-0 is to throw some junk and make them think it’s a good pitch when it’s really not and paint the corners.”

Eldon ran three pitches out to the mound and each of them had at least three walks. In the same cold conditions, Benne kept the traffic on the bases low to nonexistent. 

“It was really cold out there,” Benne said with a grin. “It definitely didn’t feel good with the fingers tingling a little bit, but it’s whatever.”

McCarty is a former pitcher and said there are questions that roll through a pitcher’s mind in cold conditions like whether they need sleeves. The mind is the key, he said, as mental toughness is necessary to overcome the weather. 

McCarty wants his pitchers to throw strikes. He wishes the same out of all of Mexico’s pitchers and believes Benne and others have demonstrated that well so far.

“Any time you walk somebody in high school baseball, it’s almost always a run,” McCarty said. “It’s very important that our kids understand that and recognize that situation.”

Bulldogs rise over 500 with Southern Boone triangular wins

Mexico’s record  is now on the winning side.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-3 after beating Southern Boone 6-5 and Owensville 8-0 in a triangular played on Saturday at Southern Boone in Ashland. 

Southern Boone (4-3) was a team included on the Class 4 state preseason watch list along with Mexico and the matchup came down to the last inning. The game was tied at 5 by Southern Boone in the sixth inning on a RBI single before Mexico responded in the seventh inning. Kinser Groves came through with a RBI single with two outs to score the winning run and then Drew DeMint slammed the door by pitching a perfect bottom seventh of the inning with one strikeout.

Chance McCarty finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs and one double to lead the Bulldogs. Kaden Benne went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Brayden Arnold was 2-for-3 and he scored the winning run. 

Arnold pitched four innings with four runs allowed on six hits, and Groves pitched two innings with one unearned run.

Mexico earned its first shutout of the season against Owensville (1-6) as DeMint pitched seven innings with five strikeouts, two walks and one hit. He also scored two runs and had one RBI and one double.

Arnold and Zach Jahn each had two RBIs, McCarty and Pearson Kleinsorge each had one RBI, and Gatlin Denham went 3-for-3 with one run.

Mexico is scheduled to host North Central Missouri Conference foe Hannibal (2-5) at 5 p.m. Thursday.