Mustangs aim to keep building momentum

Around 4 p.m. Thursday, the gravel parking lot at 100 N. Star Loop in Cheyenne began to stir.

Cars filled the lot of a building that resembled a giant storage facility. The sun remained hidden behind the clouds as a cold wind whistled through the air.

Behind the main entrance were a few batting cages soon to be occupied by a ballclub for more than an hour. A baseball was crushed into the netting every few seconds by multiple violent swings of metal bats.

Reed Thompson and Sheldon Baxter watched closely from a few feet away. The Cheyenne Mustangs assistant coach and first-year head coach cracked a slight smile with each strike of the bat.

It was a welcome sign for a team trying to improve after a rocky start to the season.

The Mustangs labored in April. They nursed a 1-7 record when the calendar flipped to May. Opponents outscored them 100-30 during that stretch.

Baxter was wrapping up his third season as pitching coach at Lecanto High in Citrus County, Florida, and didn’t arrive in the Capital City until mid-May. In the meantime, Thompson was the man in charge. He and his club went back to the drawing board, had a couple of long practices centered on fundamentals – from his team’s approach at the plate to base-running to basic defense.

The response from his players has been vast.

Since May 4, the Mustangs have gone 4-2 with a plus-6 run differential.

The Mustangs are riding a three-game winning streak into this weekend’s Memorial Day tournament, which begins at 12:30 p.m. today against Poudre at Powers Field.

“Sometimes you’ve got to fail first before you can learn how to win,” Baxter said. “That’s something they got their eyes opened to once we stepped out on the field that we gotta shore up these little things that altogether equal good baseball and good wins.”

Indeed.

A team that struggled to score runs, find the strike zone and be sharp defensively early on has suddenly

become a squad booming with confidence.

The versatility of Ryan Chamberlain, the sudden emergence of freshman outfielder Phabien Pena and the recent success of Xander Jarosh on the mound are but a few of the reasons for the turnaround Thompson mentioned.

Chamberlain leads the club with doubles (eight) and slugging percentage (.676%) and is tied for first with 13 hits while providing a dominant presence at shortstop.

“He’s got a lot of tools for us and plays a great shortstop,” Thompson said. “He’s one of the best shortstops we’ve had in a long time here.”

Chamberlain also leads the team in innings pitched (22 2/3) and strikeouts (30), while holding a steady 3.08 earned run average.

“Mechanically-wise, he’s really good,” Baxter said. “He’s definitely had some good coaching at the younger level.”

Pena has been somewhat of a surprise thus far. He entered the season with no varsity experience, but he hasn’t let that hold him back. Instead, he’s taken off – literally – in the outfield and in lead-off spot. His .394 average, .608 on-base percentage, 15 runs scored and 17 walks are a team-best. His 13 hits are tied with Chamberlain for first.

“I’ve seen him out here in practice, and you can definitely tell he’s athletic, so the success isn’t a surprise to me,” Baxter said. “If you’re athletic and you receive coaching well, you can be very successful at the varsity level, no matter what experience you’ve had in the past.”

Since the beginning of May, Jarosh has gone 4 for 18 at the plate, driven in five and scored three runs. His best game came May 4 against Rapid City Post 320, where he went 2 for 3, with two RBI and two runs scored.

“This is one of the best times I’ve ever hit the ball,” the infielder said.

On the mound, Jarosh is cementing himself as the go-to reliever. Since May 1, the right-hander has worked six innings and allowed three earned runs off seven hits with four strikeouts.

He credits his success to focusing on throwing strikes. He’s done plenty of that this month by throwing 50% of his pitches for strikes. He also credits Chamberlain for guiding him through the ups and downs.

“Ryan’s a great pitcher,” Jarosh said. “He’s taught me a lot this year. He’s a great leader on our team, and he’s really helped me.”

This current run of success has the Mustangs (5-9) believing in one another, despite the fact that they lost the majority of their starting lineup from last summer’s team that won 53 games.

Thursday’s practice was about making small adjustments. The results of hard work have led to success, and the Mustangs plan to keep it that way.

“We’re going to keep focusing on getting ‘W’s,” said Jarosh, “and that’s all we really care about right now.”