MacGregor tops Neepawa on the diamond
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, May 3, 2016
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The NACI Tigers could not overcome a strong start from the MacGregor Mustangs on Monday, May 2, falling 11-9 in Zone Seven baseball action. The Mustangs put up nine runs in the top of the first inning and held on to the lead, to secure their second win of the season. The Tigers meanwhile fall to 1-1.
NACI assistant coach Jonah Arstein Freeman said such a large early deficit was extremely difficult to overcome. He noted however, that the coaching staff was pleased to see there was no quit in the players throughout the game.
“The slow start bit us in the butt, but we’re still proud of [the players], because they didn’t give up. It could have been very easy for them to just shut it down early, but they kept cutting into that lead as the game progressed,” said Arstein Freeman. “It’s pretty hard though to come back from such an easy disadvantage. Still, it was awesome to see the team just focus on the fundamentals and not worry about the big picture. It wasn’t about making up the nine runs all at once. It was just them focusing only ‘Get this next hit, move the base runner into scoring position, get this next out.’ Those little things all added up and we nearly made it back because of that attention to the little details.”
MacGregor manager Richard Smith said it was great to see his team take advantage of its early opportunities.
“It was nice to get those early runs. It got us off to a good start. It got our confidence up. Neepawa battled back though. I think we did get a little ahead of ourselves with the big lead, but it was nice to hold on. They didn’t panic out there and to get our second win of the year. This is a baseball program that’s still developing. The [opening game victory] over Carberry was our first win in four years. So it’s been nice to see all the work the players have been putting in to improve paying off,” said Smith.
As for the upcoming schedule, NACI will play its next three games on the road, before the Tigers return home for a game on Tuesday, May 17 against the Carberry Cougars.
