PCM hit the road Friday night to take on the Saydel Eagles. The Mustangs softball game ended in a 12-2 defeat, while the baseball game resulted in a 7-2 win.
Sage Burns led the Mustang offense in the baseball game collecting three hits. Gavin Fenton added 2 hits and 3 RBI’s to give PCM the advantage on offense. Andrew Mitchell collected the win on the mound, while Durant Van Dyke earned the save in relief. The Mustangs have swung the bats well in their two wins, which Head Coach Jeff Lindsay is happy about after saying he wanted that aspect of their game to improve.
The PCM Baseball squad returns their top 3 hitters as the season starts this week. Seniors Caleb Duinink and Andrew Mitchell and Junior Durant VanDyke all finished the 2020 season with batting averages over .350 and on base percentages over .400. The Mustangs top pitcher, Senior Beau Webb, is also back after finishing 2020 with a 2-2 record.
The Mustangs Softball squad enters the 2021 season with an experienced group of underclassmen. PCM’s top 3 bats of Sidney Shaver, Riley DeVore, and Riley Johannes return as sophomores and look to expand upon a good 2020 campaign. All three hitters had batting averages eclipse the .350 mark in their freshman season. Sophomore Paige Steenhoek is set to lead the pitching staff after posting a 4-6 record last season in her 11 starts.
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The Mustangs’ leading scorer, Andrew Mitchell will be graduating, but Juniors Carson Vandelune and Durant Van Dyke will return to the starting lineup looking to take a huge step forward. Vandelune was PCM’s second-leading scorer and three-point shooter in 2020-21, averaging 13 points per game and connecting on 31% of his threes. Van Dyke led the team in rebounding, averaging nine boards a game.
PCM finished 11-11 on the season with a substate semifinal loss to Des Moines Christian Tuesday night.
The Mustangs struggled to get any consistency offensively throughout the game, never leading. Senior Andrew Mitchell led the way with 14 points, including one of PCM’s three three-pointers. Gaitlin Boell was second on the team in scoring, with 11 points. PCM had a hard time stopping Des Moines Christian’s Adam Witty, who finished with 20 total points. Coach Fred Lorensen tells KNIA Sports that despite the loss, he felt his team put forth their best effort.
“Well, I thought we played really hard and had a really tough team to play. I think they knew they would be in the game anyway.”