The baseball Braves struggled a bit near the end of this abbreviated regular season, but they’ve looked sharp in two tournament wins, the most recent 15-5 in six innings over BGM on Tuesday, July 14.
“Our approach now is to go out and have fun,” Braves Coach Josh Anderson told Chris Varney of KGRN.
“We’re playing free baseball. We’re peaking right now,” Anderson said.
A key blow against BGM was a three-run first inning home run by Cole Watts. That gave the Braves a 4-2 lead and they never gave up that lead.
“Cole’s power numbers have been down this season,” Anderson said. “He has been frustrated. But, we’ve tweaked his swing a little.”
Sometimes, a little turns into a lot.
Freshman starting pitcher Owen Cook worked five and two-thirds innings, but Anderson told Varney he didn’t consider taking him out, “until he reached 90 pitches.”
Cook was battling wildness and a BGM rally that got the Bears as close as two runs.
Anderson finally turned to Watts, who came in and put out the fire with an infield popup that left the potential tying runs in scoring position.
“You have to be tough,” Anderson said. “You’ve got to get through it.
Owen is a competitor,” said his coach. “His toughest critic is himself. He’s a baseball kid. He’s a hard-worker and hates to lose at anything.”
Montezuma is hitting the ball, up and down its lineup. “We’re starting to see our potential,” Anderson said. “And every run matters.”
The Braves plated six of them in their half of the sixth, to take the game on the 10-run mercy rule.
