Mitchell tosses gem in Yard Goats win

GREENWOOD— Right-handed pitcher Austin Mitchell made his impact out of the bullpen this year for the Greenwood Bulldogs as the team’s closer. His uniform and when he came into the game changed Saturday, but the success didn’t.

Mitchell helped the Greenwood Yard Goats bounce back from an opening-round loss Friday in the Katzer American Legion baseball tournament by pitching a gem as a starter. He tossed 5 1/3 innings allowing just one run and four baserunners to go with five strikeouts. That effort helped Greenwood in a 3-1 rain-shortened, five-inning victory over Three Rivers.

“I felt really good in the bullpen,” Mitchell said. “I pulled a couple pitches. But once I figured that out, it was a good day for me. The year before this I started, so this isn’t something out of the ordinary for me. The team played so well behind me with the defense. The umpire was great with his zone. I felt really good out there.”

Mitchell was locked in early. A runner reached on an error in the first inning, but he helped his own cause to end the frame starting a double play. A leadoff walk came around to score in the second, but that’s the only run he allowed.

He pitched perfect innings in the third and fourth and worked around an error and a walk in the fifth inning. Mitchell got the first batter of the sixth inning out, but the game was called because of heavy rain after that, giving him a complete game. His last three strikeouts of the game caught the batters looking.

“Our starting pitching was the difference,” Greenwood Coach Brennan Rogers said. “Last night we gave up five runs and I think they were all on walks. We cut that down a lot today, which we needed to do. He is a great arm for the high school team and projects to be a starter. He has looked really good so far this summer with a complete game already in his last outing.”

Greenwood provided the run support early. The Yard Goats used back- to- back doubles from Rylan Ray and Brady Pettigrew to take a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Both hits came on two-strike counts. Pettigrew later scored in the frame off an error for a 2-0 edge.

“They had a great pitcher out there with good stuff,” Pettigrew said. “He had three good pitches going today, so I just tried to get one to hit. I just stayed ready trying to get a fastball. You do whatever it takes to move the runners.”

An additional run was scored in the third inning when Reid Sutton reached on an error and later scored on another error.

The run support was much appreciated by Mitchell, who used the offense as fuel while on the mound.

“My confidence level always shoots up when we get the bats going,” Mitchell said. “We really got some clutch hits in that inning. I’ve learned in my pitching career to flush it all and move on if something doesn’t go your way. I want to have a goldfish mentality out here.”

The Yard Goats are composed of players mostly from both Greenwood and Booneville. The teams played earlier this season with Greenwood pulling off a double-header sweep. But it’s been all smiles for the players, who know each other well.

“It’s been really fun playing with these guys,” Pettigrew said. “I’ve known these Booneville guys for a long time. It’s really fun to actually play with them. It makes summer really fun with these guys around. They are great players.”

Because of rain washing out nearly every game Saturday, the Katzer tournament’s championship will be determined by a 10-team tournament today.