Mitchell Gray needs strong pitching performance at state tourney to get past familiar pool

The Mitchell Gray teener baseball team has a goal to play baseball Sunday.

The team is traveling to the 13-14 AA minors state tournament today in Huron and will need a good performance today and Saturday to make its way into Sunday’s games.

Mitchell Gray (3-27) takes on Yankton at 3:30 p.m. and Sioux Falls Central at 9 p.m. today. Saturday, the team faces off with Huron at 9 p.m.

Gray is 2-3 against Yankton on the season, 1-3 versus Huron and has not played Sioux Falls Central.

“All of our wins have come against teams in the pool, so our kids should come in with a little bit of confidence,” Gray coach Keith Flemmer said. “To get to play on Sunday would be huge for our confidence going into next year.”

Flemmer said the team is going to need good pitching if it wants to have a successful weekend.

“We’ve struggled at times, but they’ve shown good things at times as well,” he said. “If they can throw strikes and be confident in themselves, we’ll be all right.”

Flemmer said Wyatt Smith, Logan Kurtenbach and Carter Thompson are most likely going to get starts on the mound during the pool play competition.

“They’ve all shown that they can throw strikes and they’ve thrown some pretty good games,” Flemmer said.

At the plate, Flemmer said Smith and Spencer Mohr have been the top hitters at driving in runs.

“If the guys in front of them can get on base, they can hit the gaps and we score quite a bit,” Flemmer said.

Flemmer added that Kyle Woodall has shown improvement this season and has been a key hitter behind Smith and Mohr.

Thompson leads off for Mitchell Gray, and Flemmer said he sets the tone for the entire offense.

“He has a really good eye and works the count really well,” Flemmer said. “His at-bats are long and it seems like he’ll draw them out. If he gets a strike late in the at-bat, he’ll get a hit.”

Flemmer expects his team to be competitive this weekend and would like to see his pitching staff earn the wins it needs to get the team to Sunday.

“If we throw strikes and avoid giving free bags, I’m pretty confident in our bats that we can advance to Sunday,” Flemmer said.

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