The Sachse Mustangs this time last season was frustrated losing their final two games of the season to miss out on the playoffs.

Now, they’re two games away from not only making the postseason, as they’ve already clinched their ticket into the next round. The Mustangs are two wins away from clinching at least a share of the District 9-6A championship in 2023. After splitting their two-game series with the Wylie Pirates, Sachse is tied at 12-2 in district with Wylie East and one game ahead of third-place Wylie with two games remaining.

In the final week, Sachse finishes the regular season against North Garland, while Wylie East will face Rowlett, who is also fighting for a playoff berth to end the year. Head coach Chris Burrow is proud of his team’s turnaround this season and ready to see them close the regular season strong.

“It puts us in a good position late in the season,” Burrow said. “We control our own destiny and have a chance to win a district championship.”

Sachse dropped game one to Wylie on Friday, April 21 by a final score of 7-4, before turning around Saturday morning and winning 4-0 to move back a game ahead of the Pirates. A standout performance from starting pitcher Cole Melton, who pitched seven shutout innings and struck out four batters, was key in the win despite Sachse being outhit 4-2 in the contest.

“We faced [David] Hyde in game one, and he’s just a really good pitcher for Wylie,” Burrow said. “I was proud of the guys for battling back and putting four on the board and they just never quit. We had a chance at the end of the game. It was one of those things at the end of the game where we told them they were still tied for first. We needed to regroup and prepare to play again in 12 hours. They handled that well and didn’t cry over the spilled milk.”

Despite a couple of low-scoring games, Sachse’s offense has been the spark for the majority of the season. They averaged a league-high 10.64 runs scored in the district this year, and have scored double-digit runs in nine of their 14 games in district play. 

In the win over Wylie, Jhett Creel and Brayden Bevilacqua had key hits in the win, sparking the Mustangs in the game. 

“It’s been great to watch the guys and their approach at the plate this season,” Burrow said. “It isn’t always about finding a gap or having a big hit, sometimes just getting on base and making things happen and being unselfish can go a long way. We have a lot of unselfish players who just want to win.”

Sachse finishes the regular season at home against North Garland this Friday, April 28. If both Sachse and Wylie East were to win out, the two sides will play an additional game for playoff seeding and share the district title.

“We’re just going to go out and play our game,” Burrow said. “We can’t worry about what anyone else is doing.

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