Bernie showing signs of being offensive, yet again

BERNIE – Throughout its history, the Bernie High School baseball program has been known for two things:

* The Mules win a LOT of games, and

* More often than not, Bernie will produce offensively

It is incredibly early in the 2023 season, but after the Mules put up 10 runs in their season-opening game against Neelyville, that appears to be the case again.

“I think we will hit,” veteran Bernie coach Marcus Massey said.

Bernie (0-1), which has averaged at least seven runs per game in eight of the past nine seasons, is supposed to host Puxico today at 4:30 p.m. (but weather may not allow that), followed by a Saturday doubleheader in Bernie against Greenville (10 a.m.) and Portageville (2 p.m.).

The Mules didn’t have any issue with hitting against the Tigers, as they belted out 11 hits and only committed one error.

“Hitting and defense should be our keys,” Massey said, “if we can throw enough strikes and make plays behind them.”

Four Mules had either two or three hits in the loss to Neelyville, paced by Owen Bewley (two runs, one RBI), who connected for three hits.

Reece Justice (three runs, one walk), Seth Teel (one run, four RBI), and Jayden Robinette (one run) each had two hits apiece.

Robinette threw five innings in long relief after taking over for a struggling Justice in the second inning, and Massey saw some positives from the junior right-hander.

“He was able to work out of a couple of jams,” Massey said.

In the sixth inning, the Tigers had bases loaded with a pair of singles and a walk before Robinette got a strikeout. However, Bernie ultimately allowed just one run to be scored by the Tigers.

“You had to feel good about that,” Massey said of avoiding a lot of Neelyville runs. “I hated to throw him as long as we went with him, but typically, we’d like a longer start.”

The Mules are coming off an 18-win fall season and have five seniors in Justice, Bewley, Teel, Landon Ellsworth, and Hunter Null.

Bernie has not had a losing spring in over 13 seasons.