The varsity and JV baseball teams spent the first half of their spring break in Memphis, Tenn. They left at 8 a.m. on Monday morning on a charter bus, provided by MHS, and returned on Wednesday night. The funding for the trip was provided by the Trivia Night held in January.

Blake Rudolph, junior, said the varsity team played five games in three days. Rudolph said the teams played against Rosemark, Collierville, Houston Germantown, CBHS, and Champagne Central.

Rudolph said they beat Champagne Central with a final score of 11-1. While everyone was able to play, he said playing in Tennessee was different than playing at home.

“We had a different routine,” Rudolph said.

At home, the team has about 45 minutes to warm up, but in Memphis they had anywhere from one to two hours. Rudolph said this helped the team both performance wise as well as benefiting their bodies.

“We learned a lot,” Rudolph said. “We learned a lot about baseball and how to play better with each other.”

Despite only winning one game, he said the teams they played were a lot better than typical teams around St. Louis. He said the pitching particularly was above average.

“It definitely gives us an advantage over teams around here,” Rudolph said.

Sean Ullrich, senior, said the trip was a good learning experience, especially for the younger players.

“Our record didn’t necessarily reflect how well we played,” Ullrich said.

He said the Mustangs were able to face some of the best competition Memphis had to offer in addition to learning a lot about the team.

“Experience that core players got at a younger age as freshman and sophomores is our strength,” Ullrich said.

Ullrich said he hopes that experience will rub off onto the younger players.

“We’re definitely a strong lead-by-example team,” he said.

Ullrich said the opportunity Memphis provided should help with the upcoming season.

“It’s going to be an exciting season,” Ullrich said.