Motivation and Inspiration Behind Creating "The Mustangs"

The Motivation and Inspiration behind building the Mustangs was to form a team that not only won games but had fun playing ball first and foremost.  It just so happens that it is more fun to win ballgames than to lose ballgames.  Coach Mike wanted to build a team that is proud to call themself a Mustang and takes pride in taking the field for every game.  Coach Mike also wanted to create an atmosphere where members of the Mustangs feel like they are part of something special and not just on a team that plays a game once a week.  Coach Mike's vision is to make the Mustangs a family of its own and after the Spring 08 regular season, he feels it's fair to say that they are well on their way.

The Original Mustangs consist of Mike Finateri, Joe Finateri, Nick Finateri, Chris Finateri, CJ Najera, Josh Flynn, Andy Hennis, Kevin Briggs, and although they were mid-season pickups in the Spring 08 season I would consider Adam Brown and Mike Moselle to be Origninal Mustangs as well because of their positive contributions to the team.

If there's one thing that can bring wins and maximize fun on a team, it's team chemistry.  Coach Mike is in the driver's seat with this team and when he takes a minute to sit back and watch, he is proud to say that "the Mustangs have become a close knit bunch of guys with great character.  Everyone is pulling for each other out there and wants to see the other succeed."  The team didn't start out this way as there were a few bumps in the road but old players left, new players arrived and by the end of the spring 08 season, the team was on the same page and firing on all cylinders.

After being on teams that were no fun and team chemistry was very poor, Coach Mike decided to put together a team along with his 3 brothers.  Four brothers soon became 7 and that's where the team was at for their first game as a team in the Winter, scrambling for players.  With a little luck and a little recruiting the Mustangs had 12 players for the winter season and finished the Winter 08 season with a record of (2-2). 

The Spring 08 season started off rough for the Mustangs, losing their first 5 games of the season (0-5).  However, none of the guys would give up and throw in the towel sort of speak as all, (well maybe there were a few doubters) of the players knew that it was just a matter of time before the the team would start winning.  The Mustangs found themselves trailing by 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 outs in their sixth game of the season. However, this would be the turning point for the Mustangs' season.  A 2-out rally was started against Team Yesco and was finished off with a walk-off inside the park grandslam by A key staple on the team, CJ Najera.  This one victory would lead to a whole slew of wins!

The monkey was now off of the Mustangs backs and they could relax.  They went on to win thier next 8 out of 9 games with some dramatic wins along the way.  They beat the Spartans in the bottom of the 9th with a walk-off base hit.  Also, in the last game of the regular season, the Mustangs needed a victory to get into the playoffs and trailed by as many as 7 runs in the game before they sparked a late inning comeback.  They went on to win the game by a final of 14-10 and made the playoffs!

Nobody in the league really gave this squad a shot to do any damage in the regular season and especially in the playoffs but they not only made the playoffs, they defeated the Lobos in the first round of the playoffs to advance to the semi-finals against the Sin City Devils. The Mustangs would lose to the Devils in the Semi-finals and their great first season would come to an end, but what a great first season it was!