The East Marshall softball dugout is already full of Mustangs, but three Mustang players recently brought in some extra “ponies” to provide moral support.

Makayla Hala, Peyton Grabenbauer and Vaeda Bryan each use their ponies — which are horse heads (that make sound!) on a stick — to bring some levity this summer to a competitive East Marshall team that is preparing for its Class 2A state quarterfinal against Lisbon on Tuesday.

Bryan said the inspiration for the idea came from Bryan and senior teammate Morgan Neuroth seeing Ankeny Centennial’s own horse heads in the dugout at last year’s state softball tournament.

“They’re our little mascots in the dugout,” Bryan said.

T-R FILE PHOTO – East Marshall juniors Vaeda Bryan, right, and Cora Talbert evoke a rally during the championship game of the Rose Festival Tournament on June 15 in State Center.

Grabenbauer added, “It gets people going.”

East Marshall head coach Jary Hoskey has embraced the extra horse friends to the dugout atmosphere.

“I think it relaxes us all,” Hoskey said. “They do stuff like that that just sets the tone of who we are. And it’s fun to see the other teams look over and see the pony standing there. It loosens us up. … When we’re on the field, we help each other out and we get support like that from the bench here. It’s a win-win situation for us this year.”

The horses names can be a mouthful: Chocolate Brownie Galaxy Brownie, Scotty Steve and Lady Glittersparkles Twinkletoes.

Hala credits Kyla Goecke with coming up with the double-Brownie named horse, and Bryan just thinks Lady Glittersparkles Twinkletoes flows off the tongue.

And what about … Scotty Steve?

“Scotty Steve is named after Scott Wheater and my dad,” Grabenbauer said, laughing.

Senior Makayla Kerber admits she probably couldn’t name the horses off the top of her head, but gets a kick out of the new neigh-bors in the dugout.

“Just seeing how the girls act with the ponies gets everybody to smile,” Kerber added. “Those ponies add a good touch to our team.”