The 2010 Chillicothe Mudcats' earned reward for their gutsy comeback to capture a second-straight MINK League North Division championship – an appearance in the 76h-annual National Baseball Congress World Series – is at hand.
The Mudcats are due to begin play in the World Series at Wichita, Kan.'s, Lawrence-Dumont Stadium late Sunday night – tentatively slated for 10 p.m., but, as the last of three evening games Sunday, probably some time after that – against the Everett (Wash.)
Merchants. Last year, in the same time slot, Chillicothe's opener didn't begin until nearly 11:30 and, thanks to a team-record 15-innings' duration, concluded a minute after 3 a.m.
When game time arrives to start the Fish's third World Series appearance in their 9-year history, head coach Adam Steyer and assistant/pitching coach Chris Emanuel plan to send 6'6" righthander Sean Potter (3-3, 2.31 ERA) to the mound as the starting pitcher.
Potter was terrific his last start, although he took the loss in the team's 1-0 MINK League championship series Game 2 loss at Sedalia. The righthander from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock allowed only three hits and the one run in seven innings.
When Chillicothe takes the field, it will have continued to flesh out its postseason roster in hopes and anticipation of a long stay in the 36-team, double-elimination Series.
Steyer told the C-T this (Friday) morning that, while one planned addition (infielder Casey McCallum) has fallen through, two Kansas State University position players, two righthanded pitchers from Western Oklahoma State University, an infielder who formerly played at Bellevue (Neb.) University under BU assistants Steyer and Emanuel (who now works at Lindenwood University) will be wearing the maroon-and-black. Another righthanded pitcher also may be in tow.
Helping deepen the position-player ranks will be lefthanded-hitting middle infielder Jake Brown and switch-hitting outfielder Jared King from K-State and lefthanded-hitting multi-position infielder Jake Jadlowski, the former Bellevue Bruin.
Brown, who started at second base for the Wildcats some this past spring and is slated to shift to shortstop there in 2010-11, according to Steyer, brings some much-needed speed to the mix and could project into a starting spot at second in the Series. That may depend on whether the coaches decide to save hard-hitting Mark Robinette (.343 average, team-high 49 hits, 29 RBIs), who has started at third base most of July, mostly for pitching duty with some designated-hitter work, too. They could shift Crispin Tarango (.293) from second to third or start Brown at second and keep Robinette at third, where he has not displayed a lot of range, and idle Tarango. Another option is employing Jadlowski at second or third.
King is transferring to K-State, where his brother already is, and will provide corner outfield depth as well as a switch-hitting bat off the bench. It appears season regulars Casey Solem in center and Josh McDorman in right or left will continue to start, along with regional tourney addition Bobby Leeper. Robinette also played the outfield and first base some before settling at third.
The new pitchers are righthanders Eddie Cervantes and Levi Lewis. Cervantes also has the capability of hitting some, perhaps in a pinch-hitting role, Steyer noted.
Also a possibility to join the pitching stafff is righthander Maxx Catapano, a first-team all-conference pitcher for Bellevue this spring. If he is added, he may even be a candidate to start the Mudcats' second Series game, slated for some time Monday, the head coach related.
All three new arms have the versatility to be used as either starters or in a bullpen role.
The coaches also expect to have another catcher on the club to back up starter Brett Chamberlain. Who it was going to be wasn't firmed up as of midday Friday.
As for holdover players, all of whom are expected to remain with the club for the Series, according to Steyer, middle infielder Tyler Lloyd will rejoin the team after having gone home this week for a family funeral. In his absence, Chillicothean Alex Singleton was thrust into his first action of the season at second base after being used exclusively in the outfield. Singleton responded with a couple of hits – the only Mudcat with more than one – in Thursday's regional-ending loss to Clarinda, Iowa, but also had an error in each game he played at second.
The additional arms will supplement the team's top regular-season performers, adding depth which will allow aggressive use of the bullpen as situations at Wichita dictate, Steyer indicated.
"Everybody's available out of the ’pen for the opener," he said.
Cory Trudell, the team's top winner (5-1) and owner of a 1.99 earned run average and 62 strikeouts during the regular season, did not throw in either the league championship series or regional tourney. However, he is fully ready for the Series, Steyer confirmed.
Robinette, if that's the main role the coaches choose for him, also is ready to throw and lefty Ethan Opsahl, off a solid, five-inning, one-run start against Clarinda Friday, could project for use as a situational southpaw.
Big right-handed closer Steve Martin, used as the team's designated hitter much of the regular season and swinger of a strong bat, but owner of seven saves and 45 strikeouts and a 0.84 ERA in 21-1/3 innings of pitching, figures to be relegated mostly to closing at Wichita. However, owning a team-high four home runs and three triples and six doubles with the bat during the regular season, Steyer said Martin could be used as a pinch-hitter on days when his prior use might have ruled him out of pitching that day.
As for Chillicothe's opening-round foe Sunday, Steyer said he and Emanuel recognize some of Everett's players' names from the recruiting trail. Several of them have had recognition-earning college-season performances, so the Merchants project to be a rugged initial opponent.
That won't be anything new for Steyer and Emanuel, who led last year's team to the first-round, 15-inning, 4-1 win over the Colorado Sox. The 2006 Mudcats, the first Chillicothe team to qualify for the Series, had an early lead on Nevada (Mo.) in their opener before losing 12-6 and losing an elimination game the following day.
After getting the team's first-ever Series win last year, the Mudcats blew a multi-run lead in their next contest and lost by a run to Valley Center (Kan.). The following morning, they again had a lead, but ended up losing and being knocked out by Crestwood (Ill.).
At present, the NBC World Series' tournament bracket posted online at www.nbcbaseball.com shows the Mudcats playing again Monday, win or lose their Sunday night game.
The tournament's day-to-day schedule is very fluid, so checking online or monitoring KCHI Radio, the broadcast home of the Mudcats, will be needed to learn the time of Monday's game.
The opponent will be either fellow MINK League team Nevada, which beat the Mudcats soundly twice in Chillicothe in the teams' only regular-season meetings, or Haysville, Kan.
Those teams will meet Saturday.
The World Series will include four MINK League teams this year. In addition to the Mudcats and Nevada, league champion Sedalia and North runnerup St. Joseph will participate.
Sedalia will play one of Friday's opening-night games. St. Joseph, after whipping Clarinda for the Central USA Regional title Thursday night, will open on Saturday.
