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Having seen the visiting Milgram Mustangs Ban Johnson League team from Kansas City snap a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the ninth inning, the Chillicothe Mudcats college-level summer baseball team improved to 6-2 on the season when, with the bases full, two outs, and the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, the return throw from the Mustangs catcher to the pitcher was high and went off his glove, allowing speedy Cory Ford to dash home from third base without a throw, giving the Mudcats an inexplicable 6-5 non-league victory, its sixth triumph in eight games this season.
Chillicothe native Alex Singleton got the win in relief for the Fish, his first-ever decision for the team. He threw two innings of relief and had stood to be the loser after giving up the two in the top of the ninth.
Friday night's game saw brief, sporadic spurts of action before Chillicothe pounced on Shaw, the Mustangs' fourth pitcher of the game, in the bottom half after he invited them in with a leadoff walk to Nick Palese.
Shaw balked pinch runner Colin Parker of Chillicothe to second before pinch-hitter Zach Esquerra bombed a double deep down the left-field line to draw the Mudcats within one and rev up the crowd.
Leadoff man Ford, a strong run producer for Oklahoma Wesleyan University this spring, then zipped an 0-1 Kevin Shaw delivery into left-center field to score Esquerra and tie the contest, 5-5.
A second balk on Shaw – believed to be for not coming to a "set" position in his stretch – moved Ford into scoring position, still with none down. Moon then popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt to the first baseman before Justin Creel drew a 4-pitch walk, creating a possible ground-ball double-play situation. However, that disappeared with a wild pitch on a 1-1 offering to designated hitter Leo Sierra, prompting Sierra to get two more intentional balls to refill the bases.
After Curtiss Bunch fouled out to the catcher on the first pitch, Shaw was within reach of escaping the inning and forcing extra baseball. However, after his initial pitch to Kraig Kelley missed, receiver Chuck Preston's return peg to the hurler got away and so did the Kansas City team's hopes of victory.
Having seen the visiting Milgram Mustangs Ban Johnson League team from Kansas City snap a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the ninth inning, the Chillicothe Mudcats college-level summer baseball team improved to 6-2 on the season when, with the bases full, two outs, and the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, the return throw from the Mustangs catcher to the pitcher was high and went off his glove, allowing speedy Cory Ford to dash home from third base without a throw, giving the Mudcats an inexplicable 6-5 non-league victory, its sixth triumph in eight games this season.
Chillicothe native Alex Singleton got the win in relief for the Fish, his first-ever decision for the team. He threw two innings of relief and had stood to be the loser after giving up the two in the top of the ninth.
Friday night's game saw brief, sporadic spurts of action before Chillicothe pounced on Shaw, the Mustangs' fourth pitcher of the game, in the bottom half after he invited them in with a leadoff walk to Nick Palese.
Shaw balked pinch runner Colin Parker of Chillicothe to second before pinch-hitter Zach Esquerra bombed a double deep down the left-field line to draw the Mudcats within one and rev up the crowd.
Leadoff man Ford, a strong run producer for Oklahoma Wesleyan University this spring, then zipped an 0-1 Kevin Shaw delivery into left-center field to score Esquerra and tie the contest, 5-5.
A second balk on Shaw – believed to be for not coming to a "set" position in his stretch – moved Ford into scoring position, still with none down. Moon then popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt to the first baseman before Justin Creel drew a 4-pitch walk, creating a possible ground-ball double-play situation. However, that disappeared with a wild pitch on a 1-1 offering to designated hitter Leo Sierra, prompting Sierra to get two more intentional balls to refill the bases.
After Curtiss Bunch fouled out to the catcher on the first pitch, Shaw was within reach of escaping the inning and forcing extra baseball. However, after his initial pitch to Kraig Kelley missed, receiver Chuck Preston's return peg to the hurler got away and so did the Kansas City team's hopes of victory.
