TOPEKA, Kan. — Chillicothe Mudcats batters gave the team’s newest pitcher a big welcome Friday night. Calvin Drinnen then returned the love.
    Thanks to three one-out walks and three two-out hits, Chillicothe put five runs on the scoreboard before Drinnen made his first pitch as a Mudcat. The new right-hander from Wichita, Kan., then went to the hill and threw five innings of two-hit, no-walk baseball with no earned runs, gaining credit for the victory as the Mudcats crushed the Topeka Golden Giants 15-3.
    Chillicothe catcher Dallas Hord paced a huge night by the lower half of the Mudcats lineup, lashing two multi-RBI triples to right-center field and driving in five runs. Right fielder Tyler Knight slammed his second home run of the year – a solo shot that started a four-run third that made it 9-0 – and drove in two runs and Bubby Williams shook off a recent mini-slump with two hits and three runs batted in.
    “I think our guys decided to make a new start and not leave us in a position to maybe lose in the late innings,” Mudcats head coach Justin “Jud” Kindle commented, referring to a series of blown leads which have cost the team a strong start to the 2008 campaign.
    The runaway triumph, which snapped a three-game Mudcats losing streak, improved Chillicothe’s record to 6-6 overall and 3-4 in the MINK League. Topeka dropped to 9-7 overall and in the league.