TOPEKA, Kan. — The Chillicothe Mudcats had ripped off victories in their last seven MINK League outings entering last night’s road battle with the North Division-leading Topeka Golden Giants, so it’s no surprise they were still confident they could get the job done, even though they entered the final inning trailing 3-1 and having had only three hits.
They nearly pulled it off, sandwiching singles by Justin Shultz and Brett Sowers around a throwing error on Tony Nix’s grounder to third to load the bass with one out in the top of the ninth. However, Golden Giants reliever Kurt Spomer bailed out previous reliever Ryan Frevert.
He got Hector Acosta, Chillicothe’s second-leading RBI man on the year, to bounce out as one run scored and induced a roller across the artificial turf of the Lake Shawnee Sports Complex infield to shortstop Justin Beaudreux to retire Kyle Standridge and save the 3-2 Topeka win.
The game had been an opportunity for Chillicothe to move into a tie with Topeka for second place in the division, a half-game back of idle St. Joseph. Instead, advancing their MINK League record to 12-6 and their overall mark to 12-7, the Golden Giants took over sole possession of the North by a half-game over the Mustangs.
Now 12-8 overall and 9-7 in the league, the Mudcats stayed tied for third with Clarinda, Iowa – the A’s lost to Beatrice, Neb., now two games back of Topeka and 11⁄2 behind St. Joseph in the ultra-tight North race. Beatrice stayed last in the five-team division, but is only three out.
Chillicothe could jump right to the top of the standings by late tonight with the right combination of outcomes of action around the division this evening.
The Mudcats will host Topeka in a 6:05 p.m. doubleheader – making up an earlier rainout in the process, while St. Joseph – idle Monday – visits Mac-N-Seitz in Kansas City.
A Chillicothe home sweep and a St. Joseph road loss would leave the Fish, Mustangs, and Golden Giants all tied for the North lead, but with the Mudcats ahead by percentage points.
However, the opposite scenario – a pair of Topeka wins – would leave the Mudcats four games out and possibly last.
Chillicothe head coach Adam Steyer indicated Sunday that he and assistant/pitching coach Chris Emanuel weren’t sure how they’d decide to use the starting pitching trio of co-aces Tyler Minto and Matt Lackner and lefthander Richie Mascheri in the three home games the next two nights. At that point, they were leaning to using Minto and Mascheri in tonight’s scheduled seven-inning games against Topeka and Lackner, who hasn’t faced St. Joseph previously, in tomorrow evening’s nine-inning home battle with the Mustangs.
Monday’s action in Kansas saw a sloppy start create a hole from which Chillicothe’s meager attack against three Topeka pitchers could not extract them.
Mudcats starting pitcher Josh Hake, making his second appearance since recently being added to the roster following Calvin Drinnen’s likely-season-ending back problem, allowed a single on the first pitch he delivered and hit the next man.
A fielder’s choice left men at first and third for cleanup hitter Josh Cryer, who singled past shortstop for a 1-0 Golden Giants lead.
With a chance to do even bigger damage, Topeka saw aggressiveness backfire when it put both runners in motion on a 3-2, one-out pitch to Blake Stroth. He lined the ball into shallow center field when the Fish’s Standridge darted in to make the catch and toss to second for an easy double play.
After the rocky first, Hake appeared to be finding a groove in the second, but a throwing error by second baseman Darian Sandford on an inning-opening grounder meant No. 9 hitter Adam Davey got a chance to bat with two outs.
Only hitting in the .100s, that didn’t seem to be a big concern, but the Topeka center fielder made it one by climbing all over a 1-1 offering and blasting it over the fence in left for a 3-0 home team lead.
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TOPEKA, Kan. — The Chillicothe Mudcats had ripped off victories in their last seven MINK League outings entering last night’s road battle with the North Division-leading Topeka Golden Giants, so it’s no surprise they were still confident they could get the job done, even though they entered the final inning trailing 3-1 and having had only three hits.
They nearly pulled it off, sandwiching singles by Justin Shultz and Brett Sowers around a throwing error on Tony Nix’s grounder to third to load the bass with one out in the top of the ninth. However, Golden Giants reliever Kurt Spomer bailed out previous reliever Ryan Frevert.
He got Hector Acosta, Chillicothe’s second-leading RBI man on the year, to bounce out as one run scored and induced a roller across the artificial turf of the Lake Shawnee Sports Complex infield to shortstop Justin Beaudreux to retire Kyle Standridge and save the 3-2 Topeka win.
The game had been an opportunity for Chillicothe to move into a tie with Topeka for second place in the division, a half-game back of idle St. Joseph. Instead, advancing their MINK League record to 12-6 and their overall mark to 12-7, the Golden Giants took over sole possession of the North by a half-game over the Mustangs.
Now 12-8 overall and 9-7 in the league, the Mudcats stayed tied for third with Clarinda, Iowa – the A’s lost to Beatrice, Neb., now two games back of Topeka and 11⁄2 behind St. Joseph in the ultra-tight North race. Beatrice stayed last in the five-team division, but is only three out.
Chillicothe could jump right to the top of the standings by late tonight with the right combination of outcomes of action around the division this evening.
The Mudcats will host Topeka in a 6:05 p.m. doubleheader – making up an earlier rainout in the process, while St. Joseph – idle Monday – visits Mac-N-Seitz in Kansas City.
A Chillicothe home sweep and a St. Joseph road loss would leave the Fish, Mustangs, and Golden Giants all tied for the North lead, but with the Mudcats ahead by percentage points.
However, the opposite scenario – a pair of Topeka wins – would leave the Mudcats four games out and possibly last.
Chillicothe head coach Adam Steyer indicated Sunday that he and assistant/pitching coach Chris Emanuel weren’t sure how they’d decide to use the starting pitching trio of co-aces Tyler Minto and Matt Lackner and lefthander Richie Mascheri in the three home games the next two nights. At that point, they were leaning to using Minto and Mascheri in tonight’s scheduled seven-inning games against Topeka and Lackner, who hasn’t faced St. Joseph previously, in tomorrow evening’s nine-inning home battle with the Mustangs.
Monday’s action in Kansas saw a sloppy start create a hole from which Chillicothe’s meager attack against three Topeka pitchers could not extract them.
Mudcats starting pitcher Josh Hake, making his second appearance since recently being added to the roster following Calvin Drinnen’s likely-season-ending back problem, allowed a single on the first pitch he delivered and hit the next man.
A fielder’s choice left men at first and third for cleanup hitter Josh Cryer, who singled past shortstop for a 1-0 Golden Giants lead.
With a chance to do even bigger damage, Topeka saw aggressiveness backfire when it put both runners in motion on a 3-2, one-out pitch to Blake Stroth. He lined the ball into shallow center field when the Fish’s Standridge darted in to make the catch and toss to second for an easy double play.
After the rocky first, Hake appeared to be finding a groove in the second, but a throwing error by second baseman Darian Sandford on an inning-opening grounder meant No. 9 hitter Adam Davey got a chance to bat with two outs.
Only hitting in the .100s, that didn’t seem to be a big concern, but the Topeka center fielder made it one by climbing all over a 1-1 offering and blasting it over the fence in left for a 3-0 home team lead.
