BEATRICE, Neb. — Early or late, it didn’t matter to Chillicothe Mudcats starting pitchers Tyler Minto and Matt Lackner. The struggling Beatrice Bruins, two-time defending MINK League champs, weren’t getting more than one good swing of the bat in each game of last night’s doubleheader at Christenson Field.
Minto allowed only a seventh-inning solo home run to Tyler Farst as he earned his third victory of the season in a 2-1 opener. Lack-ner then yielded a two-out, none-on roundtripper to Scott LeJeune in the nightcap before blanking the Bruins the rest of the way as the Mudcats, with third baseman Brett Sowers slamming a home run in each game, completed the sweep – their first-ever in Beatrice – with a 7-1 decision in the nightcap.
Despite a 5 p.m. start to the evening’s dual action, play ended before nightfall as game one lasted only 1:26 and game two went only 1:42.
"When Tyler pitches, it's a short game because he's getting early contact and not going deep in the count,” Mudcats head coach Adam Steyer said. "It allows him to go deep into games himself, along with the fact that we're keeping a good pace of play and our guys are involved in the game defensively."
Using their twin aces like trump cards, the Fish rose above .500 in the league after starting the year 1-6. Wednesday’s triumphs lifted Chillicothe’s record to 7-6 in the loop and 9-6 overall. They’ve won seven straight, the last six in MINK League action.
They’ll try to run those streaks to eight and seven, respectively, at 7 p.m. tonight with the wrapup of their three-game set in Nebraska. Lefthander Richie Mascheri (0-0) is slated to start for Chillicothe, but Steyer and assistant/pitching coach Chris Emanuel will be ready to make use of a well-rested bullpen if Mascheri shows signs of wearing down or being ineffective.
Minto (3-1) has been so excellent early this season that seven innings of one-run ball last night was a regression, albeit a very minor and acceptable one.
Pitching only about an hour from the hometown of the Hall of Fame pitcher who, in 1968, fashioned one of the most outstanding single-season performances ever with a 1.12 earned run average, Minto extended his own Bob Gibson-like showing thus far in 2009.
Entering with a 0.83 earned run average, Farst’s home run meant the Mobile, Ala., righthander’s ERA rose to 0.94 over his 282⁄3 innings as a Mudcat.
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His stinginess in throwing a three-hitter in his second complete game of the season was needed. His teammates had barely any more success with tough-luck Beatrice loser, Mike Mariot (1-2).
The University of Nebraska righthander held Chillicothe to four hits, but one of those was Sowers’ third homer of the year leading off the second inning. The other three came consecutively from Zach Amrein, Kyle Standridge, and Mascheri to begin the fifth inning, left fielder Mascheri’s looper down the left field line dropping in for an RBI single that made it 2-0.
Those tallies would stand up, thanks to Minto and airtight defense.
Between Tyson Parks’ leadoff single in the second inning and Farst’ long ball to start the seventh, the Nicholls State University Colonel was in full command, holding Beatrice hitless and retiring 15 of 16 batters.
After the home run cut his lead from two to one, Minto coolly finished up his gem by retiring the next three men on a fly ball, a groundout, and a foul popup.
By throwing only 90 pitches, Minto may be able to be brought back to face current MINK North second-place team Topeka on the road on four days’ rest next Monday and then, on more normal five days’ rest, to face North-leading St. Joseph at home on Sunday, July 5.
The second game yesterday saw Le-
Jeune give the hosts the early upper hand, but sloppy defensive play helped put the Mudcats in front to stay in the second inning.
Standridge, seemingly having solidified a spot in the Mudcats’ everyday lineup by hitting over .300, extended his personal hitting streak to eight games with a one-out single.
He stole second and continued on to third on a wild throw to single-handedly create a chance to tie it. After a strikeout, another hot hitter, Brian Fisher, capitalized. The Fish’s “Fish” hit a sinking liner to right that fell just in front of Adam Bailey for a single that tied the game.
Still, with two out and .121-hitting Bryan Mason up next, Chillicothe’s chances of getting ahead seemed slim. However, in a critical mistake by Beatrice starting pitcher Jordan Roualdes, a lefthander, an 0-2 pitch to the lefty-swinging Mason sailed high and inside and glanced off the top of the Mudcat’s helmet.
The Bruins’ boo-boos continued when Darian Sandford’s bouncer to shortstop Mark Ramos was fumbled, leaving the bases full, and Justin Shultz’s grounder to third was misplayed by Travis Parker for the inning’s third error and a 2-1 Chillicothe lead.
Given the lead, Lackner took charge.
Parks, as he had in the opening game, singled in the second inning, only to have a long string of subsequent Beatrice batters be retired in succession.
Starting with a grounder to Mason at shortstop that became a double play which erased Parks, Park University Pirate Lackner set down 11 consecutive batters. By the time another Bruin reached, when Keegan Morrow singled with one out in the sixth, Chillicothe held a 6-1 lead.
Even when the Nebraska team at last started getting some more baserunners, it couldn’t score against the righthander. After Ramos followed Morrow’s hit with another, LeJeune bounced to Shultz at first, who started an inning-ending, 1-6-3 double dip. Then, in the seventh, a leadoff walk and one-out single again put two Bruins aboard, but a popup and strikeout concluded Lackner’s second-straight complete game.
He allowed only five hits – one more than he had in beating Topeka last Friday, walked only one, and struck out five.
After getting in front, courtesy of Beatrice’s largesse in the second inning, the Mudcats’ bats perked up.
Catcher John Creely, hitting barely .200, rolled a grounder into the hole with two down in the third to score Hector Acosta, who had singled, stolen second on a pickoff throw to first, and advanced on a groundout to second.
In the fourth, Chillicothe pumped up to double its run total.
Sandford bunted for a hit with one out and stole his second base. After Shultz bunted him to third, right fielder Tony Nix snapped a 0-for-7 mini-skid with a drive over the head of the left fielder for an RBI double.
Sowers then stepped to the plate and pounded a Roualdes delivery far over the barrier in left for his second roundtripper of the evening and fourth of the season.