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11-1 7-innings home victory pulls Chillicothe within half-game of fourth-place Bombers in MINK League standings By PAUL STURMC-T Sports Editorpsturm@cherryroad.comAlthough more steps remained on their journey,… Login to continue reading Login…

SEDALIA — With clutch pitching and defense and two innings of bunched hitting, the Chillicothe Mudcats did what they wanted – and probably needed –… Login to continue reading Login…

By PAUL STURMC-T LCL Sports Editorpsturm@cherryroad.comThe roof seemingly on its way to caving in on the Chillicothe Mudcats in the opening half-inning of Monday’s MINK League baseball game against the guest Jefferson City Renegades, a defensive gem prevented that collapse and turned the game from a likely loss into a runaway triumph that further boosted the Mudcats’ surging league-playoffs prospects.The defending league-champion Renegades, already with four runs on the “Chuck” Haney Field scoreboard and the top of their lineup already back at bat a second time against badly-off-kilter Mudcats starting pitcher Sungbin Park before the Fish got their first swing, had the bases loaded when a 2-outs line drive toward the right-center field gap came off the lumber of Conner Flieg.

Among the players on the KC Monarchs adult baseball team which faced the Chillicothe Mudcats in a non-league game in Chillicothe last Friday night was himself a Mudcat extremely briefly 11 years ago.Seen batting in last week’s game – he’d stroke two hits in four at-bats, Lee’s Summit product Brandon Dulin, now 30, played in three Mudcats games at the start of the 2013 season prior to being drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the first week of June that year.He had three hits and five runs batted in during the season-opening home victory over Sedalia and, after having a pre-draft workout for the Royals at Kauffman Stadium the next day while the Mudcats visited Omaha for a game, had another hit against Nevada in the second 2013 Mudcats home game.

Coincidence or confidence?Playing with some renewed crispness for a third-straight game last Sunday – a span which exactly matches the return of injured early-season standout Julio Guerrero to game action, the Chillicothe Mudcats closed June with a performance they hope they can repeat consistently through their July college-level baseball play in the MINK League.The Mudcats put together one of their top two or three games to date in 2024 in an 11-1 7-innings victory over Warren County (Iowa) and, for the moment, jumped back over the Crop Dusters into sixth place in the league standings.“Just a good all-around win,” Tyler Hudlow, Chillicothe head coach, commented.While not tying his team’s securing two of the three games since Guerrero’s return and its very-competitive performance against league-leading St.

JEFFERSON CITY — Only about a half-mile (as the crow flies) from the banks of the Missouri River, the Chillicothe Mudcats saw a victory they seemingly had on the hook get away in the state’s capitol city last Saturday night.Another acceptable pitching performance through the early and middle innings undermined once more by a near-season-long lack of hitting and additionally betrayed on this occasion by ill-timed errors, the team’s bid to build some mid-June momentum at the expense of last year’s MINK League champions again escaped their net just about the time they had victory in their boat.Visiting the Jefferson City Renegades one night after barely holding on to a 7-6 home triumph over them, the Mudcats never trailed until they lost.Having led since converting a fourth-inning-opening Renegades fielding error, a single, and four bases on balls into three runs that snapped a 4-4 tie, Chillicothe made 2-outs errors that allowed runs to score in both seventh and eighth innings, erasing their lead.Then, in a 7-7 game in the ninth, right-handed pitcher Samir Lopez (0-1), making only his fourth appearance of the season, allowed three singles in a row as Jefferson City gained an 8-7 walk-off victory.With runners at first and second bases and no outs, Renegade designated hitter Jacob Hoernschemeyer stroked a hard grounder diving second baseman Noboru Shinohara got a glove on, but could not keep from going on in the shallow part of the outfield as pinch-runner Bradyn O’Neal dashed home with the game-winning run from second base without a play.The Mudcats’ fourth fall-from-ahead loss in the final three innings in their past six contests dropped their league record to 5-9 and their overall mark to 6-9.

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If you’re not a hunter or bird watcher, you might not be familiar with a small upland bird that was once the most numerous of all our “game birds” in much of the Middle West – the bobwhite quail.There weren’t any quail in Iowa where I spent my early years.

Back on their “Chuck” Haney Field home in “June” Shaffer Memorial Park stadium a week ago tonight, the offense-impaired Chillicothe Mudcats received their fifth outstanding effort from a starting pitcher in seven games and just enough relief pitching to eke out a 5-4 MINK League baseball triumph over the Jefferson City Renegades.In his 2024 debut with the team after an extended season of great success at Johnson County (Kan.) Community College this spring, right-hander Josiah Golden neither walked nor hit anyone during his 5-innings stint, allowing him to limit the damage from eight Renegades hits to a single earned run and two total.Turning over a 5-2 lead to the bullpen after his teammates plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, Golden saw deceptive Japanese righty Ryoma Tada continue his impressive early-season work with a scoreless sixth and burly Novinger right-hander Jace Brownell squirm through a 4-walks seventh with only one run of damage.