7th inning surge helps Mustangs defeat A's
Jun. 28—Despite going scoreless in the first five innings, the St. Joseph Mustangs were able to find their offensive rhythm late to fend off the Clarinda A's Monday night, winning 5-4 at Phil Welch Stadium.
In the first inning, the A's were able to get an early cushion. With runners on third and first base, Kam Kelton grounded to Mustangs third baseman Michael Paule, but the ball went right between Paule's legs. The error brought in the runner on third for the RBI by Kelton to make the score 1-0 A's early.
The very next batter for Clarinda, Max Petersen, singled to center field and brought in a runner from second base for the RBI single to make the score 2-0 in favor of Clarinda.
The Mustangs found themselves in a familiar position that they found themselves in four of their last six games: down, but not out.
After the Mustangs went scoreless on just three hits in the first five innings, they found their groove in the sixth inning to get on the scoreboard on an RBI single from Dylan Carey to left field that brought in Paule to bring the Mustangs within striking distance at a score of 2-1.
It was the 7th inning when the runs piled on for St. Joseph. Clarinda pitcher, Colby Royal, not only put a runner in scoring position on a balk, but brought the runner in to score because of another balk committed and tied the score 2-2.
The Mustangs then proceeded to pile it on, adding three more runs in the bottom of the 7th due to two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly out to take the lead 5-2.
"We were good when we needed to the most; that's the most important thing," said manager Johnny Coy. "We gotta get better at jumping on teams earlier and not waiting around for awhile. Our guys are tough. They've got a 'no quit' attitude. You can never count them out no matter what the score is."
The Mustangs almost let up in the top of the ninth, allowing two runs to cut the lead down to 5-4. However, they were able to make a defensive stand in the inning even with runners in scoring position.
Centerfielder Brady Holden went 3-for-4 on the evening, adding one run as well. He acknowledged that the offense of St. Joseph can be slow to start, but he feels the outcomes have been favorable in those games where they trail due to their ability to stick to their approach.
Holden says this is a good win for the group given this is their second victory in a row against Clarinda.
"Coming in, we talked earlier today about how they're top of the division. They threw the same guy we faced last time, so we kind of had an idea and were able to get to him," Holden said.
The Mustangs will host Jefferson City in a makeup game Tuesday night.
Jacob Meikel can be reached at jacob.meikel@newspressnow.com.
Follow him on Twitter @NPNowMeikel.
