Bressler sets tone with leadoff triple as Outlaws cruise past Griffons

Jun. 18—Needing a spark following a tough loss, Caden Bressler was the tone-setter for the Joplin Outlaws.

The future Division II Washburn Ichabod led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple for the Outlaws.

And the floodgates opened from there the remainder of the night.

Bressler later came home to score on a wild pitch as Joplin cruised to an eventual 14-2 run-rule victory over the Nevada Griffons in seven innings in MINK League action on Friday night at historic Joe Becker Stadium.

"We needed to get something going against these guys," Bressler said. "That's our first win against them tonight. Normally, we can't get any offense going (against Nevada). Just to lead it off with a triple then get to home and start on the board early, it was nice."

The Outlaws moved one game closer to .500 with a 6-7 overall record. The Griffons fell to 4-9.

Joplin manager Gonzalo Gonzalez said without hesitation it was the team's most complete win of the season so far this summer.

"We played defense, guys put together good at-bats, guys fighting through adversity," Gonzalez said. "When we were down 2-0 or 2-1 (in counts), they came back and got guys out. That was huge for us."

After Bressler's triple, second baseman Korrey Siracusa doubled to right field. Carson Carpenter moved Siracusa to third with a flyout to left and Max Bruff brought home Siracusa with a run-scoring groundout as Joplin took a 2-0 lead in the first.

The Outlaws lengthened their lead advantage to 4-0 in the second following RBI singles from Cody Min and Carl Junction product Carson Johnson.

"For us, the early start took the pressure off our pitcher (Jack Kelley)," Gonzalez said. "It allows him to pitch easy and free, allows him to just attack the zone and not try to put too much pressure on himself to do it all."

Joplin wasn't done there.

In the third, the Outlaws scratched across three tallies to take a 7-0 lead. Min worked a bases-loaded walk, while Sam Fagan stole home and Johnson drove in Joe Ricchio with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Siracusa touched home on a passed ball as Joplin grabbed an 8-0 lead in the fourth. The infielder reached on a walk and moved over to third after a pair of wild pitches.

The Griffons finally got on the board when Andrew Pickering's RBI single cut the score to seven in the top of the fifth. Jacob Strobel trimmed the deficit to six with an RBI single for Nevada in the sixth.

But the Outlaws erupted with six runs in the bottom half of the frame. Fagan, Johnson and Edrian Rangel each worked bases-loaded walks, while Ricchio sprinkled in a sac fly.

Webb City product Matt Woodmansee and Siracusa put the finishing touches on the win with run-scoring singles apiece.

"When it's time to put teams away, you have to put them away," Gonzalez said. "Don't let them hang around. If we let a team hang around, that usually ends up bad for us. We have seen that already in this short season where we had teams hang around to comeback and beat us. It was nice to see these guys put a team away."

Bressler said one of the big differences about the Outlaws' play was the big crowd.

"Tonight with the crowd, I think that was really special," Bressler said. "We had all the kids from the T-ball team that came out and ran out on the field with us. It was nice to have them out there. I slid into third and I remember looking up and everybody was cheering me on. It was loud. It was awesome."

A righty, Kelley was superb as he earned the win. He hurled five strong innings and surrendered one run on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks.

"The biggest thing with Jack is his fastball command," Gonzalez said. "His changeup is starting to come around. He's able to pull the string a little bit more and not rely on his breaking ball as much. That becomes a true out pitch for him."

Harold Baez and Eduardo Ojeda nailed down the win for Joplin. The righties combined to allow one run on two hits with three strikeouts over the final two innings.

"Harold Baez is going to be a huge addition for us," Gonzalez said. "To see the kind of stuff he has, it's electric. He's going to complement Eduardo and Cam Hill really well. I'm feeling really good about us moving forward right now."

Bressler and Siracusa totaled two hits apiece to spearhead the Outlaws' 7-hit attack. Johnson drove in a game-high three runs.

Fogelstrom took the loss for Nevada. He coughed up seven runs on five hits in three innings.

Pickering and Seth Gray managed two hits apiece to lead the Griffons' offense.

Joplin plays the Joplin Playmakers in a non-league matchup at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Joe Becker. Coming off a big win, the Outlaws return to MINK action with St. Joseph at home on Sunday.

"This game was a confidence boost for everybody," Bressler said. "Everybody was able to get a bat on the ball, make some good plays. I don't think we had any errors tonight. I think that's the first time all year. I'm really proud of our guys. I hope that we can continue to carry that over."