Joplin rallies past Jefferson City; Outlaws headed to MINK South championship

Derek Shore, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·4 min read

Jul. 27—The Joplin Outlaws have speed to burn, and boy, were the jets fuming on the base paths.

The steals weren't just daring, they were timely — in a winner-takes-all wild card playoff game no less.

Trailing 3-2 to the Jefferson City Renegades in the eighth, Caleb Feuerstake smacked a line drive RBI double to tie the game for Joplin — just moments after Drake Angeron led off the inning with a single and took second. Feuerstake then swiped third base and Jeb Jenkins followed by working a walk and promptly stole second base, putting the Outlaws in prime position to take control of the game.

And they did.

Ethan Ellis roped a 1-1 middle-away heater into the right-center field gap for a two-run double as the Outlaws (19-21) rallied past the Renegades 5-3 in a MINK League South showdown on Monday night at Joe Becker Stadium.

Joplin tallied a whopping six stolen bases total.

"I loved having a team like this," Joplin manager Chris Dawson said. "It fits into what I want to do. It's tough to slow us down. If you keep putting pressure on teams, they are eventually going to crack. For our offense to come back, that's special. Caleb has been swinging it well the last two weeks. I don't know if anybody has been paying attention, but Ethan has been on a different planet for the last couple of weeks. We kept plugging away and it was good to end on that."

Joplin is headed to the MINK South Division championship. The Outlaws travel to play the Sedalia Bombers (20-17) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

"We played Sedalia pretty well all of last week and we are ready to go, give it all we got," Ellis said.

The Outlaws drew first blood in the game with two runs in the opening frame. Ellis smacked an RBI single to plate Angeron as Joplin got on the board first.

Then with runners on the corners and nobody out, Feuerstake gave the Outlaws a 2-0 lead thanks to his legs. He scored on a straight steal of home — the second time this season — sliding in just ahead of second baseman Ben Burton's throw to home when Ellis took off for second.

"It's amazing and super cool to see everyone so aggressive on the bases," Ellis said. "It motivates everyone to get running and get into scoring position for the team."

After Brady Voss led off the top of the fourth with a single for Jefferson City, Carter Mize laced a single to right field and Voss rounded second base and reached third base safely after Feuerstake booted the ball in the outfield.

Voss later scored following an errant throw from Feuerstake as the Renegades' trimmed the deficit to 2-1. Two batters later, Jefferson City tied the game at 2-2 on a ground-rule RBI double from Hamilton Anderson.

But Outlaws' starter Christian DeJesus minimized the damage with back-to-back punchouts to end the scoring threat. DeJesus, who went 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball and struck out seven, tied the franchise's single-season strikeout record (53) by fanning Kolin Demel in the fifth.

In the top of the eighth, the Renegades took a 3-2 lead when Carter Mize turned a two-out walk into a run following a passed ball, wild pitch and throwing error by Joplin catcher Dawson Walters.

Webb City native and Missouri Southern lefty Cale McCallister came on in relief of DeJesus, working 1 2/3 scoreless frames for the Outlaws. John Kea (2-1) picked up the victory after hurling a scoreless eighth while Justin Schrader slammed the door with a scoreless ninth.

"I think I have said all the good things I've said about this staff all summer long," Dawson said. "Everyone in our freaking bullpen steps up for us. It just shows you the depth that we have on this staff. Today, we knew we were going to have DeJesus on the mound to start the playoffs. He has been that guy for us all summer long."

Angeron, Feuerstake and Ellis collected two hits to lead Joplin offensively. Ellis finished with three RBI total.

Austin Brewer tossed six innings for the Renegades and allowed two runs on three hits while striking out seven and walking one. Deejay Seelbach surrendered two runs on three hits in one inning, and Demel (0-2) was tagged with the loss after walking two and giving up a run in an inning of work.

Anderson paced Jefferson City with two hits and an RBI.

On the North Division side, St. Joseph beat Chillicothe 5-3, scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead. The Mustangs play the Clarinda A's for the North championship on Tuesday.