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Griffons drop crucial home contest to Chillicothe, 15-14
In dire need of a victory in order to boost its MINK League Playoff hopes, the Nevada Griffons fell to the visiting Chillicothe Mudcats 15-14 in a wild 11-inning affair Thursday night at Lyons Stadium.
Nevada (19-17 MINK League, 21-17 Overall) has now lost six of its last eight games, but are only a half-game out of second-place in the MINK South after the Ozark Generals (20-17) dropped both games of a twinbill Thursday at home against the St. Joseph Mustangs.
Meanwhile, the idle first-place Joplin Outlaws (21-16) hold a 1 1/2 game lead on the third-place Griffons with four games remaining in the season.
Nevada resumed a game Wednesday against the Mustangs that was suspended July 6 in St. Joe with the game tied 9-9 in the top of the 10th. A victory was not in the cards for Nevada, as they were unable to score in the 10th. St. Joe loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the frame, before a one-out Brady Anderson RBI single handed the Mustangs the 10-9 walk-off win.
The teams then played the nightcap, as St. Joe prevailed 3-2, with Mustangs starting pitcher Jacob Hurst recording the victory.
Thursday against Chillicothe, Griffons starter Jared Scott hit a rough patch in the first inning, allowing five runs. The second batter of the game, Ryan McPhail, got the fireworks started with a solo home run to left field.
Later in the inning leading 3-0, a bases loaded Andrew Tannous single back up the middle, plated Dalton Schumer and John Remick.
Nevada responded in the bottom of the first, as Trevor Peterson lifted off, crushing a two-run home run over the left field fence and deep into the tree line, as the Griffons trailed 5-2.
The Mudcats added to their lead in the top of third with a pair of runs, courtesy of a Jacob Biller two-RBI double, scoring Remick and Tannous, giving the Mudcats a 7-2 cushion.
Nevada slowly chipped away at its deficit, scoring a run apiece in the third and fourth, to trim the Chillicothe lead to 7-4.
The Mudcats added three runs in the sixth to go on top 10-4. The damage came on a Schumer RBI single, followed later by a two-RBI double off the bat of Ryan Kayhill.
Not going away, the Griffons responded with three runs in the bottom half of the sixth. The first came when Tyler Pagano crossed home plate on a wild pitch. With two outs in the inning, Cole Johnson drilled a payoff pitch into left-center field, bringing home Kainulu Pitoy and Pagano as Nevada trailed 10-7.
Still trailing by three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Pagano, who had reached earlier in the inning via a single, came around to score on a throwing error. Later in the inning, with one out and runners on the corners, shortstop Tanner Wetrich launched a three-run home runs to put the Griffons on top 11-10.
Nevada, however, was unable to hold its lead as relief pitcher Cole Butler yielded four runs in the top of the ninth, as Chillicothe seized a 14-11 lead. The resilient Griffons battled back in the bottom of the ninth tying the game on a Wetrich single, scoring Johnson.
A Ross McWhorter base knock in the top of the 11th, plating Kayhill, was the game's final run, as the Griffons were unable to push a run across home plate in the bottom of the 11th.
For Nevada, Wetrich was 2-for-6 with four RBIs and two runs scored, while Johnson was 5-for-7 with two runs and two RBIs.The marathon contest lasted a brisk 3 hours and 47 minutes.
Up next
The Griffons will look to gain ground in the MINK South, when they host the second-place Ozark Generals, today at 7 p.m.