The Chillicothe Mudcats thrash the North Missouri Natty’s on Monday evening in the home finale at Shaffer Park in Chillicothe.
The game started out quiet on Monday evening until the bottom of the second inning when Nick Blakeney grounded a base hit up the middle to bring around Ryder McClain and get the Mudcats on top early. 1-0 Chillicothe after two innings.
That would only be a precursor to what was a convincing victory through and through for the Mudcats.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Mudcats added onto their lead. Cole Adair made it 2-0 in favor of Chillicothe after he jogged home on a wild pitch. Then, two more Mudcats crossed the plate in the form of Jevon Raboy and Kobe Wagers on a fly ball to field off the bat of Alejandro Somaza that was dropped by the Natty’s left fielder, Cade Fallert. 4-0 Mudcats after the fifth.
In the seventh, the Mudcats put the game out of reach for good.
A trio of RBI base hits off the bats of Max Heintz, Alejandro Somaza and Nick Blakeney gave the Mudcats a 7-0 lead after seven innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Mudcats put the cherry on top. Kobe Wagers delivered that with a two-run bomb over the left center field wall, a ball that was absolutely crushed off the bat of the Chillicothe native, Wagers. 9-0 Mudcats after the eighth.
Mudcat pitching finished off the shutout of the Natty’s in the ninth, and the Mudcats win by a final score of 9-0 on Monday evening.
To go along with the offensive explosion, Mudcat pitching was lights out. They get the walk free, 4-hit shutout, and strike out 14 Natty’s in the process.
Hikaru Mikami got the start, he went four very good innings on the mound giving up three hits and striking out three. Hayes Weller pitched the next three innings in relief, he gave up only a single hit and struck out five. Dane Ireland came in to close the door, the Chillicothe native went the final two innings and struck out six of the seven batters he faced. An absolute gem dealt by the trio on Monday evening.
The Mudcats improve to 12-20, and also clinch their spot in the MINK League playoffs.
The Mudcats are back in action Tuesday evening against the Clarinda A’s on the road, first pitch is at 7:00 p.m.