For the first time this season, the Mudcats witnessed a true pitcher’s duel. There has been plenty of good pitching performances, but nothing like what happened on Monday Night in Sedalia. RHP Bailey Quint for Chillicothe and RHP Antonio Escano for Sedalia went back and forth. In the end, it was the Mudcats who came away victorious. This game could’ve easily gone either way, but Chillicothe can happily exit Sedalia for the final time of the regular season with a 3-1 record vs the Bombers.
Scoring for both teams started early as Catcher Luca Boscarino hit an RBI single to make it 1-0 Mudcats. The Bombers would respond with a run scored in their first inning, now tied at 1-1. After that, it would be mostly silent offensively. There would be a couple opportunities with runners in scoring position for both sides, but nothing would stick. Escano would finish after six innings, striking out seven and only surrendering the one run. Quint would replicate with six innings, six strikeouts and one run allowed. At this point, it was a bullpen game.
After a scoreless top half of the seventh for Chillicothe, the Bombers would face a brand new arm in RHP Josiah Golden. Golden, a 2023-24 commit to Johnson County Community College, would take the ball for the first time as a Mudcat. In his first inning of work, he dazzled, striking out the last two batters of the inning, keeping it a 1-1 game.
In the top of the eighth, the Mudcats offense would wake up and score three runs to take a 4-1 lead. First Baseman Elian Guzman would drive a run in on a sacrifice fly. Next, Noah Hata would steal home on a double steal, lastly followed by an RBI single by Third Baseman Zack Thompson. Golden would continue in the eighth, but the Bombers would tack on two runs to make it 4-3.
After a scoreless ninth for the Mudcats’ offense, RHP Koby Linder would come on to get the save. The inning wasn’t easy, as he would walk the first batter, give up a single and hit the third batter to load the bases with nobody out. Sedalia would ground into a force out at the plate, followed by a huge strikeout by Linder to make it two outs. He would get the final batter to groundout to lock down the victory and earning the save.
This is now the second time this season Chillicothe has won three in a row, now 12-14 overall, with an off day on Tuesday.
NEXT GAME:
Chillicothe will look to continue their winning streak in Indianola against the Des Moines Peak Prospects on Wednesday Night. First pitch is set for 7:00 PM, with RHP Jaydon Cabezudo set to get the start.
