The Chillicothe Mudcats snapped a four game losing streak on Friday night with a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Monarchs in a non league contest at Shaffer Park.
The game, which was the Mudcats’ first contest after three consecutive off days, was called early in the bottom of the seventh inning due to inclement weather that would have caused a lengthy delay.
The Mudcats gave up one run in the first inning off of a wild pitch to give KC a 1-0 advantage. In addition, The Mudcats struggled to score themselves, stranding the first three runners in the first two innings at the plate.
But, in the bottom of the third inning, Elian Guzman changed all of that. He gave the Mudcats the lead with a three run home run, scoring Peyton Becker and John Spoto as a result to make it 3-1. It was Guzman’s second home run in his three years as a Chillicothe Mudcat, and it was just his second hit of the season.
It was the Mudcats’ first home run at Shaffer Park this season, and the second home run by a Mudcat in 2024, with Julio Guerrero’s solo blast at St. Joseph last Friday being the first one of the season.
The Monarchs would score one run in the seventh off of a throwing error from the Mudcats catcher to cut the Mudcats’ lead in half, but that would be all the runs they would get in the shortened game. They move to 1-1 against opposition from the MINK League this summer.
The Mudcats pitching staff had a very strong bounce back performance. Layne Rutherford, Ryoma Tada, Justin Pile and Jace Brownell combined for 10 total strikeouts, and only allowed five Monarchs base runners. Tada picked up the win after three scoreless innings where he only allowed one hit.
Chillicothe moves back to .500 with the win, their record now sitting at 4-4 on the young season, with a 3-4 record in the MINK League. Tonight’s game starts a stretch where the Mudcats will play eight games in the next nine days.
The Mudcats are on the road tonight in a big matchup at Phil Welch Stadium against the St. Joseph Mustangs, who have started the MINK League strongly, sitting atop the league standings with an 8-0 record. First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. Listen to the live action of the game tonight and every single Chillicothe Mudcats game this summer on KCHI and kchi.com.
