The Chillicothe Mudcats started the month of July with a bang, as they picked up a 9-2 victory over Carroll on Monday night at Shaffer Park. Chillicothe used a strong start to build a big lead over Carroll, and coasted their fifth victory over the Merchants this season in six attempts.
The Mudcats did almost all of their scoring in the first inning, when they amazingly plated eight runs on eight hits against Carroll starting pitcher, Noah Cutler. It was the most runs that the Mudcats had scored in a frame this season, as they started the inning with 10 of the first 11 batters reaching base. Both Hunter Shoutla and Peyton Becker hit twice in that inning, and both reached each time they came to the plate with singles.
The eight run lead allowed Mudcats starter Layne Rutherford to pitch with a big advantage, and he would go five and a third innings on the mound, surrendering only two runs to Carroll, which both came in the third inning. That put Rutherford in line for his second win of the season. The rest of the Mudcats bullpen, which consisted of Caleb Bergman, Justin Schnell, and Koby Linder, would shut down the Merchants the rest of the way through.
Chillicothe scored the final run on the night in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Peyton Becker’s sacrifice fly scored Nathan Cupp to make it 9-2 in the bottom of the fifth. It was the only run the Mudcats scored in the game apart from the colossal first inning offensively.
For the second straight game, every single starter for the Mudcats reached base, and the Mudcats finished with fourteen hits, as three separate players had three hits each in the game: Peyton Becker, Hunter Shoulta, and Drew Sanidad. It was the second game in a row where Becker recorded three hits, as he got a hit in six straight at bats between Sunday’s win against Warren County and the win on Monday against Carroll.
In addition, the Mudcats pitching and the Mudcats defense did a great job of working in and out of jams, as the Merchants stranded 15 base runners on the evening. That included Jackson Crawford throwing out a runner at home from the outfield, catcher Nathan Cupp catching a runner stealing with two outs, and pitcher Justin Schnell picking off a Carroll runner at first base. The Merchants stranded base runners in every inning but one.
For the Mudcats, they have now scored 20 runs in the last two games, and have registered 31 hits in that time frame as well. In addition, the Mudcats have only surrendered nine runs in their last four games of play as well.
For the first time since May, the Mudcats have won three consecutive games, and they win their tenth MINK League game of the season on Monday night, and now sit at 12-16 overall this season. For Carroll, they played four games against the Mudcats at Shaffer Park this season, and failed to win a single one. The Mudcats will have a chance to win a sixth game over Carroll when they visit Historic Merchants Park in Iowa for one final time in the regular season on Friday, July 5th.
Chillicothe look to keep the great vibes going when they host the North Missouri Naturals tonight in non league play at Shaffer Park. If they win, the Mudcats will pick up their fourth win of the season, which would make it their longest win streak of the year so far. The action will start at 7:05 p.m. There’s no better time to tune into Mudcats baseball than now, and you can do that by listening to the games on KCHI and on KCHI.com!
