For the first time this season, the Chillicothe Mudcats had a game cancelled due to weather, as severe storms came through the Chillicothe area on Tuesday night and took away the Mudcats’ matchup at home in a non league contest against the North Missouri Naturals. The Mudcats will not have this game rescheduled to a later date.
The Mudcats were able to play a small portion of the game tonight before weather disrupted events. After Chillicothe starting pitcher Max Randis pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first first inning, the Mudcats came to the plate to hit in the bottom half of the frame. After Peyton Becker hit a leadoff single, the game was put into a weather delay due to lightning with Jorey Anderson at the plate.
The strong storms ended up making the field unplayable on, and the game was eventually called off. The rain out ultimately meant that an agriculture themed night that was scheduled at the ballpark ended abruptly. The fireworks also slated to begin after the game did not occur.
In addition to the Mudcats losing a game of their season, it also meant that Tanner Sears, in his fourth season as a Mudcat, did not get to play in his final game of the season. Sears plans to play in the Northwoods League for the remainder of the summer, for the Badlands Big Sticks in the state of North Dakota. The Mudcat veteran does plan to play with Chillicothe at the beginning of next summer. Sears joined Matt Clark during the initial rain delay, and spoke briefly about what being a Mudcat over the last four years has meant to him.
At the end of the day, the Mudcats now have just five games left at home in the regular season, and 15 games remaining overall. Their record remains at 12-16 overall, and 10-16 in the MINK League.
The Mudcats will be on the road for the rest of the week, and they start the four game MINK League road trip with a visit to Phil Welch Stadium tonight, as they face the St. Joseph Mustangs on the day before the Fourth of July. St. Joseph, who is atop the MINK League standings, will come into the game on a low note, after losing to the Clarinda A’s on Tuesday, 5-2.
If the Mudcats win tonight’s game, it will be the first time they’ve beaten their rivals this season, and it would give St. Joseph back-to-back losses for the first time in their season. They would also hand the Mustangs just their third loss at home this season if they can pick up the win. In the postgame show on Tuesday, Mudcats assistant coach Trey Rassenfoss spoke about the approach the Mudcats plan to have in one of their most important games of the season.
You’re not going to want to miss the action in St. Joseph on Wednesday night, as first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. You can tune into every single minute of Mudcats baseball in the 2024 season by listening on KCHI and on kchi.com.
