The Chillicothe Mudcats were down to their last strike on Monday night, facing off against the mighty St. Joseph Mustangs at Shaffer Park. In the bottom of the ninth, the Mudcats had runners at first and second base, and the Mustangs were one strike away from winning all seven games against the Mudcats in the regular season, and clinching the MINK League regular season title at Shaffer Park.
John Spoto came to the plate, and with one swing of the bat, he changed everything. Spoto provided one of the greatest moments in Mudcats history, hitting a walk-off, three-run home run to steal the victory away from St. Joseph’s grasp. Here’s the call of the almost unbelievable moment as heard live on KCHI.
Spoto’s run home run provided Chillicothe with their first walk-off victory of the summer, as they beat the rival Mustangs, 8-7, to secure a MINK League postseason spot. It was Spoto’s third home run in the month of July alone. Spoto finished with four hits, five RBIs, a triple, and the all important home run to help the Mudcats on their way to their first victory against St. Joseph this season.
The two teams battled hard throughout, the game playing out like a heavyweight boxing match, with both teams throwing punches in a back-and-forth game. The Mudcats gave up two runs to St. Joseph in the top of the first, but John Spoto’s RBI triple and Drew Sanidad’s groundout RBI tied the score in the bottom half of the frame, 2-2.
The Mudcats would then take a 3-2 on another RBI base hit from Spoto in the third after back-to-back walks from St. Joseph starting pitcher, Camden Lutz. St. Joseph then took the lead 4-3, in the bottom of the fourth, on a two-run single by Logan Miller. Miller would finish with three hits, and reached base in all four plate appearances.
Chillicothe punched back with two runs, both unearned, in the fifth inning, with Sanidad providing another RBI base hit to make the score 5-4. The tide then turned once again when St. Joseph scored two runs in the sixth, and one run in the eighth, to really put the pressure on the Mudcats.
After St. Joseph reliever Tim Texiera stuck out the side in the eighth, Jaren Guck came on for the ninth to try to clinch his fourth save of the season. After striking out Jackson Crawford, Guck then walk two of the next three batters to set up the amazing finish. Spoto hit the fifth walk off home run in Chillicothe Mudcats history off of Guck to steal the win.
The Mudcats pitching staff battled hard throughout. Reigning MINK League Pitcher of the Week, Layne Rutherford, labored through 4.2 innings, giving up four runs, two unearned in a no-decision start. Steven Escarceag also pitched 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, staying dominant as he only allowed one run to cross while he was on the mound. Justin Schnell pitched a scoreless ninth inning, striking out two, and he was credited with the win after Spoto’s walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth.
For St. Joseph, Jaren Guck was credited with the blown save, the first blown save for the Mustangs after 14 successful save opportunities in a row up until that point.It was also the first time that St. Joseph had given up a walk-off this season, and it meant that MINK League win number 30 for the Mustangs this season will have to wait. The Mustangs were also denied the chance to clinch the MINK League regular season title, and the number one overall seed in the MINK League playoff’s with Spoto’s swing.
Chillicothe is now in sole possession of fourth place in the league, which means, as it stands, the Mudcats will host a postseason game next week. They are 19-20 overall, and now 17-19 in the MINK League. This was Chillicothe’s fourth straight MINK League win, making it the longest win streak for the Mudcats in the league this season. They finish their final home stand of the season with a six game league winning streak at Shaffer Park.
The Mudcats will look to make it five straight wins in a row tonight when they start a four game road trip to end the regular season, as they visit the Nevada Griffons in Southwest Missouri. The Griffons will go into the game on an eight game losing streak, and have already been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention. First pitch is at 7:00 p.m, so be sure to continue to tune in to Mudcats baseball in this exciting 2024 season live on KCHI and on KCHI.com.
