Following an improbable road win the night prior, the Chillicothe Mudcats returned home to Shaffer Park on Friday to finish a two-game series with the Sedalia Bombers. In an eerily similar game, the Mudcats won for the second straight day by one run with a 6-5 victory.
2024 Mudcat pitcher Layne Rutherford made his first start since being added to the roster, and finished six innings in a no decision. Chillicothe provided him a huge early lead by scoring five runs in the first inning. Facing Sedalia’s Josh Hagle, who threw six no-hit innings against them last week, the Mudcats jumped on him this time early in counts right from the beginning.
Ziah Chang walked with the bases loaded in the first to score the game’s first run and bring up Derin Doucet. His first extra-base hit of the season was a double clobbered to left, and cleared the bases. His five runs batted in now lead the team, and he was driven in by Aiden Baerenklau’s first hit of the year to make it 5-0 Mudcats after one.
Rutherford cruised through the second inning, but ran into trouble in the third. The Bombers would get all five runs back in the frame, batting 10 men in the inning. Two walks, an error, and four hits made it a brand-new ball game at 5-5.
That score held through the middle innings, as the starting pitchers settled in. Hagle managed to get through five without incurring any further damage, before being relieved by Dante Johnson. He retired the Mudcats in order in the sixth, and sat down the first two batters of the seventh.
Chillicothe then turned on the two-out magic. Tanner Sears barrelled a double, reached third on a single, and was brought in on a blooper from Ziah Chang that fell between three Bombers in shallow center field to push the Mudcats ahead 6-5.
That put Chillicothe six outs away from their first winning streak. With the bases loaded and just one out in the eighth, the Mudcats turned to Rafael Calcaño to pitch for the first time this season. He got a popup and a strikeout to strand the runners and maintain the lead.
In the ninth, Tanner Sears came in from the infield to pitch for the second day in a row. Great work from his defense behind him helped pull it out. Jarian Pinckney made a diving catch in center field, and with two on and two out, shortstop Clayton Eskra fielded a tough ground ball and threw the Bomber out to end the game.
The win lifts Chillicothe to 2-5 in league play, they will host the fifth-place Carroll Merchants on Saturday night.
Winning Pitcher: Rafael Calcaño (1-0)
Losing Pitcher: Dante Johnson (0-2)
Save: Tanner Sears (2)
Time of Game: 2:25
