For the third day in a row, the Chillicothe Mudcats won a game by one run. Saturday night at Shaffer Park they took on the Carroll Merchants for the first time this season, and walked them off 7-6 in 11 innings. Bruce Boucher delivered the winning hit, and Ryotara Hirayama pitched three scoreless innings of relief for his first win.
Saturday was the first time during the winning streak that the Mudcats did not score first. Carroll tallied four runs in a mess of the top of the first inning. Three hits and three errors made for a rocky takeoff in Blake Exizian’s first pitching appearance of the season.
Down 4-0 going into their first at-bat, Chillicothe got one of the runs back in their half of the first, and chipped away with one more in the third. The Merchants responded with a run of their own in the fourth, and their 5-2 lead lasted into the sixth inning.
Carroll reliever Kolby Culbertson loaded the bases with three straight walks in the sixth to put the tying runs on base. As a pinch hitter, Jarian Pinckney singled in two runs. Two batters later, a wild pitch got far enough from home plate to score two more Mudcats and give them their first lead of the night 5-4.
From there, Josh Rego struck out the side in the seventh. It was his second straight inning of relief retiring the Merchants in order, with five strikeouts. He was brought back out again in the eighth, where a leadoff single was brought in to score the tying run.
In a 6-6 game, Chillicothe had a difficult time finding the winning run. They left a man on second in the ninth, and did not score with men on second and third with no out in the tenth.
It was the Mudcats relief ace Hirayama that kept them alive through the struggles. Through three innings, he allowed only one baserunner, and struck out five. His scoreless eleventh put Chillicothe in the driver’s seat with the ghost-runner on second base to begin the inning. Then, with the bases loaded, Boucher came up for his second at-bat after entering in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement. His second hit of the night was a single that won it for the Mudcats.
Suddenly up to 3-5 in league play, Chillicothe makes a quick turnaround for a game Sunday afternoon in Jefferson City against the Renegades.
Winning Pitcher: Ryotara Hirayama (1-0)
Losing Pitcher: Jackson Gwin (2-1)
Time of Game: 3:28
