In a Sunday doubleheader at Shaffer Park, the Chillicothe Mudcats swept the Clarinda A’s to pull within 1.5 games back of them for second place. The Mudcats pitched their second shutout of the season in the first game to win 2-0, and a four-walk, four-error inning lifted the Mudcats to a 7-3 victory in the second game.
Game 1
Layne Rutherford made his third start of the summer in Sunday’s opener, and posted his second straight appearance of six scoreless innings. He retired the first seven batters of the game, and allowed a runner on second base only twice.
The Mudcats scored both of their runs in the third inning. A leadoff hit batter followed by a single at the bottom of the order, turned over to Jarian Pinckney who extended his hitting streak to six games with an RBI single. Peyton Becker grounded in the other run.
Clarinda managed just three hits against Rutherford. In his last two starts, he has allowed a combined five hits with 16 strikeouts in 12 innings.
Tanner Sears, who caught the first six innings of the game, went onto the mound in the seventh seeking his fourth save, and got it in a perfect inning.
Winning Pitcher: Layne Rutherford (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: Noah Benavides (3-1)
Save: Tanner Sears (4)
Time of Game: 1:28
Game 2
Going for the sweep in the nightcap, the Mudcats struck first again with two runs in the opening frame. Sears doubled in Frandie Fernandez from first base, and later scored on a sacrifice fly. Sears initially bluffed the tag at third, but when the throw came into third base, he raced home and beat the throw there to make it 2-0.
Following the dominant performance from Rutherford, Chillicothe threw their staff leader in strikeouts and innings pitched, Koby Linder. The A’s scored a leadoff single against him in the third, but that was the only damage done to him through five innings.
Linder started the sixth, where a leadoff error opened the door to a potential big inning. An RBI double followed, which later scored on another hit. That tied the game, and forced a pitching change.
Ryotara Hirayama came in with runners at first and second and one out, and retired the two batters he faced. It was his third day in a row pitching, and he extended his scoreless streak to 16.1 innings.
Clarinda went to their bullpen in the sixth as well, and after recording an out, Kaleb Hillis walked four straight Mudcats. The A’s compounded that with four errors in the inning, and by the end of it, Chillicothe led 7-3.
Johanno Perdomo pitched the seventh, and retired the A’s in order to secure the win.
Winning Pitcher: Ryotara Hirayama (3-0)
Losing Pitcher: Kaleb Hillis (0-1)
Time of Game: 1:47
In three games, Clarinda has not held a lead over the Mudcats. Chillicothe rises to 11-8 in league play, and will enjoy a day off Monday before hosting the St. Joseph Mustangs on Tuesday.
