The Chillicothe Mudcats dropped a thriller on Monday evening to the North Missouri Natty’s from Tiger Field in Kirksville, Mo., and lose their ninth straight ball game.
The Mudcats went quietly in the top of the first inning, and the Natty’s got the scoring started in the bottom of the first after a one out double from Devin Norwood, and a two-run home run from Evan Rainey that just snuck over the right field fence, 2-0 Natty’s after one inning.
The Mudcats went quiet again in the top of the second, and the Natty’s added another on a Lucas Eddleman double that scored Hudson Karczynski to make it 3-0 North Missouri after two innings of play.
After that, it was five straight innings of scoreless baseball in Kirksville. Two outstanding performances on the mound on Monday from Nick Blakeney of the Mudcats and Landon Wells of the Natty’s, both struck out double-digit batters in their respective outings.
At last, in the eighth, the Mudcats got on the board.
Aiden Baerenklau drew a one out walk, where he was pinch ran for by Slater Hooke. Hooke later stole second, which then led to him scoring on a throwing error by the pitcher Landon Wells on a Taydem Hashimoto bunt down the third base line. Hashimoto advanced up to second on the play and it was 3-1 at that point. Hashimoto stole third, and scored on a wild pitch to make it a 3-2 ball game. That score stuck through the rest of the eighth inning.
In the top of the ninth, Jackson Neilitz led off the inning with a base hit to center field, where he then stole second base and advanced to third on a groundout. Neilitz was on third with two away in the ninth inning. Canon Creason was the final hope for Chillicothe, and he sent a looping liner into right field where Natty’s right fielder, Devin Norwood, made a sliding catch to rob the Mudcats from tying the game up, and ultimately that ended the game as well.
The Mudcats lose by a final score of 3-2 on Monday evening and fall to 1-9, losing their ninth game in a row.
The Mudcats are back in Kirksville on Tuesday to face the Natty’s for game two of a three-game series this week, first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.