The Chillicothe Mudcats got unlucky once again, and fall short against the Carroll Merchants on Wednesday evening.
The Mudcats and Merchants were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Wednesday in Carroll, Iowa. The first game of the day was scheduled to be the continuation of the game between the two on June 13 that was suspended due to weather in the top of the fourth inning tied at 5. Then, game two would’ve been the regularly scheduled game.
The weather once again had other plans. The two were able to get a final score in game one, but game two was completely nullified Wednesday evening as Merchants Park fell victim to a very heavy thunderstorm.
The Merchants got a run in each of the top of the fourth and fifth innings at the resumption of the suspended game on Wednesday afternoon, and they led 7-5 after the top of the fifth.
The Mudcats then responded with a fifth inning run. JP Gonzalez scored on a Merchant infield error that allowed a ground ball to skip into the outfield off the bat of Jevon Raboy, 7-6 Merchants after five.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mudcats tied it up. A sacrifice fly from Alejandro Somaza brought in Ryder McClain to knot the game up at 7 after six innings of play.
The Merchants, however, struck for a crooked number in the top of the seventh. A trio of bases loaded walks allowed the Merchants to take a 10-7 lead after the top of the seventh.
That score stayed true into the bottom of the ninth with impactful weather imminent.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Mudcats loaded the bases with nobody out on a pair of walks and a base hit which would have brought the potential game-winning run to the plate. However, right after the bases were loaded up, time was called and two tarps were placed around the mound and home plate area.
After that, a very heavy and long-lived thunderstorm impacted Merchants Park which made the surface unplayable for the rest of the evening.
With the game being technically ‘official’ as well, 10-7 will be the final score of the ball game from June 13 in favor of the Carroll Merchants.
Another tough break in the weather department this season on Wednesday, and also for the Mudcats getting their ninth inning rally stripped away.
The Mudcats drop to 8-16 on the season.
As for the originally scheduled game that was rained out, a time and date is still TBD and the game will be in Carroll.
The Mudcats are off on Thursday, and return home Friday to take on the Joplin Jailbirds at 7:05 p.m.