The Chillicothe Mudcats drop a close one to the Joplin Jailbirds on Thursday evening at Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin, Mo.
The Jailbirds began the scoring right off the bat in the bottom of the first on Thursday evening with a pair of runs. Landin Midgett scorched a single into center field bringing around Jordan Tucker to make it 1-0 Joplin. Then, Drake Lee doubled down the right field line to score Blake Jones, and make it 2-0 Joplin.
The Mudcats then struck for a big inning in the top of the second. Alejandro Somaza got the scoring started after he crossed on a wild pitch to make it 2-1. Cole Adair then hit a sacrifice fly to left field which brought home Nishiki Iwai to make it 2-2. Then, Max Heintz walked home a run with the bases loaded, and Tatsuki Yoshikawa scored that run. Mudcats led it 3-2 after two innings.
Joplin would then retake the lead in the bottom of the third. Drake Lee brought home two more runners on a base hit to center field to give Joplin the 4-3 advantage. Then, Ole Gomez whacked a double into left which brought home Lee, and Joplin led it 5-3 after the third.
The Jailbirds would add onto that lead in the fourth, another Drake Lee base hit scored Austin Marsh to make it 6-3, and then Landin Midgett scored on a passed ball to make it 7-3 Joplin after the fourth.
The scoreboard was then quiet until the top of the eighth when the Mudcats slugged their way back into the game. Nick Blakeney led the inning off with a no-doubt, solo homerun over the right field wall, 7-4. Then, Cole Adair blasted a two-run shot of his own to cut the Jailbird lead to 7-6 after eight innings.
The Mudcats then had a chance to tie it or take the lead in the ninth. They had the bases loaded with one out, and unfortunately got themselves into a game-ending double play. A swinging strikeout was the second out, and then the ball got past the Joplin catcher, Drake Lee, which enticed Alejandro Somaza to break for the plate where he was thrown out on a nice flip from Lee and great cover of home by Jailbird closer, Marcus Young. That was the third out and the end of the game.
A heartbreaking 7-6 loss for the Mudcats against Joplin on Thursday evening. The Mudcats fall to 12-22 in the process.
The Mudcats are back in action Friday evening against the Joplin Jailbirds for game two of the three-game series. First pitch is at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.