The Chillicothe Mudcats escaped with a win in a wild game against the Nevada Griffons on Thursday evening at Shaffer Park in Chillicothe.
Of the 17 frames played in the ball game on Thursday evening only five of them were scoreless.
The Griffons jumped out on top with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The next two frames were scoreless until Chillicothe took a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the second.
The Griffons recorded a single run in the top of the third to cut the Mudcat lead to 5-2.
In the top of the fourth, the Griffons tallied two more to make it 5-4.
In the bottom of the fourth, Chillicothe extended its lead. A Clayton Eskra bases clearing double allowed three to cross, and the Mudcats led it 8-4 after four innings.
In the fifth, Nevada tallied two more to cut the Mudcat lead in half, it was 8-6 halfway through the game.
In the top of the sixth, the Griffons added two more to tie the game at 8-8. It was three straight two run innings for the Griffons, and we were tied at 8 apiece after the top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Chillicothe added three more to regain the lead, an 11-8 lead for the Mudcats at the conclusion of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, the Griffons got a single run to make it 11-9 at the seventh inning stretch.
The Mudcats added an insurance run themselves in the bottom of the seventh, 12-9 after the seventh inning.
In the eighth, the game got even crazier than it already was. A bases clearing triple off the bat of Mason Palermo tied the game up at 12.
The Mudcats then struck back in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead. A catcher’s balk brought Slater Hooke home to give the Mudcats the lead. Then, Nishiki Iwai stung a two-RBI double into the left center field gap which gave the Mudcats a 15-12 lead.
The Griffons went down without a fight in the top of the ninth, and the Mudcats won a marathon of a game by the final score of 15-12.
A near four hour ball game on Thursday saw a jaw dropping 29 walks combined between the two teams. The Griffons walked the Mudcats 21 times and hit Chillicothe batters another six times. The Mudcats were hit or walked a combined 27 times on Thursday while recording only five hits in the game.
The Mudcats improve to 11-20, and have the next three days off.
The Mudcats are back home for the final time in 2026 on Monday evening against the North Missouri Natty’s, first pitch is at 7:05 p.m. at Shaffer Park.