The Chillicothe Mudcats lose big to the Joplin Jailbirds and are swept on Saturday evening at Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin, Mo. to close out the regular season.
Things looked promising for Chillicothe in the top of the first inning. The Mudcats struck for six runs right off the bat. Highlighted in the inning was a bases-clearing double off the bat of Clayton Eskra. 6-0 Mudcats after the top of the first.
Joplin scored a run in the bottom of the first to make it 6-1 after one full inning of play.
The Jailbirds then tacked on a four spot in the bottom of the second inning to cut the Chillicothe lead to 6-5 after two innings. The first two innings on Saturday took nearly an hour, and we were in for a high scoring game.
Joplin tied the game up in the bottom of the third with a single run and it was 6-6 after three innings.
Chillicothe retook the lead in the top of the fourth when Jevon Raboy scored on a passed, which gave the Mudcats a 7-6 lead after the top of the fourth. After that, it was all Joplin the rest of the way.
An offensive explosion for the Jailbirds in the bottom of the fourth gave the Jailbirds an eight spot on the board and ultimately a 14-7 lead.
Joplin tallied another two in the bottom of the fifth to make it 16-7 after five innings.
Chillicothe answered in the top of the sixth inning after ten unanswered runs from Joplin. A two-RBI base hit for Ryder McClain scored Jevon Raboy and Koby Wagers to make it 16-9 after the top of the sixth.
However, Joplin responded right back with another crooked number of their own. A three run inning for the Jailbirds gave them a 19-9 lead which put the game in mercy rule territory heading into the seventh.
The Mudcats would have a couple of chances to score in the top of the seventh but ultimately come up empty and suffer a second-straight run rule defeat. It was a night where the Jailbird offense was clicking on all cylinders and Mudcat pitching had no answer. Joplin scored in every inning they came to bat in on Saturday evening in the 19-9 victory.
The Mudcats finish the regular season 12-24 (12-23 MINK), and earn the 5-seed in the MINK League playoffs.
The Mudcats are off on Sunday and will hit the road for the first round of the MINK League playoffs on Monday evening.
The Mudcats will be taking on the St. Joseph Mustangs in the 5 vs. 4 matchup in round one of the MINK League playoffs on Monday at Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph, Mo. First pitch on Monday will be at 6:30 p.m.