By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Mustangs produced 12 hits and struck out 13 batters on their way to a 7-3 win over the Ban Johnson Raiders at Phil Welch Stadium Thursday.
Savannah alum and starting pitcher Micah Diamond got the win in seven innings pitched, striking out nine and walking only one. Diamond says the entire pitching staff has been stepping up as of late.
"Yeah the staff is really good," said Diamond. "I think everyone is different, and that's perfect. You come in with a new pitcher, and the lineup is not ready for them, so I think everyone does them as good as they can do themselves. If that makes sense."
Jay Greco (North Central CC) pitched the final two innings, striking out four more batters in the process.
The Mustangs improve to 6-5 and have won four of their last six games. Head coach Johnny Coy says his team is starting to settle in.
"A lot of them are 19 years old," said Coy. "A lot of them are adjusting to using wood (bats) for the first time in a men's league. They're doing a good job. I'm having a lot of fun with them. We had some heartbreaking losses the previous two games. Walk-off home run (against Jefferson City Wednesday) and one-run loss to Des Moines (Tuesday), but they came ready to play today."
Savannah products Noah Bodenhausen and Chase Spoonmore both had a pair of hits Thursday, as did Lafayette alum Cole Slibowski.
The Mustangs are back at it, hosting Des Moines on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then North Kansas City on Saturday at the same time.
