By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Mustangs have thought about the opportunity to threepeat as MINK League champions all summer.
They'll now have the chance to do just that this week.
The Mustangs (35-14) are onto the MINK League championship series for a third straight season following a 5-2 win over Clarinda at Phil Welch Stadium on Tuesday night in the North Division Final.
The win sets up a championship series against the Joplin Outlaws coming up this Thursday through Saturday.
"It's awesome," Brady Holden said after a 3-for-4 night at the plate. "We got down early, but the way this team has played all year, I knew we'd battle back. We were never worried, stayed with each other, came back and got the win."
The Mustangs, facing Clarinda for an eighth time this season Tuesday, were held to just two hits through the first five innings.
Despite solid innings from St. Joseph starting pitcher Max Spitzmiller, the A's (32-15) nabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning, thanks to an RBI single from Luke Saunders.
After a 1-2-3 inning by Clarinda in the top of the sixth, St. Joseph finally got to starting pitcher Will Walsh.
Holden led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to center. Jack Wagner followed with a single to right, and Dylan Carey followed that with a single to center. An ensuing throwing error scored Holden, tying the game at 1-1.
With bases loaded and just one out, Trevor McCollum came through with a two-run RBI single to score Carey and Wagner, giving the Mustangs a 3-1 lead.
Another RBI single by Jaxon Himel scored McCollum and Ryan Koski, putting the Mustangs up 5-1. Clarinda subsequently pulled Walsh after that, following a five-hit, five-run sixth inning.
"We were squaring balls up early, but nothing was falling," Mustangs manager Johnny Coy said. "I just told the guys to keep swinging, keep getting good pitches and things will fall. When it mattered most, it definitely fell for them."
Clarinda, which fell one game short of reaching the league championship last season, got a run back in the top of the eighth, but ended that inning with bases loaded.
St. Joseph reliever Morichika Hama earned his third save of the season, striking out two batters over the final two innings, and setting the A's down in order in the final frame.
The Mustangs now face South Division champion Joplin in the MINK League championship series, starting Thursday.
The Outlaws (24-21) beat Jefferson City in the South Division final Tuesday, 4-2. Joplin will host the Mustangs for the first game of the series on Thursday night at 7.
Game two shifts to Phil Welch Stadium on Friday night at 7, with a third game being played in St. Joseph on Saturday night at 7 if needed.
No MINK League team has ever won three straight championships. The Mustangs have already beat Joplin in three of their four meetings in the regular season, and St. Joseph has the best record in the league.
Two more wins is all that's needed for the Mustangs to make history and claim their eighth league championship as a franchise.
"It all starts with game one in Joplin," Coy said. "Our guys are super excited, they've been working hard for it and I know they're going to come out and play as best they can."
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