By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Mustangs marched into Clarinda, Iowa on a mission for their 10th MINK League Championship, and walked away needing just one more game to accomplish that mission, beating the Clarinda A's 10-6 in game on of the MINK League Championship series.
The Mustangs scored most of their runs early, building a big lead through the first five innings, scoring four in the first inning. A double by Jack Mosh with the bases loaded cleared the bases, driving in Darius Freeman, Lafayette alum Brayden Luikart, and Dom Felix, before Mosh scored the final run of the inning on an RBI single by Lafayette alum Jayden Little.
Central alum Logan Miller added another run in the second inning, extending the lead, with a sacrifice fly bringing Northwest Missouri State's Parker Griffith home. Then in the fifth inning, the Mustangs again put a four spot on the scoreboard with RBI singles by Savannah alum Truman Bodenhausen and Miller, scoring Mosh and Little, before Freeman drove in the final two with an double, bringing home Bodenhausen and Griffith.
With the Mustangs holding a 9-0 lead, the A's got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth on a wild pitch with Cooper Knight coming home to score. St. Joseph got that run back however in the sixth inning, their final run of the game, Benton alum scoring on a groundout by Little, thanks to an error by Clarinda first baseman Drake Cobb.
The bottom of the sixth began the A's rally with Clarinda scoring three runs. Another run scored on a wild pitch as Layth Holliday came home for a run in the inning. After Micah Nicholson walked, and stole second base, Cobb drove the A's second baseman in with an RBI single. Cobb stole second, and with two outs in the inning, Kane Wilson singled to drive in Cobb for the final run of the inning, cutting the Mustangs lead to 10-4.
Clarinda continued to threaten a comeback in the seventh, scoring two more runs and cutting the lead to four. Holliday singled and moved Clayton Pourciau to third, before Pourciau went home to score on an error by Bodenhausen. Holliday scored the final run after stealing third base, then going home on an error by Griffith.
Lawson alum Lane Chapman came on and pitched the eighth and ninth innings, holding the A's to just a single hit and walking one while striking out two batters to end the game and secure the Mustangs head back to St. Joseph needing just one more win.
Cade Perkins earned the win pitching seven innings and giving up six runs on six hits while striking out 10 and walking four. At the plate, Bodenhausen was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and one RBI. Little was 3-for-5 with two RBI's, while Mosh was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI's.
The Mustangs and A's will now meet at Phil Welch Stadium in game two of the MINK League Championship series tomorrow. First pitch will be at 7pm. With a Mustangs win, the series will be over, but if Clarinda wins, game three will be on Saturday.
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