By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Mustangs overcame adversity after losing the first game of the MINK League championships, coming back and winning the next two games for their ninth title in 15 years.
The Mustangs defeated the Clarinda A's 3-1 on Saturday at Phil Welch Stadium.
The matchup was a pitching duel through the first three innings as Mustangs starter Trenton Roehler and A's starter Brennan Sefrit gave up a combined five hits. The Mustangs would break through in the fourth inning.
After Darius Freeman singled, and proceeded to steal second base, a single from catcher Dom Felix would score Freeman to give the Mustangs a lead. That lead would be extended in the fifth as Easton Bruce would single to score Trevor McCollum. Two batters later, a groundout from Carson Schrack would bring in Jordan Black.
The A's would score their lone run in the top of the sixth inning, an RBI single from Evan Smallwood scoring Conner McKnatt.
Roehler would earn the win in the start, pitching 5.2 innings giving up seven hits and one run while striking out four. East Buchanan alum Bronco Whitt pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Jaren Guck got the save.
It was an outstanding year for the Mustangs, finishing with an overall 40-9 record while going 33-8 in the conference, one of the best records in the history of the franchise.
At the end of such a special season, Manager Johnny Coy says what's made this season so special is all of the great players they recruited to play here.
"Bringing a lot of good players in here, it makes it easy when you have fans that we have here, guys want to come here, it's a big attraction, huge fans, we win a lot, we've got a lot of things that other teams in the league don't have, other teams in the whole area whether it's this league or not don't have" Coy tells reporters following the win. "It's just a crazy thing that in St. Joseph, Missouri we have such an awesome thing going on here and it's only going to keep getting better and better every year."
It was the last game at the collegiate level for Noah Bodenhausen, a Savannah alum and Northwest Missouri Bearcat. Bodenhausen says its great to have the season end this way.
"You can't ask for a better way to end it, we were just trusting the process, what we've been doing all year long, we had a lot of wins this year and we just tried to keep it rolling through the playoffs and we did that pretty well," Bodenhausen says.
And it was also special for Bodenhausen to bring home the championship in front of the home crowd at Phil Welch Stadium.
"I know a lot of these people that are here, I've grown a relationship with them over the last four years being here, and it just feels great to be able to go out and get it done for them," Bodenhausen explains.
With the 2024 season in the rear view mirror, the Mustangs now turn their attention to 2025 and hope to bring home a 10th title.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.