By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
How do you put to words what the St. Joseph Mustangs have pulled off in the MINK League playoffs this week?
"You really can't," said second baseman and Savannah native Noah Bodenhausen."
That's fair.
It started Monday with a 5-3 win over Chillicothe in the wildcard round. The Mustangs got behind 3-1 in the fifth, but scored four runs in the seventh and eighth to eventually win.
That was just the beginning.
On Tuesday, the Mustangs traveled to Clarinda to face the first-place A's in the divisional round - another win or go home scenario.
Clarinda, who had beaten St. Joseph eight times already in the regular season, led 7-0 after the first inning.
Starting pitcher Mack Stephenson stayed the course, and kept Clarinda scoreless for five innings after that. Then, the Mustangs were down 7-2. Then 7-5 heading to the ninth.
A two-run RBI single by Sam Kissane tied it and a sac fly by Jaxon Himel scored Ike Book for the go-ahead run.
Brayden Loving pitched the final inning, and just like that, St. Joseph beat Clarinda 8-7, ending the A's season at 37-6.
"The way that they fought back," I was super proud of them win or lose," said head coach Johnny Coy. "But, being able to pull it out and actually win the game was incredible. We had so many fans there. We were all just super excited. It was an overall great night."
Hard to top that, right? Well, the Mustangs tried to on Wednesday. Playing at Sedalia in the first game of the MINK League Championship Series, the Mustangs were down 7-2 entering the ninth.
With nobody on and two outs, the Mustangs got two runners in scoring position with a walk, a balk and a hit-by-pitch.
RBIs by Sean O'Malley, Sam Kissane and Noah Bodenhausen tied the game. An RBI single to left by Lafayette alum Cole Slibowski gave St. Joseph the lead at 8-7.
Loving pitched another scoreless ninth to put the bow on it.
"I have a lot of faith in my teammates," Bodenhausen said. "We never lost hope, but that's just unheard of."
Unheard of, but not impossible. The Mustangs are back home with a chance to win their seventh MINK League title on Friday. And if not Friday, then Saturday.
If the Mustangs lose Friday's game, which starts at 7 p.m., they would come back and host a third game on Saturday at 7 as well.
Many of Coy's younger players who are from the area, like Noah Bodenhausen or Chase Spoonmore or Ike Book, were fans in the stands watching the Mustangs win MINK League titles in 2014, '15, '17 and '19.
"They want to bring that same excitement to the fans that they were able to witness as fans themselves," Coy said. "They're super excited. We're ready to go."
Several guys on this year's roster, like St. Joseph Central alum Dawson Smith, West Platte grad Mack Stephenson and Mid-Buchanan alum Brady Holden were on the 2019 roster - the team that got the Mustangs their sixth league championship.
Now two years later, Holden hopes to deliver for the fans again.
"Growing up, we actually hosted Mustangs players," Holden said. "I was on the 2019 team that won the championship, so just getting the chance to try and repeat as champions is a pretty crazy feeling."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.