St. Joseph Mustangs punch their tickets to the MINK League Championship series
By Calvin Silvers
Phil Welch Stadium was the place to be on Tuesday night, as the St. Joseph Mustangs, the overall one-seed in the MINK League Playoffs, hosted sixth-seeded Carroll Merchants in the semifinals.
These two teams met on the diamond seven times in the regular season, with the Mustangs taking the season series 4-3. The St. Joseph Mustangs never looked back in the middle of the contest, tallying a 9-3 victory, and will have an opportunity to start another streak of winning the MINK League Championship, beginning Thursday against the Clarinda A’s.
This game began with St. Joseph pitcher Denton Biller striking out the first two batters before the inning was ultimately retired with a throw to first from the shortstop for the third out after a Noah Dutler grounder.
Mustangs had better luck at their first at-bat, with Noah Bodenhausen leading the charge. He began the contest with a double to left field. The next batter, Carson Schrack singled to center advancing Bodenhausen to third.
As Darius Freeman stepped up the plate, the air was still as the stadium was relying on one of their best hitters of the year to bring in a run. He would use the sacrifice out route, which resulted in him being out at first, but Bodenhausen crossed home plate for the 1-0 lead.
After a wild pitch, Schrack advanced to third, which set up a runner in prime position. Jeter Mauzey was next in the batting order and came up clutch. He doubled to right field and Schrack made it around the bases for a 2-0 lead.
Merchants retaliated with a run of their own in the second inning, but it didn’t come right away. The first two batters were quickly returned to the dugout, but Mustangs’ pitcher Denton Biller had two walks and two wild throws. The run came after the pitch hit the batter, which loaded the bases and cut the lead to 2-1.
The score remained 2-1 until the top of the third, where Carroll added two more runs. The first came as Sammy Harris connected with the pitch, buying enough time for a triple, and sending Noah Dutker home. The other run came from a sacrifice RBI, and the Merchants led 3-2 after 2 ½ innings.
A lead didn’t last long for Carroll, as it was deja vue but for St. Joseph. They added two runs of their own, starting with a Jeter Mauzey single that brought Darius Freeman home from second base. Trevor McCollum reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing in Mauzey for the 4-3 lead.
The next three innings saw at least one run from the Mustangs, as they built an 8-3 lead in the seventh inning and could start to feel a championship appearance soon. A run in the bottom of the eighth put the game away.
The Mink League Championship will be a best-of-three series. Game one will be played at Clarinda. Games two and three, if necessary, will be at Phil Welch Stadium.
