The Chillicothe Mudcats lost a mid-game 3-1 lead, falling 5-3 at St. Joseph on Monday night in the MINK League North Division wild card game at Phil Welch Stadium. The loss ends Chillicothe’s season, while advancing the Mustangs into Tuesday night’s MINK League North championship game at Clarinda, Iowa against the A’s.
Left-hander Scott Duensing of Missouri Southern was solid for Chillicothe in the start, with seven innings of nine-hit, three-run baseball. Koby Linder of North Central Missouri College (via Green City) gave up a pair of runs out of the bullpen, as St. Joseph scored twice in the 7th to tie the game, and took the lead with 2 tallies in the 8th inning.
Chillicothe scored single runs in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th innings, claiming a 3-1 win into the bottom of the 7th. Josh Swinehart hammered a solo home run and added a run-scoring single, with Zach Dox contributing a pair of hits in the loss. Zach Stewart added an RBI.
In the MINK League South championship game, Joplin rallied with three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, upending the upset-minded Jefferson City Renegades 5-3. Joplin will play at Sedalia for the MINK South division title on Tuesday night at 7 o’clock.
The two postseason division champions meet in a best-of-three championship series starting Thursday night.
