The St. Joseph Mustangs, traveling to Clarinda, Iowa on Tuesday night after a come-from-behind Wild Card game victory over Chillicothe (5-3 on Monday night), gave up seven first inning runs to the powerhouse A’s in the MINK League North Division championship game, leaving the visitors down by a score of 7-0, against a squad that had dominated the league this summer, with a 32-4 regular season mark.
While the Mustang pitching staff was able to right the ship from the nightmare start, St. Joseph still trailed by seven runs (7-0) heading into the final three innings. However, in yet another rally effort, the Mustangs scored twice in the 7th to get “on the board”, got back into the game with three runs in the top of the 8th, and with shutout baseball being fired at the A’s, St. Joseph stunned Clarinda with three runs in the 9th, completing the comeback with an 8-7 win.
Clarinda’s defense struggled in the contest, committing three errors, with A’s pitching allowing four walks in the course of the night.
The victory sends St. Joseph into another best-of-3 Mink League Championship Series, playing the South Division champion Sedalia Bombers. Sedalia trounced Joplin on Tuesday night by a score of 9-3 to win the South.
In Game 1 on Wednesday night, St. Joseph grabbed another one run road victory, taking down the Bombers by a score of 8-7. With a 1-0 lead in the series, the Mustangs return home for Game 2 at Phil Welch Stadium on Friday night at 7. If necessary, a third game would stay in St. Joseph on Saturday night at 7.
