The St. Joseph Mustangs run-ruled the Joplin Outlaws on Saturday night 11-1 to win the MINK League Championship Series by 2 games to 1. The championship is the third consecutive for St. Joseph, matching titles won in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 MINK League season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joplin, on its home turf, won the opening game of the championship series on Thursday night by a score of 7-3, leaving the Outlaws with an advantage, but still needing to beat a St. Joseph team very tough at Phil Welch Stadium.
In Saturday’s game, the Mustangs took the lead on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, scoring NCMC product Noah Bodenhausen. Joplin battled back to 1-1 in the top of the third inning, with a Max Bruff double sending Caden Bressler to home plate.
However, with Tyson Hilsabeck firing six innings of one-run baseball for the Mustangs, Joplin’s pitching staff failed to keep pace. St. Joseph took the lead for good with a four-run fourth inning, with a Jack Wagner three-run bomb in the sixth inning sending the score to 9-1. A Wagner 2-RBI hit in the seventh ended the contest in favor of the Mustangs, igniting a celebration for the team and the 3,000 plus partisan Mustang rooters making up the crowd.
