Month: June 2021

The Joplin Outlaws suffered their first loss of the season, 8-5, at the hands of the St. Joe Mustangs on Monday, which came with a bit of controversy, in MINK League action at Joe Becker Stadium. 

Joplin trailed 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Pittsburg native Brett Wiemers singled to lead off the inning followed by a double to right-center by Brandon Ulmer and a walk from Cam Pfafman to load the bases with no outs.

After a St. Joe pitching change, Joplin’s Jack Mettam hit a chopper to the pitcher, who threw home for the force out. The throw from the catcher to first was overthrown, which would have allowed a minimum of one run to score, but Mettam was called out for interference, a judgement call, by the home plate umpire. With boos raining down from the home crowd, Outlaws manager Chris Dawson was eventually ejected from the game after voicing his displeasure with the controversial call. The final out of the inning was made in the next at-bat, ending the last real threat Joplin had of climbing back to tie the game.

“We had just that one hiccup there in the (third) inning pitching wise but from the fourth on, we put up zeros for the most part,” Joplin assistant coach Wade Satzinger said. “We did a pretty good job of fighting and continuing to come back. I think that is what you are going to see this team do the rest of the year—be resilient. With the call (at first), sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t. At the end of the day, you just have to keep moving forward and try to get something going at the end.”

“That is something that didn’t go our way and killed the big inning and a big rally for us,” Satzinger added about the interference call. “At the end of the day, it is what it is. We still had a couple of more innings to make something happen. It’s under review and appeal, so whatever happens happens. We still have to try to find a way to finish a game there.”

The Outlaws have officially protested the game.

GAME ACTION

St. Joe used two-out magic to take an early lead against Joplin. After Brady Holden singled with one out, Jaxon Himell put the Mustangs on top after launching a two-out, two-run home run to left field on the first pitch of the at-bat in the top of the first inning.

The Outlaws wasted little time responding, as Logan Cline singled up the middle to score Drake Angeron to trim the deficit in half, 2-1, in the bottom of the first frame. Angeron had an infield hit before moving to second on the same play via throwing error. Later in the inning, Wiemers doubled to left-center with runners on second and third and two outs to give the Outlaws a 3-2 lead.

“We have the ability to drive the ball well,” Satzinger said of the team’s offense. “Once we get on base, we can wreak havoc by taking extra bases and taking advantage of miscues. I think our speed is a really big advantage for us.”

St. Joe regained the lead in the top of the third after plating five runs on two hits, an error and two walks to lead 7-3. Himell started the scoring with a two-run single to right field before Ike Book drove home two with a single to right-center. The final run of the inning came home on an RBI groundout by Coleman Fenton.

Joplin trimmed the lead to three runs, 7-4, in the bottom of the third inning when Ethan Ellis doubled to left-center to score Cline, who walked to lead off the inning.

The Outlaws chipped away at the lead with another single tally in the bottom of the fifth inning when Jared Toler scored Cline from third with an RBI fielder’s choice to make the score 7-5.

ON THE MOUND

St. Joe’s Dawson Smith earned the win after giving up five runs, three earned, over five innings. He allowed eight hits, walked four and struck out four. Will Hahn pitched four scoreless relief innings to earn the save. 

Josh Walpole took the loss for Joplin after allowing five runs on five hits, two walks and five strikeouts in two innings of work.

IN THE BOX

Ellis, Wiemers and Ulmer all doubled for the Outlaws. Cline had two hits, an RBI and scored two runs, while Ellis had two hits, scored once and drove in one. Weimers had two hits and two RBI.

UP NEXT

Joplin hits the road for the first time this season with a 7 p.m. matchup at Nevada.

They say pitching and defense wins games, and the Joplin Outlaws proved that to be true on Saturday in a 5-1 victory over Des Moines at Joe Becker Stadium to start the season off 2-0.

Joplin took the early advantage with a run scoring on the long ball in the second inning before pushing across single tallies in the fourth and fifth innings for insurance. The Outlaws made timely plays on defense to keep Des Moines off the scoreboard until the seventh when the Prospects crossed home for the first time. Des Moines threatened in the eighth but to no avail. Joplin added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win. 

“We have some good defenders and they’ve played really well,” Joplin manager Chris Dawson said. “When you can play defense like that, you are going to keep yourself in a lot of ball games. If we keep doing that day in and day out, we are going to be OK.”

ON THE MOUND

Jeremiah Kennedy, a Missouri Southern State Lion, earned the start and took the no-decision after holding Des Moines scoreless over four innings. He allowed three hits, walked three and struck out one. Masayuki Maruhashi earned the win after pitching two scoreless innings in relief without allowing a hit. He walked one and struck out one. Jack O’Brien allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts in two relief innings. Reese Weaks finished the game out with one walk and two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.

GAME ACTION

Joplin broke through on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the second inning when Calen Protaskey launched a one-out solo home run to left to give the Outlaws the early momentum.

“He has flashed that power in (batting practice) and that ball cleared the bleachers in left,” Dawson said of Protaskey’s homer. “That ball was touched and hit well. That was good to see because he is a young kid, a redshirt freshman at Iowa Western. For him to have that at-bat early in summer was big.”

The Prospects had eyes on tying the game up in the top of the third after advancing runners to second and third with one out, but Joplin right fielder Jeb Jenkins put that notion to rest after hauling in a shallow fly ball off the bat of Anthony Toureallus for the second out and gunning down Sam Nicolino at the plate on the attempted tag-up to end the inning.

“That was a missile,” Dawson said of Jenkins’ throw to home. “I am surprised (the runner) went. I thought with it being so shallow they were going to bluff. He went and Jeb put the throw right on the money. You can’t make a better throw than that.”

Joplin added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Lawson Faria reached on an infield single up the middle to score Cade Lott, who singled up the middle earlier in the inning, to make the score 2-0.

The Outlaws pushed the lead to 3-0 in the last of the fifth after Ethan Lopez came around to score on an RBI single to left by Jared Toler. Lopez led off with a single and promptly stole second to get in scoring position.

“He can run and he had some good at-bats,” Dawson said of Lopez’s performance. “And the two plays he made in the outfield were phenomenal. Hats off to him.”

Des Moines got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning when Bryce Hall singled up the middle to score Cade Reinerston, who doubled to lead off the inning. The Prospects had runners on the corners with two away later in the inning when Trevor Dooley hit a liner to the gap in right-center only for Lopez, who was roaming center field in the win, to make a diving grab to rob Dooley of a hit and an RBI while ending the threat to a standing ovation by the home crowd.

“I knew we were in a tight spot,” Lopez said. “Any guy could have made that play, but I just got lucky. I wanted it the most and as soon as I saw that ball hit, I knew I wasn’t going to let it drop. Getting hyped after hearing the fans cheer just keeps me going.”

Toureallus doubled to lead off the top of the eighth for Des Moines only for Joplin’s O’Brien to strike out the next three batters to end the final rally attempt by the Prospects.

Joplin added a pair of insurance runs in the last of the eighth to steal the momentum for good, making the score 5-1. With runners on second and third and two outs, Faria hit a chopper to third and reached base with the low throw getting away from the Des Moines first baseman to allow both runs to score. 

IN THE BOX

Lopez had three hits and scored a run to lead Joplin at the plate. Toler had two hits, including a double, to go along with an RBI and a run scored. Lott had two hits and scored a run.

UP NEXT

Joplin is back in action on Sunday with a matchup against St. Joe at 7 p.m. at Joe Becker Stadium. 

It was a special day at Joe Becker Stadium on Friday as the Joplin Outlaws returned to the field for the first time in more than a year to open the 2021 MINK League schedule with a matchup against the Des Moines Peak Prospects.

“This one is very special,” Joplin Outlaws President and General Manager Mark Rains said. “I’m excited. People are ready for baseball. People are ready to get out and get back to normalcy.”

“These boys have good size,” Rains continued about his outlook for the Outlaws this year. “They are tall and very athletic. We’ve got some really good pitchers. I am thinking this is going to be a great season.”

It is the 13th year in charge of the Outlaws for Rains, but only his 12th opening day. Of course, the reason being last season was canceled because of the COVID 19 pandemic. Rains was thrilled to be able to provide summer baseball for the community once again.

“This should be a huge day for the community,” Rains said. “It’s cheap entertainment. Come out here, enjoy the kids and enjoy the game. Everybody ought to be out here. This is Joplin’s team.”

GAME ACTION

As for the action on the diamond, Des Moines took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third before the Outlaws trimmed the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the third. Joplin struck for two runs in the bottom of the fourth and held the Prospects off the scoreboard through the final six innings to earn the win.

“That was exciting, and we had to do it in comeback fashion,” first-year Joplin manager Chris Dawson said. “We answered when they put runs on the board, so that was good to see. Our pitchers followed the script. We didn’t have to deviate from what we do with those guys. … It was a good team win.”

“I can’t thank these fans enough because this was electric,” Dawson said about managing in his debut with the Outlaws. “I mean, 0-2 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and we got the crowd going. There is nothing like it. If we can have crowds like this every home game, it would be phenomenal. The whole atmosphere tonight was outstanding and was exactly what I wanted it to be. I hope we can continue to have that this summer.”

Des Moines brokes a scoreless tie with a two-out rally in the top of the third inning. Nate Jessell got the scoring started for the Prospects after singling up the middle with runners on first and second to plate Trevor Dooley. Des Moines pushed the lead to 2-0 later in the inning after Adam Axtell reached on an infield hit up the middle to score another run.

Joplin reached the scoreboard and cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third. Brandon Ulmer led off the frame with a line-drive double to right field before coming around to score later in the inning on a groundout from Logan Cline. The Outlaws looked to tie the game on a single up the middle by Cade Lott with runners on first and second, but Ethan Ellis was thrown out at third before Lukas White touched home for the final out of the frame.

“That was huge,” Dawson said about his team answering back right away on the scoreboard. “I told the guys in our first team meeting that I was going to run us into outs. That’s on me sending him from first to third, but I told them I was going to run them into outs and not apologize for it. They were able to pick me up the next inning. It was good to see.”

The Outlaws didn’t wait long to get the offense going again, scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth to take their first lead of the game, 3-2, over the Prospects. Lawson Faria led off the inning with a walk before Cam Pfafman followed with a single. Both runners moved into scoring position on a double steal before Jack Mettam singled up the middle to score both runners for a 3-2 lead.

“Hats off to our guys at the plate,” Dawson said. “They put together some great at-bats, battled and capitalized on balls over the plate.”

ON THE MOUND

Cale McCallister, a Missouri Southern Lion, earned the start for the Outlaws and took a no-decision after allowing two runs on six hits, a walk and five strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings. Christian DeJesus earned the win in relief after blanking the Prospects over two innings, allowing two hits, walking two and striking out four. Clayton Saporito pitched 2 1/3 scoreless relief innings on two hits and two strikeouts. Justin Schrader earned the save with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning relief appearance.

Noah Stober took the loss for Des Moines after allowing three runs on four hits and three walks in three innings.

AT THE PLATE

Mettam and White led Joplin with two hits each, with Mettam adding two RBI. Cline had one hit and an RBI, while Ulmer doubled and scored a run.

Anthony Toureallus led the Prospects with three hits, including a double, and a run scored. Jessel had two hits and an RBI.

UP NEXT

Joplin and Des Moines square off for Game 2 with a 7 p.m. matchup on Saturday at Joe Becker Stadium.