The 2022 MINK League baseball season officially kicked off Thursday with Joplin hosting Nevada at Joe Becker Stadium.
After five scoreless frames, the Griffons broke through for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a commanding lead. Joplin added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth with the long ball. The Outlaws rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eight to cut the lead to one and had the tying and winning run in scoring position in the ninth before the final out was made.
“I am definitely excited for this season,” first-year Joplin manager Gonzalo Gonzalez said after the game. “It didn’t go our way in the end, but the main takeaway is these boys have a lot of fight. They didn’t give away at-bats behind in the count and did a really good job late in the game of fighting with two strikes to give ourselves a chance to win.”
ON THE MOUND
Jonah Sarabia earned the win on the bump for Nevada after allowing two runs on four hits, three walks and six strikeouts in six innings of work.
Edrian Rangel took the loss for Joplin after allowing three runs on five hits, seven strikeouts and a hit-by-pitch in 5 1/3 innings.
GAME ACTION
Nevada was the first team to threaten after a single from Jason Schneider was followed by a double to right field by Seth Gray to put runners at second and third with one out in the third inning. Rangel followed with a pair of punchouts to get out of the jam without allowing a run.
The Griffons again threatened in the top of the sixth inning after loading the bases with no outs on an error, a hit-by-pitch and a single from Schneider through the right side. After Rangel struck out Gray for the first out in the inning, Andrew Sumner came on in relief. Nevada used an RBI groundout from Houston Vogelstrom followed by a two-run single up the middle from Andrew Peckering to push the lead to 3-0.
Joplin High School product Kohl Cooper came in as the second reliever in the inning, with the Griffons adding a run on a wild pitch to push the lead to 4-0. Connor Culp added an RBI with a single up the middle to extend the lead to 5-0.
“We need to come out of the bullpen and not pitch scared,” Gonzalez said of the fifth inning. “Being able to rise to the challenge, taking the ball and running with it. That was difference from the middle of that game and the end of that game. The guys who came in late made sure they were getting ahead with first-pitch strikes. If we can do that early and find our groove with our pitching staff and bullpen, I think we are going to be a hard team to beat.”
Joplin got into the scoring column in the bottom of the inning when Max Bruff ripped a ball over the wall in right with a runner on for a two-run home run to trim the lead to 5-2.
“That was a shot in the arm for us,” Gonzalez said of Bruff’s home run. “Especially after giving up five runs right there. Being able to answer and put up a zero was huge. Without that, I don’t think we would have gotten back in the game.”
Bruff came through again for the Outlaws in the bottom of the eighth when he singled with runners on first and third with two outs to pick up an RBI and trim the lead down to 5-3. Korrey Siracusa came through with an infield hit in the hole at short two batters later with the bases loaded to plate a run, but the third out of the inning came when the runner rounding third was caught in a rundown and tagged out at home to end the rally with the score settling at 5-4.
Joplin put the rally caps on once again in the bottom of the ninth after a hit-by-pitch and a single from Caden Bressler put runners on first and second, with a sacrifice bunt from Sam Fagan moving both runners into scoring position with one out. A groundout to second with the infield in and a flyout ended the threat and the game.
ON DECK
Joplin hosts Des Moines at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Joe Becker Stadium.
