The fight first-year Joplin coach Gonzalo Gonzalez saw from his Outlaws in the season opener on Thursday showed up once again in the second game of the season against Des Moines on Friday, but this time it resulted in the first win of the season in 10-4 fashion at Joe Becker Stadium.
The Outlaws trailed 3-1 after five innings before scoring three times in the sixth to take a 4-3 advantage. After the Peak Prospects knotted things up with a run in the top of the seventh, Joplin scored four times with two outs in the bottom of the frame to take control 8-4. Joplin added two insurance runs in the eighth.
“It just shows you that these guys have heart,” Gonzalez said after the win. “Our pitching came up clutch after (the middle innings). Our guys settled in and quit trying too hard and just let the game come to them. It allowed them to play loose.”
ON THE MOUND
James Yamasaki started and took a no-decision for Joplin after allowing two runs on one hit, four strikeouts, two walks and two hit-by-pitches in four-plus innings of work. Caden Bressler earned the win in relief.
Drew Conn started and took a no-decision for Des Moines after allowing three runs on five hits, nine strikeouts, and one walk in five-plus innings of work. Owen Brauch took the loss in relief.
GAME ACTION
Joplin broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning when Carson Carpenter got into scoring position with a one-out double down the first-base line. Max Bruff followed with an opposite-field double in the corner in right field to plate Carpenter for a 1-0 lead.
The Prospects didn’t take long to respond, with the first two batters reaching after getting hit by pitches to chase Yamasaki from the game. Connor Peck entered in relief and hit his only two batters with pitches to force in the tying run. Casey Thibault entered as the second reliever in the inning and induced a double play that allowed the go-ahead run to score. Bryce Hall followed with an RBI single to center field for a 3-1 lead.
Joplin trimmed the lead down to one run in the top of the sixth when Cade Lott reached on an error, advancing to second when the throw from short reached the dugout. After Lott moved to third on a passed ball, he came around to score on an RBI groundout by Liam Bailey to make the score 3-2. Two batters later with runners on second and third, Michael Long singled up the middle to plate a pair of runs for a 4-3 lead.
“Over the last two nights, Mike has been one of the big bats for us,” Gonzalez said. “He does a great job fighting at the plate, especially with two strikes. When he gets a swing off early in the count, he is dangerous.”
The Prospects tied the game up in the top of the seventh inning when Leighton Jenkins flared a ball to right field for a single that scored Kevin Javier, who led off the inning by drawing a walk.
Joplin used a two-out rally in the last of the seventh to regain the lead after Bailey singled through the left side to score Sam Fagan, who walked to lead off the frame, for a 5-4 advantage.
“For us, it was big for him to be able to come through with two outs,” Gonzalez said. “He was able to fight and make sure he wasn’t going to do too much, just passing the torch to the next guy. That was good baseball right there.”
Bruff, who had three RBI in Thursday’s season opener, came up two batters later with the bases full of Outlaws and promptly smacked a ball to the opposite field deep in the gap to right-center field to clear the bases while pushing the lead to 8-4 for his seventh RBI in two games.
“He is just a tough out, man,” Gonzalez said of Bruff’s approach at the plate over the first two games. “He really is. With two strikes, he probably has the best approach on the team. He wides out, chokes up and puts it together for a good team at-bat every time. He is keeping us in games and hopefully he keeps it going.”
“At his school in Wisconsin, they said he was known for pulling the ball,” Gonzalez added about Bruff’s opposite-field approach. “To see him going the opposite way with a wood bat is awesome for us.”
Fagan added a solo home run and Carpenter added an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to make the score 10-4.
ON DECK
Joplin is back in action against Des Moines with a 7 p.m. matchup on Saturday at Joe Becker Stadium.
