The Joplin Outlaws avoided a regular season sweep at the hands of the Nevada Griffons by earning an 8-0 MINK League win over their South Division rival on Thursday night at Joe Becker Stadium.
The Griffons entered the night 7-0 against the Outlaws this summer.
“We finally got them and I’ll take it,” Joplin manager Chris Dawson said. “It was a fun game. It was nice to finally get those guys. They had our number all summer. We were able to jump on them early and that’s what I talked about in the locker room before the game. We wanted to jump on them early and we were able to do that.”
The Outlaws, 3-7 in their last 10, are now 13-16, good for third place in the South Division.
“Hopefully with this game we can turn it around,” Dawson said. “We’ve had a tough two weeks. I’m just glad I can leave the ballpark happy tonight. It was a good win all around.”
As far as the rest of the South standings, Sedalia is 16-15 and in first place, while second place Nevada is now 14-16 and fourth place Jefferson City is 13-18.
In the final regular season meeting between the teams, the Outlaws took an early lead and never relinquished it.
Ethan Ellis delivered a two-run single to left in the bottom of the first inning, scoring Brett Wiemers and Caleb Feuerstake.
The Griffons threatened in the third. With two on and two out, Nevada’s Braeden Hinton lifted a high fly ball to deep left, but Ellis made a leaping catch at the fence to end the threat.
“That was huge,” Dawson said. “That was a great play and gave us momentum. It was just a great catch.”
The Outlaws extended their lead in the bottom of the third, as a three-run double to left off the bat of Jeb Jenkins gave the hosts a five-run cushion.
The visitors threatened in the seventh, but the Outlaws turned an inning-ending double play.
Joplin added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half of the seventh. Jared Toler scored from third on a wild pitch before Ethan Lopez contributed a run-scoring single to right to make it 7-0.
In the eighth, Caleb Feuerstake charged home on a wild pitch for the final margin.
The Outlaws recorded 13 hits, with seven players contributing. Jenkins and Feuerstake had three hits apiece, while Wiemers and Logan Cline contributed two hits apiece.
The Griffons were limited to three hits by three Joplin pitchers.
Right-hander Gavin Heltemes started for the Outlaws and tossed four scoreless innings, striking out five and scattering three hits to earn the win.
“That’s been Gavin all summer for us,” Dawson said Heltemes, who plays for Georgia Gwinnett College. “We were finally able to get him a start. He gave us four strong and four zeroes, and that was huge. Anytime he’s on the bump we have faith we’ll at least be in the ballgame or have a chance to win it.”
Zach Hill pitched three innings in relief, while Ward Richardson went the final two innings.
Nevada’s Will Jacobson took the loss. The lefty allowed five earned runs on seven hits in four innings.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Joplin hosts the Clarinda A’s at 7 on Friday night. The two teams will play again on Saturday night.
Currently on a 10-game winning streak, Clarinda owns the best record in the MINK League, as the North Division leading A’s are 26-3.
