Griffons set for home-and-home series with St. Joseph

By Jason Peake

Herald-Tribune

NEVADA, Mo. -- Talk about familiar foes.

They've already played twice this summer, and now, the Nevada Griffons and the St. Joseph Mustangs will see a lot more of each other this weekend.

Nevada travels to St. Joe tonight for a MINK League showdown. And then, St. Joseph comes to town on Sunday night for a 7 p.m. date at Lyons Stadium. That date will complete the home-and-home series.

The Griffons are now 5-1 in the MINK League, while the Mustangs sit at 3-4. St. Joe handed the Griffons their first loss of the season on Thursday night. Nevada topped St. Joe last Sunday night, 15-2.

Church Night

Speaking of this Sunday, it will be Church Night at the ballpark. Those who bring their Church Bulletin (a newsletter will also work) will receive free admission. The church with the most people in attendance with their bulletins will receive a donation of $50 to their youth group.

Nice debut for Schiraldi

Six-foot-six right-hander Lukas Schiraldi (Navarro College, Texas) made his Griffons debut on Tuesday vs. Sedalia, earning the win. He struck out seven in five innings and giving up only three hits.

Lukas is the son of former MLB pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, who pitched in the 1986 World Series for the Boston Red Sox against the New York Mets. Of course, that's the famous Bill Buckner World Series.

Calvin Schiraldi is now a coach and teacher in Austin, Texas.

Stat leaders

AJ Krist from Grandview University is leading the Griffons in hitting. The first baseman has a team-high 12 hits in six MINK League games and is batting .462. Patrick Kregeloh from Shippensburg State has nine hits. The Pennsylvania native has a team-high five RBIs and is batting .409. As far as batting average, Jesse Solar is also hitting .462, while John Ascenzia has a .455 average in three games.

Nevada High School graduate and Griffons relief pitcher Ron Johnson is 2-0 on the mound so far. The right-hander hasn't allowed an earned run. Johnson has appeared in three games, a team-high that Mathew Lynch, Parker McDaniel and Laurent Zenoni have, as well. Zenoni has left the team to go to summer school.