Griffons drop two-straight at Chillicothe

Nevada Daily Mail

CHILLICOTHE -- A horrendous first inning was too much to overcome for the Griffons on Tuesday night, as host Chillicothe earned a dominating 21-3 victory over Nevada at Shaffer Park.

The Mudcats batted around in the first inning and scored nine runs right off the bat. And they never looked back en route to the lopsided victory.

With the loss, the Griffons fall to 18-16 in the MINK League action. Chillicothe improves to 19-17 in the league.

Nevada's lead is down to one and a half game over Ozark and two over Sedalia.

Chillicothe scored nine runs in the first, doing most of the damage against Griffons starter Chris Mullins.

Taylor Johnson walked and Tyler Duplantis hit an RBI triple for a 1-0 lead. Levi Grassley hit an RBI single later in the inning for a 2-0 lead. A bases loaded walk brought home another run. A two-run single by Ricky Martinez made it 5-0. Ryan Brinley then hit an RBI single for a 6-0 cushion. There were still no outs when Griffons Coach Ryan Mansfield replaced Mullins with Jake Heissler. Isaac Smith greeted Heissler by hitting a two-run single for a 7-0 lead. Later, a Duplantis groundout plated another run. A wild pitch allowed another run to score for a 9-0 lead. The Griffons finally got out of the inning, but had a huge deficit. The Mudcats sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning.

Brinley's drove in a run in the second for a 10-0 advantage. Duplantis drew a bases-loaded walk for an 11-0 lead. Ryan Busch then hit a two-run double. That was followed by Ryne Morozowski's two-run single. That made it 15-0.

The Griffons got on the board in the third inning when back-to-back singles from Tyler Palmer and Rick Hepworth produced two runs.

The Mudcats added a run in the fourth on two hits and an error. Chillicothe put up two more runs in the fifth on one hit and an error for an 18-2 lead.

The Griffons got a run back in the sixth when Brad Wilson hit an RBI double, scoring John Ascenzia.

The Mudcats extended the lead with three runs on just one hit in the sixth to go up 21-3.

Mudcats 21, Griffons 3

NE 002 001 000 -- 3 8 3

CH 960 123 00x-- 21 18 1

WP: Adkins. LP: Mullins.

Monday's recap

Chillicothe defeated Nevada 2-0 on Monday. The Mudcats scored once in the first inning against Tommy Bush on a home run from Taylor Johnson. Chillicothe scored its final run of the game in the third. Ryan Brinley doubled and came home on Johnson's RBI single.

The Griffons were limited to four hits in the game. John Ascenzia went 2-for-3. Bush took the loss, but he threw well in defeat. In seven innings on the mound, Bush allowed two earned runs and walked just one. But Chillicothe's Sam Wood was just a little bit better. Wood struck out 11 Griffons and allowed just four hits.

The Griffons are home Thursday night against Joplin at 7 p.m.

Mudcats 2, Griffons 0

NE 000 000 000 -- 0 4 0

CH 101 000 00x -- 2 11 0

WP: Wood. LP: Bush. SV: Brinley.

Upcoming schedule

The Griffons are at Chillicothe again tonight.

The team is home Thursday night against Joplin at 7 p.m. The Griffons are also home on Saturday for a doubleheader with Omaha. Game one starts at 6 p.m. The team is then home on Sunday for Fan Appreciation Night against Omaha at 7:30 p.m. There will be free admission Sunday.