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Mansfield reflects on Griffons season
The Nevada Griffons recently concluded 47 game, eight-week baseball grind is one that ninth-year manager Ryan Mansfield won’t soon forget.
“It was definitely the most interesting season that I’ve been a part of,” said Mansfield. “It was probably one of the most disappointing.”
The Griffons (22-25 overall) finished under .500 for the first time since 2006, opening the season on a 10-game losing skid.
“Coming back from an 0-10 start and actually being able to get to the playoffs was a pretty good feat on our part,” noted Mansfield.
“I was hoping to have one of the better seasons that we’ve had in recent history, but it didn’t pan out. Almost every game something would go against us or wouldn’t go right.”
Mansfield said his collection of players was younger than in years past.
“A lot of those guys have never really been through that type of adversity, so it was a little bit of a challenge for them to go through that stuff,” he said.
In most years the Griffons roster is comprised primarily of college players who had completed their sophomore and junior seasons.
“Traditionally, we’ve been able to get older and more seasoned players,” said Mansfield. “When you look at who we had this year, we basically had freshmen on the infield. Kainalu Pitoy was (probably) our best (positional) player, and there’s a reason for that — the guy has played three years of college baseball.”
Mansfield continued: “You can see a difference between the guys who have (previously) played in the summer and guys who haven’t.”
Mansfield said his personal favorite moment of the season was the Griffons first win, a walk-off victory over the eventual MINK League champion St. Joseph Mustangs.
NBC thoughts
Mansfield said his preference would be that the MINK League still participate in the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series, as opposed to the new format, where the season concludes with the MINK League playoffs and without any NBC bids being received.
“I like going to the NBC World Series,” said Mansfield.
Mansfield, however, said budget constraints would hinder the Griffons ability to participate in the NBC World Series, while it’s also tough to keep players around that deep into the summer.
“There were two or three guys off our team that had already been recruited by teams in the NBC World Series,” he said. “But due to the cost factor and time factor, they decided not to do that.”
Added Mansfield: “Just keeping guys interested and keeping guys around during the course of the summer, and then a week into August, it’s getting to the point where it’s almost impossible to do. Our guys were just flat wore out at the end of the season.”
The bigger stage and tradition of the NBC World Series is a big draw, according to Mansfield.
“There’s different summer collegiate world series’ around the country,” said the veteran coach. “The NBC World Series in Wichita has more of a national base. They get guys from the Alaska League, the West Coast League, the California Collegiate League. There’s guys coming out of Texas, Oklahoma, teams from Arizona; there’s a lot more of a national representation.”
The NBC World Series has made some dramatic changes over the past few years, according to Mansfield.
“The last couple of years, they’ve struggled so bad with attendance, they’ve opened it up a lot more to high school teams and amateur teams — like letting the Kansas Stars come in,” he said.
The Stars, who won the 2017 NBC World Series after posting a 6-0 record, are a team comprised primarily of former Major League Baseball players.
The team was organized last season by Fort Scott native Adam LaRoche and included Rogers Clemens, while this year’s squad was headlined by Chipper Jones, LaRoche, and Roy Halladay.
Mansfield said he doesn’t have any major issues with the Kansas Stars being a part of the tradition-rich tournament.
“They’re done with their professional status,” he said. “The NBC is there to make money, (and the Stars) are a gimmick to get people through the door. I get that.
“There’s a few guys on the team that have played (at the MLB level) within the past couple years; (Adam) LaRoche is one who comes to mind. But a lot of these guys have been out of the game for a while, and are doing it for fun.”
The Griffons last competed in the NBC World Series in 2013.
“It was really watered down,” said Mansfield of the tournament field. “It was the first year they changed the format to a two-week setting, and there were probably four to six high school teams (in the field). A lot of people don’t understand that going from high school to college is a game-changer as far as competitive atmosphere.
“There’s nothing wrong with trying to play baseball, but when you’re trying to have an amateur, collegiate-type setting and you get guys that haven’t played for three or four years — and you have welders and mechanics and everyone else who is trying to do it. I appreciate that, but there’s also leagues for retired guys to play in — who want to do that on the weekends.”
MINK League awards
The MINK League’s Pitcher of the Year award went to St. Joseph Mustangs starter, Steve D’Amico, who concluded the season with a pristine 5-1 record and 1.76 ERA in 56 innings pitched. D’Amico’s 67 strikeouts ranked second in the league.
Ozark Generals outfielder Ryan Curtis collected MINK League Player of the Year accolades. Curtis, a MINK South Division All-Star selection, batted .394 (69-for-175) with 47 RBI, 38 runs-scored and seven stolen bases.
Griffons leaders
Griffons 2017 statistical leaders, include: Third baseman Noah Menchaca, eight home runs, 47 RBI; first baseman Nick Kreutzer, five home runs, 30 RBI; center fielder Kainalu Pitoy, five home runs, 27 RBI; and shortstop L.J. Hatch, .367 BA., 25 RBI.