Ninth inning collapse spells doom for Griffons season

Griffons catcher Drew Austin unsuccessfully tries to put out Jefferson City’s Justin McIntyre at home in the third inning of Wednesday night’s MINK League South Division playoff game at Lyons Stadium. McIntyre’s run handed the Renegades a 3-1 lead.

Ralph Pokorny | Special to the Daily Mail

The Nevada Griffons’ 2018 campaign came to a screeching halt Wednesday night at Lyons Stadium as a seven-run ninth inning propelled the Jefferson City Renegades to an 11-7, single-game elimination, MINK League playoff victory over the host Griffons.

Leading 6-4 entering the top of the ninth, the Griffons turned to lock-down closer David Ruot.

Ruot seemingly had things under control, with a runner on first and one out. From there, however, things quickly unraveled, as a Justin McIntyre double down the left field line was followed by Quincy Jones’ two-RBI single up the middle, knotting the contest 6-6.

A Tyler Bracht run-scoring single and Jordan Smith’s RBI-sacrifice fly put the Renegades in front, 8-6.

The knockout blow came on Marquise Doherty’s mammoth two-out, three-run blast over the left-center field wall, swelling the Jefferson City advantage to 11-6.

The disastrous frame wasn’t without controversy, as Ruot had complained during the inning of car headlights shining into his line of sight. After the bulk of the damage was done, the home plate umpire stopped play to address the issue.

“We’re like a sparkplug,” said Jefferson City catcher Mike Million. “So once one guy gets going, the line just keeps moving. And playing for the Renegades for two years (since the expansion season) it’s been kind of crazy, starting from nothing and working our way up.”

The Griffons threatened in the ninth, loading the bases with one out, but were able to scratch across only one run, as Zion Mayberry was called out on strikes for the game’s final out.

For Nevada, starter Nick Iossi lasted seven innings, allowing four runs (two earned), while striking out five and walking three. Iossi was followed by Jackson Keller in the eighth, as the St. Louis Community College product tossed a clean inning. In the ninth Ruot surrendered seven earned runs on six hits, while walking two and fanning two en route to the pitching loss.

Nick Iossi delivers a pitch in the first inning of Wednesday's game.

Ralph Pokorny | Special to the Daily Mail

At the dish for Nevada, Domonique Hernandez, Connor Gage, and Blake Faecher each recorded three-hit performances, as the Griffons racked up 15 hits to the Renegades nine. Hernandez’s rocket double off the top of the left field fence in the seventh handed Nevada a 5-4 lead.

A key moment in the contest came with two outs in the eighth. With runners in scoring position, Jeff City shortstop Jordan Smith climbed the ladder to rob Hernandez of an extra base hit, saving two runs from scoring.

At the dish for Jefferson City (24-23), both Million and Doherty homered, while Griffon killer Austin Blazevic finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.

With the victory the Renegades advanced to Thursday’s South Division championship game in Springfield, where they were defeated by the Ozark Generals, 8-5. The Generals now advance to the best of three MINK League Championship series against the winner of Clarinda vs. Sedalia.

After finishing in second place in the MINK South division, the Griffons concluded the season at 24-18.