Griffons explode early to stay unbeaten

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Griffons sent 13 men to the plate and scored nine runs in the first inning to blow the game open early as they cruised to an 18-9 victory over the Ozark Generals Tuesday.

Nevada pounded out 17 hits and four home runs as they kept the Generals at arms length throughout.

"We stayed pretty darn consistent through the whole thing," Nevada head coach John Hill III said. "We didn't have, like last night, a lull in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings."

The Griffons (3-0) had jumped out to a 5-0 lead Monday in Joplin, before allowing the Slashers to climb back into it and forge a tie before Nevada rallied late to win 9-5.

The Griffons strung together seven singles and a three-run bomb by Korby Mintken to pound Generals starter Josh Undercofler for eight earned runs and a 9-0 lead after one.

The Generals struck with a long ball of their own off the bat of David Mann with a runner on in the second to cut into Nevada's lead and make the score 9-2.

Nevada put five more on the board in the third, four of them on one swing courtesy of Will Feil, who took a 1-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a grand slam off reliever Ryan Estes for a 14-2 lead.

The blast seemed to kill any chance the Generals had of coming back.

"I was down 1-2 and just trying to put the ball in play and he left one up," Feil said of his homer.

"I took advantage of it."

"They never gained momentum back after that," Hill said. "At 9-2, I thought they were in the game and I don't think they thought they were out of the game."

Ozark didn't go away though, planting a five-spot on the board courtesy of five hits and two walks off Nevada starter Charlie Shaver to cut the lead to 14-7.

The Griffons added a pair in the sixth on a line-drive two-run homer to right by Sillivent for another nine-run lead.

Sillivent added his second two-run shot to right in the eight inning, this one off Ozark's Mike Sanchez, for the Griffons' final runs of the game.

The Generals (1-3) added a pair in the top of the ninth on a two-run double by Sanchez for the final margin of victory.

Tyler Appelhans pitched three innings of relief for the victory (1-0), dominating by striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced.

Hill said he would have left the left-hander in the game to finish things out if he wasn't slated to start Saturday against Dodge City.

"App's going to be very good for us," Hill said.

The Griffons are off Wednesday before traveling to El Dorado (Kan.) for their league opener against the Broncos in a doubleheader Thursday.

Nevada returns home Friday as they open a four-game homestand against the Dodge City Athletics.