Nevada Griffons prepare for new season, to start May 30

Nevada Griffons volunteers are preparing for a 2013 regular-season schedule that starts May 30, with a game against the Midwest Nationals.

The Griffons -- with head coach Ryan Mansfield back for a sixth season -- are scheduled to start MINK League play at St. Joseph, on June 1, before hosting the Mustangs in a fan appreciation game June 2. After three games at Chillicothe, June 4-6 and a game at Ozark, June 8, the Griffons are to host Omaha in a Church Day doubleheader June 9.

Griffons volunteers are looking for host families this summer and anyone who is interested can learn more by calling Dan Keller at 417-667-6208 or Erica Skouby at 417-667-7100. Nevada police officer Patrick Deao -- a former Nevada Griffon -- is slated to throw out the first pitch before the Griffons game on June 10.

First responders in the community are to be recognized by the Griffons that evening.

Mansfield's squad finished last season in third place in the MINK League South Division standings with an overall record of 21-21, a game and a half behind the Sedalia Bombers. The Bombers lost the League Championship series to the Mustangs in three games.

The Griffons went on to take seventh place in the National Baseball Congress World Series in the second-best showing for a MINK League team in the tournament. The Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters won the tournament, securing their second NBC World Series Championship in as many years and their fourth overall with a 6-2 victory over the Seattle (Wash.) Studs.

That win made the Foresters just the second team in tournament history to win back-to-back titles and the first since the Kenai (Alaska) Oilers did it in 1993 and 1994. It was the second time since 2008 the Foresters took the title with a win over the Studs in the tournament finals.