Menu
Playoff picture: Griffons rally past Renegades
The Nevada Griffons showed their resilience Wednesday night at Lyons Stadium, staving off elimination with a late inning comeback to derail the Jefferson City Renegades 6-5 in the MINK League South division wild card game.
“It was the usual,” said Griffons manager Ryan Mansfield. “We don’t do anything the easy way and we haven’t all summer. They’re a pretty stubborn, hard-headed bunch.”
The Griffons (22-21 MINK League, 22-24 overall) had their backs against the wall, trailing by four runs entering the sixth and 5-3 in the eighth. Jefferson City starter Taylor Thompson was terrific through five, allowing just one run on a wild pitch in the third.
Thompson recorded the first two outs in the sixth before hitting Griffons catcher Tyler Pagano. Outfielder Marco Young then launched his first round tripper of the season over the right field wall, trimming the Renegades lead to 5-3.
After retiring the Griffons in order in the seventh, Thompson’s night came to a close. In the eighth, Renegades relief pitcher Cody Creed looked to be in good shape with two down and Oscar Larranaga on first. After a Larranaga stolen base and Pagano single put runners on the corners, Young collected his third RBI of the contest on a slow-rolling infield single to the right side, closing the gap to 5-4.
Nevada then knotted the score when Rafael Villela, Jr. laced a single to left-center, scoring Pagano from second. A Villela, Jr. stolen base put runners in scoring position, but Kainalu Pitoy struck out swinging to bring the inning to a close.
The Griffons sent closer Kory Haught to the mound for the ninth. Haught was throwing hard but was wild, issuing back-to-back walks to open the frame. After a Ty Roseberry bunt resulted in the lead runner being forced out at third, Haught escaped the jam by inducing an inning-ending double-play. Third baseman Noah Menchaca fielded a hard-hit grounder, stepped on third for the force out, and fired to Brendt Citta at first, preserving the tie game.
It was a rough appearance for Renegades reliever Christian Stelling in the bottom of the ninth, with the Jefferson College product failing to record an out. Stelling opened the inning with a leadoff walk to the newest Griffons team-member, shortstop Jordan Barba. Barba then stole second, with catcher Jady Reese airmailing the ball into center field, moving Barba to third.
Citta then lashed a Stelling fastball to the base of the right center-field wall, scoring Barba to secure the walk-off victory.
Mansfield said the key to victory was getting to the Jefferson City bullpen.
“We knew they didn’t have a pen,” noted Mansfield. “They’ve been through about 34 or 35 arms this summer. They were going to try to ride (Thompson) for as many innings as possible. And rightfully so, he’s their best guy.”
Citta said he was just trying to put the ball in play.
“We had no outs with a guy on third, so you just want to hit the ball hard,” said the University of Kansas product. “It doesn’t matter where you hit it, you just need to make contact and do something good. I was kind of expecting something off-speed, so I stayed back, and he threw something hard, and I went with it.”
Early innings
Jefferson City jumped on top 1-0 in the second via Mike Million’s solo home run, sky-high and just inside the left field foul pole. It was Million’s league-leading ninth blast of the season.
“It was a fastball outside, and I got my barrel around it,” Million said of the Jake Fraze offering. “It hit some wind and just kept going.”
The Renegades advantage increased to two runs in the third with Jordan Smith scoring on an Avery Jennings fielder’s choice groundout.
With the Renegades holding a 2-1 edge, Fraze was replaced on the hill by Riley Ulery to open the fourth. Fraze, who had allowed two runs (one earned) off just one hit, was nearing his season innings limit, according to Nevada pitching coach Wally Marciel.
“(Fraze) threw 50 innings in his spring season, and he’s a little over 50 this summer, so he’s thrown quite a bit,” Marciel said of the southpaw from Plano, Texas. “After pitching on four days rest I could tell he was a little fatigued. He’s one of our best starters, and you have to win this one to move on to the next one. He wanted the baseball, and I gave it to him. I was just happy to see him get back out there and compete.”
Added Marciel: “I’m not out here to hurt guys. I want to send them back to their school healthy. He’s obviously probably going to take the fall off, but that’s up to his coaching staff (at Mississippi College).”
Ethan Vanderpool was originally penciled in as the starter, but was dealing with arm soreness and requested an extra day off. Additionally, Vanderpool left the team to tend to a family matter in Arkansas.
“With Vanderpool leaving for a family emergency, I had to make the switch (to Fraze) last night,” said Mansfield.
In the fifth, Ulery, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound Asbury, Mo. native, encountered trouble. With one on and two outs, Million singled to left to keep the inning alive. Hunter Sutherland then followed with a sharp single to right to load the bases for Tyler Cunningham. Cunningham broke the game open with a bases clearing double into the left-center field gap. Cunningham was gunned down at third attempting to stretch his extra base knock into a triple, but Jefferson City led 5-1.
Ulery was lifted after three innings of work and replaced by Dante Richardson. Richardson was sharp in the seventh and eighth, tossing two perfect innings as the Pitt State product struck out a trio of Renegades. Haught (4-0), who had the early control issues, settled down, striking out a pair en route to collecting the victory. Jefferson City starter Thompson scattered eight hits over seven frames, allowing three earned runs while striking out five. Renegades relief pitchers Creed and Stelling were tagged for four hits and three earned runs over a combined one inning of work, as Stelling (0-2) took the loss.
At the plate, Citta collected four singles, finishing 4-for-5 with an RBI, while Young went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Meanwhile, for Jefferson City, Million finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
“Sometimes, you just see the ball well,” said Citta.
Million, who could make a strong case for the MINK League MVP, is a Gold Glove caliber center fielder. He has robbed Griffons hitters several times this season, and did so again on Wednesday. The play transpired when Pitoy blasted Thompson’s first pitch of the game into the right-center field alley.
Million, sprinting towards the wall, laid out to make a spectacular diving catch on the sinking liner.
“There’s a lot going through my mind on those plays,” Million told the Daily Mail. “Like when to jump, or when I need to lay out. Sometimes I need to make adjustments mid-air. But (the Griffons) seem to spread me out a lot in the outfield.”
Million, who has enough highlight-reel catches this season to have his own Top 10 list on Sports Center, said Wednesday’s first inning snag presented the highest degree of difficulty of any catch he has ever made.
“It was probably the hardest catch I’ve ever made,” said Million. “I couldn’t see it off the backstop, and it literally just took off. I had to go up and get it.”
The Million-led Renegades had a fantastic inaugural season, finishing 20-26 overall, and third-place in the MINK South division. “I appreciated the program, it was outstanding,” Million, a junior at Missouri Southern State University, said of his eight-week stint with Jefferson City. “We exceeded expectations of people around the league and our own fans. So to come out here and make it to the playoffs, put up some good numbers, hold a solid lead and play our butts off — we did pretty good. I’m proud of our guys.”
UP NEXT
The Griffons Thursday night divisional playoff contest with the first-place Ozark Generals in Republic was postponed due to rainfall. The teams will now relocate to Meador Park in Springfield, with the first pitch slated for 7 p.m. tonight.
The winner advances to the MINK League best of three championship series, where they will face the winner of Thursday night’s North division playoff game between first-place St. Joseph and second-place Sedalia. Sedalia eked out a 7-6 wild card victory Wednesday night against the visiting Clarinda (Iowa) A’s.
Prior to the rainout, Mansfield said he had planned on starting relief pitcher David Ruot for the divisional playoff contest. Ruot served as the Griffons closer for a good chunk of the season.
“We’ve extended (Ruot) twice now, with three or four inning appearances,” said Mansfield. “If he can give us four or five against (Ozark), that would be excellent.”
Mansfield added that he was pleased with the play of shortstop Barba, an emergency addition to the roster after Griffons star shortstop L.J. Hatch was signed by the Colorado Rockies organization and left for Boise to begin his professional career.
Mansfield said the addition of Barba kept him from having to shuffle multiple players out of position. Had Barba not joined the team, Mansfield said he would have moved Menchaca from third to shortstop. While Menchaca is a solid fielding third baseman, he doesn’t have the range of Barba, who made several tough plays Wednesday night.
“Jordan started out the summer in Wichita and recently has been with the Kansas City Monarchs,” noted Mansfield.
Note: Check Saturday’s edition for a recap of Friday night’s MINK League South divisional playoff contest