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Griffons get another win over Joplin, 4-3
It’s too bad the Nevada Griffons can’t play the Joplin Outlaws every game.
All four of Nevada’s games since last week’s All-Star Game have been against Joplin — and all four have been wins. The latest, a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night at Lyons Stadium, improved the Griffons’ season record against the Outlaws to 7-0.
Though the team has had its troubles with other MINK League opponents throughout the season, according to head coach Jason Jacome, he’ll take as many Ws as he can get right now.
“That’s what we were hoping, by the end of the season we’d get on a run where we could put some wins together,” said Jacome, whose team improved to 14-15 with the win, still good enough for second place in the South Division. “The guys are all doing their jobs and playing well right now. Getting good pitching, hitting, defense. It’s all falling into place.”
Right-hander Richard Kiel paced Nevada with eight effective innings on the mound, before handing the ball off to Sebastian Kirchner for a 1-2-3 save in the ninth. Kiel struck out eight on six hits, one walk, and three earned runs — while Kirchner picked up a pair of Ks.
“I would love to have 25 of Richards. He’s a great teammate, just a great guy all around,” said Jacome of Kiel, whose unmistakable Australian accent could be heard cheering on his teammates when they were up to bat. “He wants everybody to do well. And we want him to do well. He’s a big part of the season so far.”
After some of the defensive plays Nevada executed behind him, it’s easy to understand why Kiel was so supportive.
Joplin (12-16) was threatening early when leadoff man Brett Weimers singled to center field and stole second, then headed home when Ethan Ellis ripped a one-out base hit to left field.
But Griffons left fielder Tyler Davis came up firing, hitting relay man Cameron Saso for a close play at the plate. Saso’s throw found catcher Matthew Leong’s mitt in time to save the run.
Nevada pulled off a similar defensive gem later in the eighth, by which point the Griffons had a one-run advantage. This time, Ellis tried scoring from first on a two-out single by Brandon Ulmer — but Nevada right fielder Jack Swisher hit his cutoff man, first baseman Braeden Hinton, who fired home to Leong for the inning-ending tag.
The Griffons did their best to put on an offensive show, as well.
Leong opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning when he led off with a double, advanced to third on a Chase Beiter sacrifice bunt, and scored on an error. A few batters later, Swisher reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and trotted home on a Kahle Good single to right. Good swiped two bags himself before scoring on a wild pitch.
Joplin, which had been shut out by Nevada the previous two games, finally got on the board in the sixth thanks to an RBI triple by Caleb Feuerstake and a single by Ellis — but the Griffons responded in the home half of the inning when Hinton (who led off by drawing a four-pitch walk) advanced home on a passed ball.
Joplin cut it to within one in the next inning when Ulmer hit his two-out single to right that drove in Feuerstake and looked like it might score Ellis, but the Griffons defense gunned him down to save a run — and the game.
“I think we’ve got a pretty set lineup now. The guys that are getting to play every day, they know their role, so they’re just going out there and competing and doing their jobs,” said Jacome, whose squad traveled to Joplin on Thursday for another go at the Outlaws. “They all know that we’re in contention now. If we keep winning games, we’re going to be right up there at the top. We’re going to play a lot of games in our division, so the more we win, the better it’s going to be for us.”