Temperature and temperament: Griffons battle against Outlaws on blistering hot day

If you look at Wednesday’s double header that the Nevada Griffons held against the Joplin Outlaws, it seems like they had a great day bringing two wins to their record. In person though, things got interesting. Sure the Griffons won twice, winning 6-5 in game one and 5-2 in game two, but it’s what happened in game one in the top of the sixth inning that had everyone's attention.

In the top of the seventh in game one with two outs and an Outlaw runner on third base, Nevada and Joplin were tied 2-2 with No. 17 Joey Funk on the mound, needing one more out to get out of the inning. The Outlaws were able to get a hit, but the Griffons were able to get Joplin out with an easy throw to first to get the force out. It was ruled out and everyone went back to their respective dugouts to get ready for the bottom of the seventh… until the boys in blue reversed the call and called everyone back out. The decision to call the runner safe, also led the third base player for Joplin to score the game leading run, making the score 3-2.

“My initial reaction was not great to say the least,” stated Head Coach Tyler Brown Myself and Joey (Funk) thought it was the last strike we needed to get the final out in the top of the seventh, and both teams went back into their dugouts until they reversed the call. The Umpire who isn’t supposed to make the call, made the call. I was just glad to see us battle back in that last half inning and win the game.”

After everyone was back out to play in the top of the seventh, Funk had a hard time getting in the strike zone, or allowed hits for Joplin to score three more runs than what they had, letting them have a 5-2 lead making Funk visibly frustrated. When Joplin’s batter hit a grounder to first, Funk went to cover first base and was able to get the final out Nevada needed to get out of a dangerous inning. What Funk did after that was a sign of displeasurement to the umpiring crew, after he stood on first base for a while showing that it was a recorded out, and also made comments to the umpires while walking back to the Griffons dugout. That led to him being thrown out of the game, and landing himself in a four game suspension.

“I let my emotions get the best of me,” Funk told Nevada Daily Mail, “but that was a big moment in the game. I knew my foot was on the bag and they called the guy out, which got me hyped up. When they overturned it, it prolonged the inning, and a run scored on that play. During the next couple of pitches, I felt like they (the home plate umpire) squeezed my zone a bit. I’m just glad we came back and got the win. The boys had my back.”

When asked if he regretted the sign of displeasurement he showed to the umpires right before he was thrown out of the game, Funk made it clear on where he stood.

“I mean not really, because I wasn’t able to pitch in the next four games anyways,” Funk stated about his four game suspension. “I don’t regret it, but I do want to apologize to my coaches, teammates, and the fans that watched the game. It wasn’t a good look and it won’t happen again.”

“His spot isn’t in the rotation to come up in the next three to four games anyways, so it really doesn’t hurt us in that sense,” Brown said about Funk’s four game suspension. “But then again, he is a great guy to have in the dugout. He does a great job when he isn’t pitching or in the game of cheering the guys on. Not having him in the dugout might hurt, but we’re going to be able to put out a competitive team without him here.”

Regardless, the Griffons were able to snag a victory in game one after scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh, and scored a 5-2 win in game two later that evening at Lyons Field.

Brown quotes, “We had to battle through some adversity today. I think today, both teams today didn’t agree with some of the calls that were made behind the plate today. I would say we just kind of got lucky. JC Barry (No. 12) put together a great at bat for the final at bat today that sent the winning run to score and ended up getting the job done for us.”

So what was the controversial call that the umpires reversed. Nevada Daily Mail was able to catch them between games and get their reasoning on the sticky situation.

“When you have a two man crew, the field umpire is in the middle. So any play, you have no perspective because the fielder is between you and the base. You make the call, then the coach asks you to get help, the first base umpire’s job is supposed to look right up the line and look for a pulled foot. With the runner coming around third, he was at third base extended behind home plate, because you have to make sure the runner touches. So he was looking right up the line, and saw space between the foot and the bag.”

The Griffons will head into Friday’s home game with a record of 11-14 in the 2023 season, and will face the Joplin Outlaws for the third time in a row, starting at 7 p.m. at Lyons Field.