The Jefferson City Renegades had plenty of opportunities Monday night’s MINK League contest at Vivion Field but were unable to come through when it mattered most.The Renegades stranded 10 runners on base in the game, and it allowed the Clarinda A’s to erase an early four-run deficit to pick up a 9-5 victory.“It was one of those games we definitely could have won,” Renegades coach Mike DeMilia said. “I give them credit, they made plays when they had to. They are good, they are really good, but we swung the bats well and just ran into some bad luck late in the game.“It was one of those nights that didn’t go our way, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.”Jefferson City got out to a fast start to take an early lead.After two scoreless innings opened the contest, Chase Haner got the Renegades off and running by hooking the first pitch he saw inside the left-field foul pole for a solo home run, his second of the season.“He’s a good hitter,” DeMilia said. “… First pitch he saw and he squared one up. He had a good night overall.”Jefferson City was able to add another run in the bottom of the third after Kevin Sanchez followed Haner’s home run with a single and scored two batters later on an infield single by Eli Hill to give the Renegades a 2-0 lead.They were not done there, either.Luke Melton started another rally in the fourth by reaching on a one-out single, Charlie Rogan reached via a walk, Haner loaded the bases with a single, Sanchez drove in Melton with a sacrifice fly and Rogan narrowly beat the return throw home on a wild pitch to give Jefferson City a 4-0 lead.“Yeah, we felt good, but I knew it wasn’t over,” DeMilia said. “I didn’t feel comfortable the other night until it was 11-2, and of course they made a comeback. Their offense is solid, so I knew we were going to have to keep pitching.”The A’s got back into the game in a hurry with a three-run fifth.A single, walk and hit by pitch opened the inning and loaded the bases with nobody out against Renegade starting pitcher Cade Schupp, and Nick Massarini drove in Clarinda’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center.The A’s added on two more runs in the inning after a pair of throwing errors allowed Gavin Long and Paxton Terveen to cross the plate and cut it to a 4-3 ballgame.“That was the inning we made a couple defensive misplays, too,” DeMilia said. “(Schupp) pitched well overall. I think I left him in a little long and I think I left (Connor) Polli in a little too long. I need to do a better job of getting a fresh pitcher in there. I might have cost us a couple runs tonight.”The Renegades had a pair of opporuntities to add on to their lead but came up empty.Justin Rivera reached on a one-out double in the fifth before a pair of groundouts ended the frame, Jefferson City stranded the bases loaded in the sixth and the A’s took advantage in the seventh.Clarinda tied the game three batters into the seventh after a single, walk and RBI double by Terveen, and the A’s ended the frame with a 6-4 lead after runs crossed the plate on a double play and RBI single by Anthony Pomilia.“We got off to a little bit of a bad start (in the seventh),” DeMilia said. “… We just couldn’t quite get that big pitch to get out of the inning, but I give them a lot of credit, they did a lot of good things tonight. I thought they would respond after we beat them yesterday, and they did.”Jefferson City answered with a run in the bottom half on an RBI single by Melton, but ended up stranding the potential tying and go-ahead runs on second and third.The difference in the contest came in the bottom of the eighth inning after the Renegades loaded the bases with nobody out, though.Rivera came to the plate in the big spot and grounded the second pitch of the at-bat to first base. Terveen threw to plate to get the first out and Junior Barajas’ throw back to him was in time for a momentum-killing double play. Kam Durnin grounded out as the next batter and Jefferson City still trailed 6-5 headed into the ninth.“Justin has been great all year,” DeMilia said. “It was just the imperfect storm where he hit the ball right at the first baseman. … That kind of the way this night went. I was envisioning Justin hitting a ball in right-center for a double, and that didn’t happen. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”The A’s put the game away with a three-run ninth inning to create the final margin, and Luke Rodenburg set down Jefferson City 1-2-3 in the bottom half to close out the contest.The Renegades (15-13) finished with 16 hits in the contest, led by Melton and Matschiner with three each.Clarinda (14-6) was led by Terveen’s 2-for-4 effort with two RBI and two runs scored.Jefferson City will have the day off today before hosting the St. Joseph Mustangs at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Vivion Field.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!>>> ad: See the Best Amazon Deals of TODAY! <<<<
Originally Appeared Here
