Bazmore, A's outslug Mustangs to take 1-0 MLCS lead

With only one game in the brief, best-of-three MINK League Championship Series at Eberly Field before shifting to St. Joseph Friday night, Clarinda made the most of its final appearance on its home diamond.

The A's chipped away at the Mustangs' pitching staff building a big lead, then holding on down the stretch for a 10-7 victory and pushing all of the pressure onto the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Clarinda (33-14) is now on the doorstep of its first MINK League title since 2013, while St. Joseph (38-9) finds itself in familiar territory.

The Mustangs dropped the opener to the 2023 championship series in Jefferson City. They battled back to win the second game and even the series, but dropped a decisive game three on their home field. St. Joe, the regular season champ once again, is back in a must-win situation Friday night with the A's coming to Phil Welch Stadium.

A complete team effort for the A's, seven different players drove in a run and all nine batters in the starting lineup reached base at least once. Clarinda's Sean Bazmore set the tone with a two-out triple in the bottom of the first inning, then scored on a double by Conner McKnatt.

The Mustangs answered with a three-run second, highlighted by Mason Holton's two-RBI double. Holton then came home on a one-out single by Jordan Black.

The A's answered quickly in the bottom half. With the bases loaded, Kaedon Lindsay grounded into a fielder's choice scoring Tyler Macon. That flipped the order back to lead-off hitter Khi Holiday. Holiday reached on an error by Holton at shortstop allowing Evan Smallwood to score and tie the game.

Layth Holiday pushed Clarinda in front with a run-scoring single in the fourth to bring Smallwood around, followed by Khi Holiday driving in another on a ground out to short to anchor the A's to a 5-3 lead.

St. Joseph answered with one in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit in half, but Clarinda kept pushing with two more in the sixth and a three-run seventh inning to open a 10-4 advantage.

The Mustangs threatened with a pair of runs walked in during the top of the eighth and a Jeter Mauzey sacrifice fly in the ninth, but the rally fell short.

Bazmore finished the night 4-5 at the plate with a double and triple, and just fell a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. The Crosby, TX native upped his league-best batting average to .379.

Macon tacked on a three-hit night for Clarinda, and Layth Holiday went 1-2 with three walks and two runs scored.

Khi Holiday was 0-5 with two RBIs and a walk to extend his on-base streak to 40 consecutive games.

Black and Frank Gall eached posted two-hit nights for the Mustangs.

St. Joseph has shown the ability to bounce back quickly throughout the season. The Mustangs have lost back-to-back games just once all year – June 12 and 13 against Carroll. Those were the first setbacks of the season after opening up on a 12-game win streak.