St. Joseph quiets Clarinda bats, forces decisive Game 3

The duo of Sam Pitts and Jase Johnson combined to shut down the league's highest scoring offense and boost St. Joseph to a 5-3 win over Clarinda to even the MINK League Championship Series at one game apiece.

Pitts' stellar season as an anchor of the Mustangs rotation continued in game two of the MLCS. The right-handed starter allowed one earned run, the first he's surrendered since a non-league game June 22 against the Ban Johnson Raiders, across five innings.

St. Joseph staked Pitts to an early lead on a RBI single from Noah Bodenhausen that plated Jordan Black and Frank Gall.

Clarinda battled back with Conner McKnatt's two-out run-scoring base hit that drove in Khi Holiday in the top of the third inning to cut the deficit in half. Pitts got the following batter, Drake Cobb, to hit a grounder to shortstop Mason Holton, but Holton couldn't field it cleanly. McKnatt and Sean Bazmore scored on the error putting the A's on top 3-2.

Pitts kept Clarinda off the board over the next two innings before turning it over to Jase Johnson out of the bullpen for the final four innings.

Johnson allowed just two hits, one walk and hit one batter while matching a season-high five strikeouts.

The Mustangs knotted the score on when Jeter Mauzey led off the bottom of the third crushing a home run over the wall in left field.

St. Joseph pushed in front in the fifth inning. Carson Shrack reached on an error by Clarinda left fielder Tyler Macon. A second consecutive error, this time a misplay by second baseman Evan Smallwood on a Darius Freeman ground ball, put runners on first and second. Mauzey loaded the bases with a single to left. Clarinda's Noah Benavides got Dom Felix to foul out, but couldn't escape unscathed. Holton followed with a sacrifice fly to bring Schrack home and put the Mustangs up 4-3.

Holton added an insurance run for St. Joe leading off the eighth with his second home run of the season.

Benavides suffered just his second loss of the season, and first since June 5, giving up four runs, three earned, on eight hits across five innings.

Pitts improved his record to 3-0 allowing three runs on five hits and striking out one.

Holton and Mauzey had three hits apiece for St. Joseph.

Khi Holiday, Joey Caruso and Layth Holiday each had two hits for Clarinda.

The A's and Mustangs meet one more time, Saturday at 7pm, in a winner-take-all game three.