As a huge baseball fan and a resident of St. Joseph, MO it is only natural that I would follow the St. Joe Mustangs closely. They are an unaffiliated college level wood bat league. The Mustangs are made up of mostly local college baseball players participating in this summer league. They play at historic Phil Welch Stadium where several Hall of Fame baseball players have passed through over the years. This is the Mustangs third season as a franchise, last year they took a run deep into the postseason tournament before taking 4th place.
A shot of the St. Joe Mustangs playing at Phil Welch Stadium from 2010.
Gone are the two local favorites from the last two seasons, Johnny Coy and Ryan Hook. Back are two other great holdovers for the team, pitcher Adam Maddox and infielder Brent Seifert. The Mustangs had a huge roster turnover this off-season so there are many new faces in St. Joseph.
Tonight was the first game (5/26/11) a non-conference game against UMB. The Mustangs started with a solid win by blanking UMB 3-0. The most credit for the game belongs to left-handed starting pitcher Andrew Polly who looked dominant. Polly tossed 7 shutout innings while allowing no runs and just 3 hits. He also walked 2 and struck out 5.
The offense was sparse in the game. The Mustangs were only able to get 5 hits but it was enough to get 3 runs along with 6 walks and an error that led to a run. The only extra base hit of the day was a 6th inning double by Alex Heidman. Heidman scored on a sacrifice fly by the game’s offensive star, DH, Landinn Eckhardt. Eckhardt went 1-3 with a perfect bunt down the third base line for a hit. His 2 RBI would come in productive at-bats where he made an out, the aforementioned sacrifice fly and a fielders choice.
The big guns were on hold for the Mustangs tonight, both Maddox and Seifert did not play in the non-conference game. I will try to post several reviews this year of this local team. It is hard to access information on the team through limited local media outlets so I hope some local fans will follow the site to get a summary of hopefully most home games.
A Hair Off Square 
I am following your site from El Paso, Texas. My son-in-law is Kristoffer Koerper and he is playing with the Mustangs this year. I really like your site; its informative and insightful. St. Joseph’s looks like a city that really appreciates Baseball. Can’t wait to hear more from you. Thanks for all you do!!
Thanks Lynda, Kris had a tough night tonight going 0 for 4 batting in the cleanup position and playing first base. I can’t wait to see what he can do this season. Look for more updates and pictures on the site soon.
My nephew, Ryan Price, plays for the team. He is a freshman left handed pitcher from the Houston, Texas area. He pitched the last two shut out innings of the game last night picking up the save. Although I was not there to see him, he seemed to be very sharp according to the announcers on ESPN 1550. I know he is enjoying his time there and hope for his and the teams continued success.
Today is Kristoffer Koerper’s Birthday! We want to wish him a very Happy, Happy Birthday and hope he has a much better night tonight. I heard there was a big crowd at last nights game and it was a little cold. Some hot chocolate might be a great sale item if that happens again tonight!
Meanwhile, I hope it’s another BIG win for the Mustangs and wish Kris a more successful evening at bat and in the field. My daughter, Karina, will be watching him from the sidelines and I hope she will post some of the highlights of the game with you so we can all share in the excitement of the game.
Thanks again for all you do!
Yes Manuel, Ryan should have got a shout out in my review. He pitched the final 2 innings and did in-fact look sharp. He struck out 3 in his 2 innings while only giving up one hit.