Archive for the ‘Cameron Bentley’ Tag
So it was Adam Maddox that took the mound tonight against the Nevada Griffons. Manager Matt Johnson obviously made a great choice by calling number 22 to the mound as he led the team to their first MINK league championship title. Oh Yeah, he also didn’t give up one stinking hit all night. Adam Maddox pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Nevada Griffons to clinch the MINK league championship!
Maddox was fantastic. He had hitters off balance all night. His breaking pitches were amazing. It seemed as if he got a lot of called strikes. This is an accomplishment because he was not receiving a generous strike zone. The umpire would not give Maddox the low strike. This caused a lot of long stares in at catcher TJ Daily for Maddox wondering why he couldn’t get that pitch called a strike.
Maddox had trouble with the small strike zone as he walked 6 batters throughout the game. To be as effective as he was on this night he had to be what pitching coaches call “effectively wild” anyway. The final strike of the game was high, in all fairness, it was high. Maddox had earned that call by being around the zone all night. If you don’t get the lower half of the strike zone you should get the high strike. This is an amazing accomplishment and I’m sure it has to be the greatest performance of the young pitcher’s career. I remember Maddox pitching a similar game last year actually. St. Joe was in the playoff heat with the Chillicothe Mudcats and the Mustangs had to sweep 3 straight games against the Mudcats. Maddox got the call in the first game and pitched what I think was a complete game shutout. This is all to the best of my recollection. Big kudos should also go out to Maddox’s catcher TJ Daily, the catcher never gets credit in a no-hitter but should.
Every no-hitter has a great play or two to attribute to the great game, it is almost inevitable. This game was no exception. The first great play came in I believe the top of the third inning. A high chopper was hit over the middle and second baseman Brent Seifert ranged all the way to the shortstop side of the bag to snag it and make a strong throw on time to first baseman Brock Chaffin. Getting to the ball was an accomplishment but the throw was something to behold. It was a long throw against his body and he delivered it to first base in time. The second great play came around the 6th inning. With a runner on 2nd base and 2 outs a low line drive was hit to center field and Cameron Bentley made a diving catch coming in on the ball. He caught the ball what must have been inches from the ground; in fact; I thought live that the ball had dropped. The second base umpire ruled it a catch and I’m sure it was the correct call.
On a personal note; it was simply amazing. I never thought I would EVER get to witness a legitimate no-hitter in person. I am a huge baseball fan and this is really one of the “holy grail” accomplishments. I was tremendously jealous when Mustangs pitcher Cody Cunningham threw a no-hitter earlier this year against the Omaha Diamond Spirit. The game was in Omaha so I obviously did not attend; but this time, I saw every pitch.
A big congratulations and thank you goes out to Adam Maddox.
Did you know St. Joe Mustangs center fielder Cameron Bentley was batting a down-right gaudy .536 in MINK league games going into Sunday? He has been lighting up MINK league pitching. He hasn’t hit for much power, he has 2 extra base hits out of 15 and only 4 runs driven in. He has constantly been on base. I hope to see more of him in the lineup to see if he can keep this torrid pace up.
So this is my second St. Joe Mustangs card. It is much higher quality than the first. I did a Cody Cunningham card in honor of his no-hitter bit the picture was sub-par and lower quality than I would like to use. I don’t have a great camera so light is essential to my photographs for these cards. This means I have to get to games early and get pictures while the sun is still up. This Saturday the Mustangs started at 5:00 instead of the normal 7:00, meaning I got an extra 2 hours of sunlight. I took several pictures and comprised most of my team set. I have 18 cards done right now and about 3 of those might get re-done at some point(like Cunningham.) Here is the first of what will likely be a regular stream of posts for the Mustangs cards.
On Saturday the Mustangs swept the double-header against the Omaha Diamond Spirit. I’m not getting in depth about the games but I do have a couple thoughts. Brent Seifert hit a 2-run home run and continues to impress me night after night, he is my favorite player on the team. With Seifert in the lineup, Mark Robinette must sit. From what I have seen, Robinette is a very good hitter (and I believe the Mustangs poached him from the Chillicothe Mudcats too.) At first base and designated hitter, Kris Koerper and Brock Chaffin seem to have those positions filled so Robinette looks like the odd man out.
Ben Baker pitched in the first game of the double-header and struggled. I’m not sure of his line but around the 3rd inning he really started getting knocked around. The second game gave me my first chance of the year to see Adam Maddox pitch. I really like watching him pitch, he is extremely good, again, I don’t know his line but the Mustangs took the game 14-0 so his line had to be very good. Patrick Burkhart continues to impress me as well. He had a costly error that likely costs the Mustangs their only home loss of the year last week but he is looking great at the plate.
Keep up the good work guys, it is a ton of fun to watch!
The St. Joe Mustangs took the field with an 8-2 record on the June 11th game against the Nevada Griffons. Both of the Mustangs losses have come at the hands of Nevada. The Mustangs would go on to win 8-3 and even their season series against the Griffons to 2-2 and improve their overall record to 9-2. The attendance for the game was a season high 3176.
Center fielder Cameron Bentley impressed with a 4-4 performance with 2 runs scored. Brent Seifert was at third for the first home game I have attended this year. He looks to have slimmed down since last year and was almost physically unrecognizable. Seifert would drive in a run on a RBI triple early in the game. Starting pitcher Jayson Huett would pitch into the 7th inning and leave to a nice ovation from a big crowd after a solid performance. He pitched 6 2/3 innings while scattering 7 hits and 2 runs and striking out 6.
It was fitting that Huett would get the start on Saturday. It was “Bearcat Night” in honor of Northwest Missouri State University, the college that Huett attends. The Mustangs donned green jerseys that were auctioned off at a silent auction during the game. The team also wore red hats in honor of Scott Bostwick, the Northwest football coach that recently passed away before ever getting to coach his first game for the team as a Head Coach. Bostwick had been the defensive coordinator for the past several years and always wore a red hat on the sidelines so his players on the field could easily see him in the crowd of green on the Northwest sideline.
The Mustangs wearing green in honor of "Bearcat Night."
So it was Adam Maddox that took the mound tonight against the Nevada Griffons. Manager Matt Johnson obviously made a great choice by calling number 22 to the mound as he led the team to their first MINK league championship title. Oh Yeah, he also didn’t give up one stinking hit all night. Adam Maddox pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Nevada Griffons to clinch the MINK league championship!
A Hair Off Square 