Archive for the ‘MINK League’ Tag
Here is my second “Season Highlights” cards for the Mustangs. Adam Maddox tossed a great, exciting no-hitter to win the MINK League championship. If you would like to read more about this game check here: https://ahairoffsquare.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/2011-mustangs-mink-league-champions-adam-maddox/
The Mustangs lost yesterday at the NBC World Series, they fell 4-3 in 10 innings. Adam Maddox had another good start throwing 7 innings and only giving up one run. The bullpen let him down though as normally air-tight Doug Shields gave up 2 runs in 2 innings and Josh Parrish gave up the winning run in the 10th.
The tournament is double elimination so the Mustangs are still in it. They take on the Derby Twins (KS) on Friday at 1pm. They need to win from here on out or they will be eliminated.
Here is the first of a few “Season Highlights” cards I made for the 2011 Mustangs season. This one if for Kris Koerper who was serenaded on his birthday with the crowd singing to him led by Mustangs general manager Rick Muntean. Koerper responded by hitting an absolute bomb to left center field for a 3-run homer. It may not have been a big moment for the team and their playoff chances but it was one of those cool moments that I will certainly remember from 2011 at Phil Welch Stadium. If you are keeping track this makes 3 cards of Koerper in my 2011 set.
The Mustangs have won their first game of the NBC World Series in Wichita. They defeated the Plaza Tire Capahas 7-3 behind Jayson Huett’s strong start. Jordan Guida drove in 2 runs as the Mustangs jumped out to a 7-0 lead early. They play again on Wednesday at 5pm with Adam Maddox making his first start since his no-hitter.
Brent Seifert was a slam dunk for Player of the Year. He batted .353 in league games this year with 2 homers, 3 triples, an eye-popping 23 doubles and drove in 35 runs in just 43 games. Seifert was also great in the field, he consistently made good plays at both third base and second base for the team. If it weren’t for Peter Barrows’ huge year for the Nevada Griffons I think Seifert would have been the player of the year for the entire MINK League.
Jayson Huett had a very good season. He started 6 games and went 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA. In my mind he had some stiff competition for the Pitcher of the Year award. I have narrowed it down to 4 major candidates. They are Jayson Huett, Adam Maddox, Cody Cunningham and Doug Shields. The first three players are starting pitchers and Doug Shields served as the team’s closer. Maddox had slightly better numbers than Huett but was padded by his no-hitter late in the year that happened after the Pitcher of the Year award was announced. Cunningham had a slightly higher ERA than Maddox and Huett and also had a no-hitter to propel his stats into contention. Of the three starters, I think Huett was the correct choice for the award given that Maddox’s no-hitter came after the award was given so it really didn’t count in this case.
Then there is Doug Shields. Shields came in for the Mustangs and closed out many tight affairs without being hit much at all. His sidearm delivery and great breaking pitches made him extremely hard to hit late in the game. His stats were 3-1 record, 0.62 ERA with 9 saves. The ERA is almost invisible and the 3 wins are a big number for a reliever who pitched in only 20 games. All things considered, I think Shields would be my pick for pitcher of the year for the 2011 Mustangs. Huett pitched great and deserved the award but when the game was on the line in the late innnings the Mustangs constantly called on Shields, and he came through in a big way.
So here are a couple “Award Winners” cards I put together for the 2011 season. First is Matt Johnson who won the MINK League manager of the year award. This was well deserved, he managed what was almost undoubtedly the best squad in the MINK League. I have also always liked the way Matt Johnson uses his pitchers as well. I know pitching coach Matt Wilson has a lot to do with this as well. The pitching staff for a summer league team like this is a tricky situation. These players all play for colleges that could get very upset if their players are overused and it effects their performance for the universities. The Mustangs rotation varied but had about 7 starting pitchers in it.
Kris Koerper won the Community Service award this year. The award just gave me an opportunity to use this nice pic I had of him waiting just outside the batter’s box.
This is the last of my 2011 Mustangs players cards. I ended up with 32 players I think. I will be putting up some other Mustangs cards during the World Series commemorating the season. Don’t worry Rally the mascot is coming too. My apologies go out to Mike Garza and Will Mulligan as two players I know of that I never ended up with pictures of, there might be a couple others too (I think one pitcher made one appearance) I missed.
“You know what you get when you squeeze oranges? orange juice. You know what you get when you squeeze us? Champions.”
-Jordan Clark after winning MINK championship (to the best of my recollection)
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.
I’m not sure who is starting for the Mustangs yet tonight but my guess is either Adam Maddox or Mustangs 2011 pitcher of the year Jayson Huett. Huett put together a great season to win the pitcher of the year award among stiff competition on the team. Adam Maddox, Andrew Polly, Cody Cunningham, Doug Shields, Ben Baker, Cody Lane, Kyle Hassna among others all had at least respectable years.
I think the pitching is the major difference for the team this year. Last year the team had Ryan Hook and Johnny Coy to bolster the offense but the pitching wasn’t near as good. The pitching is the reason this team has a great shot to make a run deep in the tournament in Wichita this year.
Here is my second “Season Highlights” cards for the Mustangs. Adam Maddox tossed a great, exciting no-hitter to win the MINK League championship. If you would like to read more about this game check here: https://ahairoffsquare.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/2011-mustangs-mink-league-champions-adam-maddox/
A Hair Off Square 