Outlaws come out ahead after seven-game road trip

Jun. 24—The Joplin Outlaws return to Joe Becker Sunday night for a game against Sedalia after seven games in seven days on a roadtrip that saw the Outlaws go 4-3.

Joplin opened its trip with a 5-4 10-inning loss to Nevada on June 18. Garrett Chun led the Outlaws, going 2-3 at the plate.

The Outlaws traveled Monday to Jefferson City and fell 10-4 to the Renegades in a game that saw Chun once again hit 2-3. Teammate Byron Blaise also logged multiple hits, going 2-4 .

"I told the guys, 'You are going to make this roadtrip what you will, you can continue this or we can go have a fun road trip.'" Outlaws Coach Chris Dawson said.

It appeared the Outlaws decided to have fun.

Joplin got back on the winning track Tuesday and claimed both games of a twin bill from Des Moines in straight sets — 6-3, 6-3. In game one, Luke Schmedding (1-1) went the distance for the Outlaws in the seven-inning win, striking out six, walking three and giving up six hits. The game was a continuation of a June 2 game that Schmedding started but was unable to finish because of weather. Kolton Reynolds was 2-3 at the plate and scored twice. Kade Biellier also logged multiple hits, going 2-3 with two RBIs.

In game two, Joplin used its speed to claim another 6-3 win over the Peak Prospects, stealing 10 bases in the seven-inning affair. Kolden Howerton stole 3 bases while Garrett Chun and Landon Meyer stole two each. Cole Hill, Karson Green and Brett Sarwinski each had a stolen base as well.

"When you do something like that, it's a perfect storm," Dawson said of the stolen bases. "We saw that the pitcher wasn't doing a good job of holding runners back and our runners were aggressive on the base paths."

Schmedding (2-1) logged the win, pitching back-to-back in the double header, going three and two-third innings, fanning four, giving up two runs and walking two hitters.

Dawson commented on Schmedding's back-to-back starts.

"It wasn't a full doubleheader, because of the continuation, so our plan was to keep him going and roll him back for game two after a 15-20 minute break between games," Dawson said.

Dawson added that between the continuation game and game two, Schmedding only threw 80-90 pitches in six and a third innings, but logged two wins for the effort.

Wednesday saw the Outlaws sweep Des Moines in their three-game series with a 3-2 win. Biellier (0-0) went the distance for the Outlaws in a game that saw Brett Sarwinski score the winning run on a wild pitch. Biellier struck out seven and walked three while giving up six hits. Howerton recorded multiple stolen bases in back-to-back games, swiping two from the Prospects on Wednesday after his three-bag performace on Tuesday. Caden Bressler went 2-5 at the plate with a run scored.

Joplin saved its best for last on Thursday, scoring all of its runs in the final inning against Carroll (Iowa.) In what was a classic pitcher's duel early, Chris Massey gave up just two hits, struck out eight and walked five in six and a third innings. Will Isaly was perfect in relief, striking out two batters in two and two thirds innings of work. Jason Lazo was 3-4 at the plate with a run scored as Joplin outhit the Merchants 8-2.

After four straight wins, the Outlaws fell 15-5 to Carroll on Friday. Sulllivan Lane struggled early, giving up 10 runs on eight hits in three and two thirds innings of work. Lazo was the only Outlaw with multiple hits, going 2-4 with 2 RBIs.

Joplin returns home for Sunday and Monday games against Sedalia before traveling to Nevada for games on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will be back at Joe Becker on Thursday and Friday when they battle South Division leader Jefferson City. On Saturday, Joplin will host Sedalia.

Speaking about the Outlaws return home, Dawson said it will be nice for the players to sleep in their own beds.

"It's a chance to keep the community in it, too," Dawson said. " We need crowds to keep it going heading into July."

The Outlaws (8-10) head into Sunday night's game against Sedalia in second place in the MINK League's South Division, behind leader Jefferson City (13-11). Sedalia is a close third at 8-11.