Bombers strong-arm Mudcats, improve to 6-1

No manager ever likes to see his pitching staff’s team ERA spike in a home contest. But for Jud Kindle, he’ll let it ride this one time.

In front of the home contingent at Liberty Park Stadium, Kindle watched as  Danny Potje, Jake Powers, Dan Kickham and Aaron Kleekamp pitched a combined five-hitter on Wednesday night to lead the Sedalia Bombers to a 10-2 win over Chillicothe.

As for the ERA, it rose from a down-in-the-cellar 1.05 to 1.06 (six earned runs in 51 innings).

“We have an extremely good pitching staff right now, better than I projected,” Sedalia manager Kindle said, believing the ERA had jumped to around 1 at the time. “We got a bunch of guys that throw strikes and get outs. You score a few runs for this squad, and that’s usually enough.”

Potje struck out seven and allowed one run — zero earned — and three hits over five innings to earn the win for the Bombers, who improved to 3-0 at home and 6-1 overall while padding their M.I.N.K. League South Division lead to two games over the Nevada Griffons. Powers then pitched two scoreless innings and Kickham and Kleekamp kept the lead at bay to close out the game.

The dominant display was made possible by an offense that was squaring up everything.

Jon Wegener belted his second home run of the season, Parker Ray and Travis McComack each drove in three runs and five players had a multi-hit night as the Bombers lineup came through with runners in scoring position and tallied 14 hits.

“We’re finally feeling confident at the plate,” Ray said after a 3-for-4 effort at the dish. “We had some runners in scoring position and we were able to come through in the clutch. Our defense was great, our pitching was great, and we just felt like we needed to back them up.”

McComack added, “We’re starting to get a hang of the wood bats too. It’s a little different than the aluminum, so it helps to get a few games in and establish a rhythm.”

Matty Johnson, T.S. Reed, Wegener and Stuart Jeck nearly matched Ray’s day with multi-hit games of their own against four separate Mudcats pitchers.

And once they got rolling, there was no stopping them.

The Bombers first scratched the scoreboard in the third as Ray and Johnson tallied back-to-back singles before moving into scoring position on a balk by Chillicothe pitcher Kyle Kinman. McComack followed with a sacrifice fly to stake the Bombers to a 1-0 lead.

The Mudcats responded with a run on two hits in the top of the fourth, but the Bombers were just beginning to heat up.

Following a a leadoff single by Nate Ring, Kyle Zimmermann and Ray hit back-to-back doubles to stretch the Bombers’ lead to 3-1.

Two innings later, Johnson and Reed drove in Jeck and Zimmermann with two straight singles as the lead ballooned to 5-1.

In the seventh, the Bombers put the nail in the coffin. Wegener led off with a home run to left and, three hits and two walks later, the Bombers had put the game away with a five-run outburst to lead 10-1.

Kickham gave up a solo blast and the eighth to Mark Robinette, but settled down to set the stage for Kleekamp, who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

UP NEXT
Bombers vs. Nevada
7 p.m. Friday at Liberty Park Stadium