The Central Missouri Mules rallied to win game one on Sunday, but came up just short in game two against St. Mary’s in the South Central Regional Championship in Warrensburg, MO. The Mules won the opener 9-5 to force the winner take all title game, but gave up a late lead and fell 12-9 in game two.
The Mules (48-9) fell behind 3-0 in the third inning of game one on an M.P. Cokinos three-run home run, but came back to plate two in the bottom of the inning. Bret Schwartz (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs HS) had an RBI groundout to get UCM on the board and Jordan Coons (Jefferson City, Mo./Jefferson City HS) had an RBI single to pull the Mules to within a run.
The Rattlers (48-9) added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to build a 5-2 lead. The Mules came right back in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game on Brad Wilson’s (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias HS) three-run homer, the first of his career. Central Missouri went in front with a single run in the seventh on Coons’ RBI single. The Mules added three more in the eighth to open a 9-5 lead.
UCM went in front 1-0 in the top of the first of game two. The Rattlers came back in the second with three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Tyler Migl had an RBI single to tie the game and later scored on a wild pitch to give St. Mary’s the lead. The Rattlers plated three more runs in the fourth to open a 6-1 lead.
The Mules came right back in the top of the fifth with four runs to pull within 6-5, but St. Mary’s responded to score two runs on a Mario Maldonado home run to push their lead back to three at 8-5. The Mules scored four runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead until the eighth when St. Mary’s scored four runs to capture the lead for good. C
The Mules end their season at 48-9. It is the 14th consecutive season with 40 or more wins and UCM has had at least 44 wins in all five years under head coach Tom Myers.