Jefferson City Renegades fall 4-3 to Sedalia

The Jefferson City Renegades get ready to host the Sedalia Bombers at Vivion Field in MINK League action on a steamy Saturday night, June 17, 2017.
The Jefferson City Renegades get ready to host the Sedalia Bombers at Vivion Field in MINK League action on a steamy Saturday night, June 17, 2017.

The Jefferson City Renegades had the Sedalia Bombers in a hole.

Facing the 2016 MINK League Pitcher of the Year in Justin Murphy, the Renegades led 3-0 after two innings. But Murphy settled down and settled in as the Bombers scored twice in the sixth and two more times in the eighth Saturday night in a 4-3 victory against the Renegades at Vivion Field.

"We knew Murphy would be tough and he was," Renegades manager Mike DeMilia said.

On the other side, Renegades starter Travis Hennessy posted a lot of zeroes on the scoreboard.

Hennessy, a former Jefferson City Jay who has pitched the last two years at Butler Community College in Kansas, did not allow hit in going five innings Saturday.

"I had command of my fastball," Hennessy said. "My slider wasn't working in the first couple of innings, but I got it under control and pieced it all together."

His best pitch was a four-seam fastball.

"I was really able to locate it, inside and outside," Hennessy said. "After the first couple of innings, I was really able to spot it where I wanted it."

Hennessy, who will pitch at William Woods next season, left after the fifth because his back was tightening up.

"I couldn't really finish my pitches as much as I wanted to," he said.

Hennessy walked three and struck out four.

"He went deep into some counts and that was a bit of an issue," DeMilia said. "But they didn't hit much hard off Travis, he missed a lot of barrels."

The Renegades got on the board with two in the bottom of the first. Hunter Swift led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Mike Million. Tanner Wetrich singled to score Swift, then Tyler Cunningham singled to put runners at first and second.

Cody Evans then hit a grounder to short for a forceout, but the throw to first to finish the double play was high for an error as Wetrich scored to make it 2-0.

In the second, Josh Estrada drew a one-out walk and stole second. He moved to third on a groundout before scoring on a passed ball to give the Renegades a 3-0 advantage.

But that was it for the runs. The Renegades had a chance to pad their lead with three singles in the fifth, but had a runner thrown out at third for the first out of the inning.

"We were being aggressive, we encourage that," DeMilia said. "I'm never going to get mad at a player trying to take an extra base."

The Bombers cut their deficit to 3-2 in the first two batters in the sixth against reliever Riley Halley. Dev Wilson led off with a single before Andrew Warner lofted a shot off the top of the shed in left center for a two-run homer.

Sedalia picked up the win with two runs in the eighth, starting a rally with two outs on an infield single. A walk and another single loaded the bases before Gavin Jones singled to left to drive home a pair to make it 4-3.

Murphy was pulled after seven innings, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out 12 Renegades.

Louis Nieberg pitched the final two innings for the save. He did not allow a hit while striking out two for the Bombers (7-5).

The 14 strikeouts were not necessarily a surprise to DeMilia.

"It could have been better, but when you face quality pitchers like that, you know you are going to get some strikeouts," DeMilia said.

Halley took the loss, working the final four innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

"He's still working to get back into regular pitching," DeMilia said. "But he has a lot of potential and when he puts it all together, he is going to be tough to hit. You can see that in glimpses now.

"I don't think he did a bad job at all."

Jefferson City (8-7) is back in action today at Vivion Field against the St. Joseph Mustangs (10-5), who lead the North Division of the MINK League.