The Prior Lake Mudcats delivered a dramatic walk-off victory over the New Prague Orioles, winning 7-6 in a thrilling game that went down to the wire. Jonny Houston was the hero of the night, delivering a clutch base hit in the bottom of the ninth inning to seal the win for the Mudcats. The Cats were lead by a strong battery; Ben Morrison started on the hill with relief from CJ Schmidt. Lance Behrens would come in to reset and would get the win for the Mudcats.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading leads throughout. The Mudcats jumped out to an early lead with a two-run home run from Cole Clausen in the first inning.
New Prague took the lead 4-2, responding with key hits and plating three runs in the fifth inning.
Prior Lake would have their own three-run inning; a sixth-inning RBI triple for Charlie Bredesen and a follow-on single from Harry Fleek scoring Bredesen. The Mudcats carried a 6-4 lead into the late innings, but the Orioles refused to go quietly.
In the top of the ninth, New Prague mounted a rally with their lead-off hitter reaching on a walk and then scoring off of a one-out double, tying the game at six.
In the bottom of the ninth, with the score tied 6-6 and the game on the line, Clausen reached after being hit by a pitch would would make his way to third off of a Cole Bjorge single. With Clausen as the winning run on third, Houston lined a single scoring Clausen, sealing a 7-6 victory for the Mudcats and eliminating the New Prague Orioles from the playoffs.
The Mudcats now take on the Webster Sox at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 10th, at Veterans Field in Prior Lake. The winner of that contest becomes the Region 3C #3 Seed for the 2024 Class ‘C’ Amateur Baseball Tournament.