Costly Errors Haunt Mud Monsters in First Loss of 2026
PEARL, Miss. (May 8, 2026) - The Mississippi Mud Monsters (1-1) set out to do something they haven’t done in their short club history against the Gateway Grizzlies (1-1): win two games in a row.
The Mud Monsters will have to wait until the next series against Gateway. With Friday’s ballgame themed to Stranger Things, the team’s defensive play on the field took the theme too literally. An out-of-the-ordinary performance allowed Gateway to score four unearned runs as the Grizzlies defeated Mississippi by a score of 6-5.
Monster Notes
A strange night at the ballpark came down to defensive miscues and a late rally that fell just short.
- Brian Williams struck out five across five innings in his 2026 debut.
- Kyle Booker drove in two runs and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
- Brayland Skinner doubled, singled, stole two bases and scored two runs.
- Seth McCartney and Connor Langrell each made their Mud Monsters debuts out of the bullpen.
Full Box Score
Want the full line from Friday night? Dive into the numbers from Mississippi’s 6-5 loss.
Fast Start
Mississippi jumped ahead early against a pitcher making his professional debut.
The day started promising as 2025 Frontier League All-Star Brian Williams took to the hill for Mississippi. Williams returned after leading the Mud Monsters in innings pitched during the 2025 campaign and retired the first three Grizzlies in the opening inning, striking out two.
In the home half of the first, with Gateway starter Blake Peyton making his professional debut, Brayland Skinner and Kyle Booker gave the lefty a warm welcome.
Skinner took the first professional pitch thrown by Peyton and drove it into left field for a leadoff double. Booker took Peyton’s second offering and lined it into right field, scoring Skinner to give the Mud Monsters a 1-0 lead. Booker brought an eight-game hitting streak into 2026 and has now extended it to 10 games.
Booker then proceeded to steal second base. As Gateway catcher Jose Alvarez’s throw to second to nab Booker got away, the Mud Monsters designated hitter advanced to third as well.
Peyton then uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Booker to score the Mud Monsters’ second run of the inning and give Mississippi a 2-0 advantage.
The Game Turns
Gateway took advantage of extra outs in the middle innings.
Grizzlies cash in
Back on the mound, Williams finished his outing with five strong innings while striking out five, walking three and allowing one earned run, with five runs total.
The first sign of trouble began in the third inning when Victor Castillo tripled with two outs. Dale Thomas followed with a ground ball to Mud Monsters third baseman AJ Fritz, who made an errant throw across the diamond to first baseman Peter Bocchino, allowing Castillo to score and open the scoring for the Grizzlies.
The errors for the Mud Monsters and runs for the Grizzlies would not stop there. In the fourth inning, the first two Gateway batters, Mark Shallenberger and Mitchell Sanford, reached base to open the inning.
Tate Wargo then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third and, with one away, Williams walked Cole Brannen.
With the bases loaded, Jose Alvarez lifted a sacrifice fly to Skinner in center field to knot the game at 2-2.
With two away and Gateway still threatening, Sawyer Smith hit a fly ball to left field that Mud Monsters left fielder Samil De La Rosa misplayed, allowing two more runs to score and make it 4-2 in favor of Gateway before Williams recorded the final out of the inning.
Adding Pressure
The Grizzlies stretched the lead before the Mud Monsters began to chip away.
With the Mud Monsters held scoreless in the home half of the fourth, the two-run deficit remained into the fifth. After recording the first out of the inning, Bryson Horne hit another fly ball toward De La Rosa that was dropped.
Horne then stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly by Shallenberger to make it 5-2 Gateway.
The Mud Monsters answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth after Skinner singled and advanced to third base after stealing second and taking third on a wild throw from Alvarez. Skinner later came around to score on an RBI groundout by Booker to make it a two-run game.
Late Life
Mississippi kept pushing and pulled within one in the seventh.
Braden Forsyth relieved Williams and pitched a scoreless sixth inning. The Mud Monsters were held in check in their half of the sixth, and Forsyth returned for his second inning of work in the seventh.
After recording the first two outs, Forsyth surrendered a solo home run to Horne as the Grizzlies added another run to make the game 6-3.
The Mud Monsters would score two in the seventh. Andrew Semo led off the inning with a walk, moving to second after a wild pitch by Gateway reliever Julio Ortiz. Nathan Rose then lined a base hit to put Mississippi runners on the corners before Ortiz threw another wild pitch, allowing Semo to score and make it a 6-4 Gateway lead.
Booker walked to put two on for Travis Holt, who hit an RBI single through the left side to score Rose, cutting the Grizzlies lead to 6-5.
Holding Close
The bullpen kept the Mud Monsters within striking distance.
Brandon, Mississippi native Seth McCartney entered out of the Mud Monsters bullpen and, in his first appearance, held the Grizzlies scoreless in the eighth.
Connor Langrell also made his Mud Monsters debut, keeping Mississippi within one entering the bottom of the ninth.
Despite getting the tying run on base, the Mud Monsters could not rally against Gateway relief pitcher Sam Gardner, who shut the door and secured the 6-5 win for the Grizzlies.
Next Game
The Mud Monsters will look to win the series Saturday evening as the season-opening three-game set against the Gateway Grizzlies wraps up at Trustmark Park. First pitch is slated for 6:01 p.m. CT.
Right-hander Jack Burcham (0-0, 0.00) will start for Gateway while Mississippi turns to left-hander Art Joven (0-0, 0.00).
About the Mississippi Mud Monsters
Baseball Lives Here. It Just Got a Little Weirder.
The Mississippi Mud Monsters are a professional baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, competing in the Frontier League. Built in the mud and rooted in Mississippi, the Mud Monsters believe baseball should be unapologetically fun, a little weird, wildly welcoming, and deeply tied to the place it calls home. Real baseball. Real people. This is swamp-built, Mississippi-made baseball, where the vibes matter just as much as the final score.