Free Passes, Big Innings Cost Mud Monsters in Loss to Boomers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Colton Martinez
Director of Broadcasting & Storytelling
Mississippi Mud Monsters
210-633-4715
Free Passes, Big Innings Cost Mud Monsters in Loss to Boomers
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (May 23, 2026) — Free passes and big innings proved costly for the Mississippi Mud Monsters (6-8) as the Schaumburg Boomers (10-4) rolled to a 14-6 victory.
The Mud Monsters turned to Jackson Smith for the spot start, his first of the 2026 season. Smith had previously made five appearances out of Mississippi’s bullpen this year. The Raymond, Mississippi native finished with three innings pitched, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits while striking out three and walking one.
Just as they did in the opener, Schaumburg struck first in the opening inning after Myles Beale bunted for a base hit and later scored on an error by Slater Schield. Anthony Calarco grounded a ball up the middle that Schield ranged over to field on the second-base side of the bag but missed with his glove, allowing Beale to score and make it 1-0.
Mississippi answered in the second after Kasten Furr walked to lead off the inning and stole second base.
Jackson Nicklaus followed with a single to move Furr to third before Andrew Semo grounded out to shortstop to bring home the tying run and knot the game at 1-1.
The Mud Monsters grabbed their first lead of the afternoon in the third inning. Brayland Skinner led off the frame with his second triple of the season and later scored after a throwing error by Boomers third baseman Taylor Freeman.
The second run of the inning came after Kyle Booker stole second, moved to third on a Travis Holt single, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jack Holman to put Mississippi ahead 3-1.
Schaumburg answered immediately in the bottom half of the third. Alec Craig singled before Christian Fedko ripped a two-run double to put both of the first two Boomers batters into scoring position.
Beale followed with a sacrifice fly to Furr in left field to cut the deficit to one before Calarco popped out for the inning’s second out. Kyle Fitzgerald then delivered an RBI double to tie the game at 3-3.
After a scoreless top of the fourth, the Boomers erupted for a five-run bottom half that saw Schaumburg load the bases four separate times.
Seth McCartney entered for his sixth appearance of the season and watched the first three Boomers reach via a hit-by-pitch, single, and walk. McCartney recorded the inning’s first out on a sacrifice fly by Beale, but Schaumburg reclaimed the lead at 4-3.
A walk to Fedko loaded the bases once again before Dusty Baird entered out of the bullpen for Mississippi.
Facing Beale, Baird uncorked a wild pitch that brought home a run before issuing a walk to reload the bases for the third time in the inning. A two-run single by Calarco followed and moved Beale to third before Fitzgerald added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-3 before the inning finally came to an end.
Now trailing by five, Schield opened the fifth with a single, but the first of two baserunning mishaps quickly erased the shortstop. Brayland Skinner walked and was nearly picked off at first before being ruled safe. Moments later, Skinner was thrown out attempting to steal second for the inning’s second out before Booker struck out swinging to end the frame.
The Boomers added four more runs in the fifth inning. Back-to-back walks followed a leadoff single by Tony Livermore to load the bases before the first run scored on a fielder’s choice. Calarco followed with an RBI single to make it 9-3 before Fitzgerald singled to load the bases once again.
A second run-scoring fielder’s choice brought home another run before Jeff Nicol followed with a two-out RBI single to extend the lead to 12-3. Tristan House relieved Baird and recorded the inning’s final out.
Mississippi doubled its run total in the sixth after a walk to Holt, a single by Holman, and another walk to Furr loaded the bases.
With one out, Jake Zitella, making his Mud Monsters debut in his home state, lined a single up the middle for his first hit with Mississippi and first RBI to cut the deficit to 12-4.
Jacob Bell entered out of the Boomers bullpen and issued a bases-loaded walk to make it 12-5 before Schield added a sacrifice fly to trim the lead to 12-6.
House tossed scoreless innings in both the sixth and seventh before Johnny Czeslawski entered for the second consecutive day and surrendered Schaumburg’s final two runs.
The Boomers secured both the 14-6 victory and the series win after shutting down Mississippi over the final three offensive innings.
The Mud Monsters wrap up their three-game set against Schaumburg tomorrow afternoon before heading home for a Memorial Day matchup at Trustmark Park on Monday. It will be a battle of right-handers as Brian Williams (0-1, 5.63) takes the ball for Mississippi while Ross Thompson (0-0, 0.00) starts for Schaumburg. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT.
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.