ValleyCats, Mud Monsters Split Doubleheader, Series
PEARL, Miss. (May 30, 2026) - The Mississippi Mud Monsters (9-12) split a Saturday doubleheader with the Tri-City ValleyCats (5-13), dropping game one 6-3 before erupting for a 15-5 victory in the nightcap to secure a split of the six-game series.
Monster Notes
A split day at Trustmark Park ended with a loud Mississippi response in the nightcap.
- Mississippi scored seven runs in the second inning of game two.
- Vantrel Reed collected his first professional hit and drove in his first two professional runs.
- Art Joven earned the game two win after giving Mississippi five innings.
- The Mud Monsters closed the six-game series with a 3-3 split against Tri-City.
Game One
Tri-City took the opener, 6-3.
Brian Williams got the start for the Mud Monsters in game one, his fifth of the season. Coming into the matchup, Williams posted a 2-1 record in doubleheader starts while Mississippi had gone 8-6 in such contests.
The game opened with Mississippi getting on the board first after Brayland Skinner was issued a leadoff walk.
During Kyle Booker’s at-bat, Skinner stole second and Tri-City catcher Ranko Stevanovic’s throw sailed into center field to move him to third.
Booker grounded out to shortstop to allow Skinner to score the opening run and give Mississippi the early 1-0 lead.
Tri-City takes control
Williams held the ValleyCats scoreless through the first two innings, but Tri-City got on the board in the third after Williams walked the leadoff batter and issued another free pass with one out.
Back-to-back RBI singles by Dylan Broderick and Parker Coddou allowed Tri-City to tie the game and take a 2-1 lead.
Williams recorded the second out of the inning, but Amani Larry followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
Despite Slater Schield reaching third base in the bottom of the third, the Mud Monsters were unable to bring him home.
Tri-City added two more runs with two outs in the fourth. Ranko Stevanovic reached on a fielder’s choice and, after a single and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Broderick delivered a two-run single to extend the ValleyCats lead to 5-1.
The Mud Monsters answered in the bottom of the fifth after Wes Albert, who entered in relief of starter Aiden Kelly, walked Jackson Nicklaus and hit Tevis Payne II to put two aboard. Following a fly ball from Schield that advanced both runners into scoring position, Skinner drew a walk to load the bases.
ValleyCats manager Greg Tagert then turned to Logan Jones out of the bullpen, but Booker chopped a single that hopped over the first baseman’s head to plate Nicklaus and Payne II and cut the deficit to 5-3.
Williams finished with six innings of work, allowing six runs on 10 hits while walking two.
Tri-City tacked on one more insurance run in the top of the seventh against Dusty Baird, who took over for Williams. Broderick led off the frame with a double before Coddou followed with an RBI single.
Arlo Marynczak, who entered in relief of Jones, tossed scoreless sixth and seventh innings to earn the save and secure the 6-3 victory for Tri-City.
Game Two
Mississippi erupted early and rolled to a 15-5 win.
Seven-run second
Art Joven got the start for the Mud Monsters in game two looking to build off his Memorial Day outing, when he allowed one run on three hits across five innings.
Just as he did in the series opener, Joven quickly found himself working with a lead. This time, however, it was a seven-run cushion before he ever returned to the mound.
The Mud Monsters, coming in 0-5 against left-handed starters, exploded against Tri-City starter Brayhans Barreto.
Mississippi got things rolling with a Slater Schield double that was followed by a Nathan Rose RBI double to score Schield.
A Peter Bocchino walk was followed by a base hit from Payne II to load the bases before Brayland Skinner lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home the second run.
Booker reloaded the bases and Travis Holt delivered a two-run single to score Bocchino and Payne II.
With Booker and Holt aboard, Jack Holman drew a walk to load the bases once again before Kasten Furr followed with a two-run single to make it 6-0.
Schield came to the plate for the second time in the inning and reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing the seventh run to score and giving Mississippi a 7-0 lead.
The Mud Monsters added two more in the third after Skinner reached on a fielder’s choice. With one out, Booker singled and Holt reached on a fielder’s choice with an errant throw to second that loaded the bases.
Holman brought home a run on a fielder’s choice and a balk during the next at-bat pushed the lead to 9-0.
Tri-City got on the board in the fourth after Max Mandler doubled with one out and Broderick followed with a two-out RBI single to make it 9-1.
Mississippi answered immediately in the bottom of the inning after Skinner picked up his second RBI of the game on a single to make it 10-1.
Reed joins the party
The ValleyCats scored twice in the fifth after a leadoff double by Aaron Whitley was followed by a run-scoring double from David Glancy. Glancy later came around to score on an RBI single by RJ Stinson, making it 10-3.
Cooper Hext, a position player, took the mound for Tri-City in the sixth. After Schield doubled, Vantrel Reed collected his first professional hit and RBI to make it 11-3.
Bocchino and Payne II both reached to load the bases, and Skinner delivered a two-run single to score Reed and Bocchino and extend the lead to 13-3.
A bases-loaded walk later in the inning forced Mississippi’s 14th run, and a sacrifice fly by Reed gave him his second professional RBI and made it 15-3.
Tristan House replaced Joven on the mound in the seventh looking to record the final three outs.
After walking the leadoff batter, Aaron Whitley, House allowed a triple to Mandler that scored the first run of the inning. A single by RJ Stinson followed to bring home Mandler and make it 15-5.
House recorded the final three outs to secure the 15-5 victory and a split of the six-game series between Mississippi and Tri-City.
Road Ahead
After six games at home, the Mud Monsters hit the road for six games split evenly between three-game series against the Evansville Otters and Gateway Grizzlies.
The first game against Evansville is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, at 6:35 p.m. CT. Starters have yet to be announced by either club.
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.