Greenwall hits for cycle as Mules roll to victory

In what turned out to be a blistering four innings, the Poplar Bluff Mules baseball team rolled to a 15-0 win Monday over the Park Hills Central Rebels as Kolby Greenwall hit for the cycle.

With his first at-bat — in the first inning — Greenwall drove in three runs with a triple. With his next appearance at the plate, Greenwall blew open the second inning with a three-run homer several feet beyond the 400-foot center field fence. The Mules put up three other runs for six total runs on the second inning.

The Mules got off to a quick start by hanging two runs in the first inning, six in the second, five in the third, and two in the fourth.

Greenwall also managed to hit for a double and a single to complete the cycle in the fourth inning.

“It really is something great to see,” Poplar Bluff coach John David Pattillo said. “Kolby has worked really hard to be a good hitter, and you like to see that hard work get rewarded.”

Pattillo said he was pleased with every aspect of the Mules’ performance.

“The guys showed some real discipline at the plate, and they were able to keep the bats going consistently,” he explained. “They were showing patience and when they hot the ball, they hot it hard.”

Pattillo explained that he was also very pleased with the pitching performance by Noah Spain, who only allowed one hit over four innings while striking out five batters and walking only one.

“Noah had some adversity to overcome last week,” Pattillo noted. “He had to deal with some environmental issues last week, so to see him come out and stand tall like this and pitch with so much confidence, it was a great thing to see.”

Pattillo explained that he was confident Spain would have a good outing, and he expected Spain to do well in this performance.

In total, the Mules piled on 18 hits through the four innings and they completed the shutout win without committing any errors.

“We had a couple pitchers that didn’t get out to throw, so we’ll get them in to pitch some here next,” Pattillo said. “We’re definitely going into the weekend with some confidence.”

Pattillo noted that Spain will be available to pitch again soon, but he also wants to see his other pitchers get some time on the mound.

The Mules play Tuesday at Oran and then Wednesday at Jackson.