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JOPLIN, MO. — Lucas Vanlanduit and Landin Midgett stand alone as the only two members of the 2026 MINK League Champion Joplin Jailbirds to also win a summer league title with the Joplin Outlaws in 2024 & 2025.
“I think there’s some guys that have won two. One that was with the jailbirds. But then me and Lucas were only ones that have been there for all three.”
The first of the three titles came with the Joplin Outlaws, a member of the Mid-America League that had it’s 2026 season canceled.
“It’s been fun,” Vanlanduit said. “The guys have been great. I remember meeting Landin on the first day of that first year with the Outlaws and everybody was just really good people, and we had fun winning games.”
The second title came in 2025, a campaign that featured a dominant 50-16 overall record for the Joplin Outlaws.
“To go to different places and win it still with the Joplin team, like the the two years before, we won in Texas. So that was cool. And then obviously this summer being able to win it in Joplin was really cool in front of the home fans,” Midgett said. “So just like seeing how different people react, different coaches and still being able to get the job done at the end of the summer, it’s been cool.”
The third and final summer league championship was captured last week at Joe Becker Stadium in front of the home crowd.
While hoisting a trophy is typically the highlight of a season for any team, the regular season grind required in both the Mid-America League and MINK League is far from glamerous.
“You’re going out there for 3 or 4 times a week, traveling like six hours sometimes. And then with the outlaws, you’re playing six days out of the week,” Vanlanduit said.
“I mean it’s like minor league baseball lifestyle pretty much like obviously we’re not making money,” Midgett said. “We’re all on the bus ride for eight hours to Iowa, coming back the next day playing. So it’s definitely a grind.”
Despite some of the tougher aspects of churning through back-to-back-to-back summer baseball campaigns, the competition as well as community support has helped Vanlanduit, a Carl Junction native, and Midgett, a Columbus native, push through each season.
“We had a bunch of guys that just wanted to win for Joplin and wanted to do everything we could to bring the title back to Joplin,” Midgett said.
Vanlanduit and Midgett will now turn their attention to collegiate baseball with the defending MIAA champions Pittsburg State.
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