Catfish lead is 2 games with four days left in 1st half

At 17-6, the Cape Catfish control their own destiny for the South Division’s first-half playoff berth as Jackson lurks with the tiebreak edge.

The first half of the Prospect League season is almost over, and the Cape Catfish are still looking over their sholder as depsite playing .700 baseball all season they can’t shake the pesky Rockabillys.

The Catfish are 17-6 heading into the final four games of the season’s first half, and the Jackson Rockabillys, their rivals to the south, have a 15-8 record and won’t let the Fish breath.

If the two were to tie, whether it be anywhere from 17 to 19 wins, the Rockabillys have the edge; the first tiebreaker, head-to-head victories, won’t do as the sides have tied at two wins each so far this year. But a 7-3 win puts Jackson over in the second tiebreak, head-to-head run differential, a one-run victory in the end.

So, the ’Fish are in a tight spot. There’s little room for error. Three wins in four games this week for Cape guarantees the division victory no matter what Jackson does, but it’s not exactly an easy road to those three wins.

The week will begin against the Alton River Dragons at the bottom of the division, a staggering 2-20 this season. At Capaha, the ’Fish shouldn’t have too much trouble dispatching the visitors. But ensuing games with O’Fallon, Decatur and Clinton will test the rest.

O’Fallon is 11-11, middle of the pack in the South Division but are hot as of late. Decatur is 9-12 in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division, while Clinton, which the Catfish faced last year in the Western Conference championship game, holds a pack-leading 13-8 record in the Northwest Division.

The Catfish will be home Tuesday, June 23, Wednesday, June 24, and Friday, June 26, setting up nicely for the home fans to watch them chase a playoff berth. Cape has missed the playoffs just once in its six seasons prior, 2022. A bid this year would make it four consecutive years in the postseason.