Back to Back Prospect League Titles

SPLASH TWO….CATFISH ARE CHAMPS AGAIN

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO – AUG 9th, 2026

For the 3rd time in franchise history the Cape Catfish win the Prospect League Title. Back to Back for this latest feat as the Fish held off the REX in a hard fought three game series that saw every game decided by one run! Last night’s thriller ebded 6-5 good guys on a wild play to ebd the game. The win put a cherry on top of what was statistically the greatest season in Prospect League history and one of the most dominant seasons the league has ever seen.

After a four-run sixth inning took the Fish from two runs down to two runs ahead, led by a two-RBI single from pinch hitter Pete Britton (Milliken University) to go in front, the game hung in the balance of Cape’s relief pitching as the offense couldn’t add on.

First was Troy O’Neil who came into the game in the top of the 6th inning to relieve the Catfish starter mason Waterbury (Southeastern CC) who went 5 1/3 giving up four earned runs but would eventually be the winner. O’Neil entered a two on, one out ja, and bent but didn’t break as he allowed one run to score making it a 6-4 game.

He then made things interesting in the top of the 7th when he got the first two batters out on seven pitches but walked Deakin Brinkley to bring up the hottest hitter in the series Wally Diaz. Diaz blasted a double and made the game 6-5. After another walk, O’Neil struck out Dallas Coleman on a 2-2 pitch to end the threat.

In the top of the 8th, Coach Colin Butkeiwicz trotted O’Neil out one more time and things got interesting again. After the first batter popped out, the nextbatter singled and then a walk made it 1st and second with only one out. O’Neil got gabe Wright to chase a bad oitch on 3-2 for out #2and then he struck out Dakin Brinkley again to end the inning. O’neil pumped his first and screamed loudly as he knew he had done his job pitching 2 2/3 giving up only 1 run.

The Catfish couldn’t add on against a solid REX bullpen so everyone knew who was coing into the game in the top of the 9th,19-year-old Troy O’Keefe (SW Tennessee CC) of nearby Perryville to pitch against the heart of the Rex order. He struck out Joseph Gutierrez on a 3-2 nasty slider, the on a 2-1 pitch he plunked Wally Diaz, who had already taken the Fish yard earlier in the game, to put the tying run on base. Might have been his best pitch all night. Diaz would be lifted for a pinch hitter and O’Keefe would strike out Renn Harper swinging for out #2.

The final batter checked his swing on a 2-1 count and mistakenly dinked it off the knob as O’Keefe was keen to it, coming forward and lunging the winning throw to Cornelius Wouters at first base, Gme over, back to back championships. The celebration was on.

Earning Prospect League Championship Series MVP honors was Nate Dorinsky, who launched a solo homer to get Cape scoring going in the finale while also hosing Diaz on a sac fly attempt, the loudest that Capaha Field roared all night.

Dorinsky accepted the championship trophy from commissioner David Brauer, lifting it above his shoulders in celebration as the team huddled around the culmination of 60 games of work, going 49-11 across regular season and playoff games and setting numerous records along the way.

Quite improbable the elevation Cape made, considering that legendary coach Gary McClure had to step aside before the season began because of health complications. Then-assistant Colin Butkiewicz took over the club. Pithcing coach CJ Backer who was a Fridat night starter for Purdue back in 2022, joined the dtaff the day before the season started. Rounding out the great young staff was former SEMO Redhawk and Catfish catcher Moises Rosario.

Cape snapped its own wins record of 43, set in its inaugural season of 2019, with 45 regular-season wins. That’s 45 wins in 55 games, the former record was in a 60 game season. The Catfish also broke records for runs scored in a season and the league’s longest winning streak, now set at 20 games, as well as many other records.

When the celebration ended and the fans had gotten their last hugs, pictures and autographs, I found a worn out Mark Hogan, Catfish GM since 2019, who could only smile and hold up his ring finger asking where the 3rd ring was. In seven short summers the Cape Catfish had built a dynasty. They have played in four Championship series, won three titles and have won more games, 273, than any team in the league.

Job well done……can anyone say Three-Peat!?

KEY NOTES:

In the finale, it was Wouters’ two hits that led Cape in a seven-hit effort, drawing another five walks. Dorinsky’s homer led the team in bases, while Wouters’ single and double paced him and Enrique Villanueva’s two-run double added fuel to the fire. Britton’s two-run single tied the game lead for RBIs.

Diaz led all hitters with three hits, plus a hit-by-pitch, driving in two runs. Nate Millington hit twice for the visitors, those two combining for five of nine hits in the loss while the Rex added seven walks. Diaz’s three hits included a homer and double, while Renn Harper knocked a two-bagger.

Cape starter Mason Waterbury pitched a competitive start, finishing with 5 1/3 innings of action with six hits, two walks and four runs, three earned. He gave up a solo homer to Diaz and fed into one-run frames in the fourth and sixth before Trey O’Neill took the stage.

O’Neill pitched for 2 2/3 innings, the anchoring long reliever that allowed three hits and five walks but only one run to score, making it out of multiple tight innings with minimal damage, picking up the win on the way. He finished 3-1 in 2026.

Lastly was Troy O’Keefe, who struck out the first and third batters he faced before assisting on the final out of the season, only stopping to drill Diaz in the side, much to the chagrin of the Oklahoma Wesleyan log-swinger. He earned his fourth save of the year in the process, finishing with a 3.57 ERA.

Cape joins the Chillicothe Paints as the only active franchises to have won repeat titles in the Prospect League dating back to its 2009 inception. The West Virginia Miners’ repeat makes Cape the third to do it all-time, but they have since folded.

Cape’s three titles join it in a tie for second place behind only the Paints’ four all-time, the most of any active team despite being tied with the defunct Miners and Quincy Gems. It’s the third title in six years for the Catfish.

First Baseban Cory Wouters after catching the last out of the game. 6-5 Catfish!