Catfish ambush the Pistol Shrimp
CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (July 25th) – It’s tough not to fall in love with so many of this year’s Cape Catfish players. Tucker Stockman would certainly fit in that category. He’s got an infectious personality and is as humble and kind as anyone you’ll ever meet. He just happens to be a 6′ 3″, 220lb gentle giant who is a very good catcher for the University of Southern Mississippi and the Cape Catfish.
Tonight, in front of over 600 Catfish fans, Stockman led the charge as the Catfish treated their guests from Illinois Valley rudely from the bottom of the 1st when the threw up six runs until the short game ended in the bottom of the 7th. The final was 15-3 in favor of the Fish and it looked a lot like some of the games the Fish played in early June when they short games six of the first 10 opponents.
The Catfish starter tonight was newly signed Devyn Terbrak (Western Kentucky), he set the Pistol Shrimp down in order in the top of the first. He would be on the bench for a while as the Catfish threw up a 6-piece nugget in the bottom half of the inning. As happens many nights Chris Hall (Lincoln Memorial University) kick started the rally. Hall walked, quickly stole second, went to third on a throwing error by the catcher and scored on a ground ball rbi by McCarthy (University of Tennessee Southern). Justin Carinci (Eastern Kentucky) doubled in the right centerfield gap. Lane Crowden (University of Southern Indiana) was hit by a pitch. The runners pulled off a double steal and then Landon Godsey (Belmont) singled up the middle for two rbi’s and a 3-0 Catfish lead.
The Fish weren’t done. Dante Zamudio (UC Irvine) was hit by a pitch, Tucker Stockman then hit a ball deep off the right centerfield wall for a double scoring Godsey and making it 4-0. The next batter, Jeff Clarke (Belmont) who had just gotten back in the lineup after attending a wedding last weekend, singled to right and scored Zamudio and Stockman and just like that, Terbrak had a comfortable 6-0 lead after one inning.
The only trouble Terbrak ran into was three consecutive hits in the top of the 2nd inning, the big one being a double by Jake Ferguson (Eastern Illinois), teammate of Catfish Kolten Poorman, that plated two but he was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple and that would be all the damage the Pistol Shrimp would inflict on the Hilltopper hurler.
In the bottom of the 3rd the Catfish would score five more runs, all unearned and the big blow was a two run homer off the bat of Tucker Stockman, his 3rd round tripper of the season, making the score 9-2 in favor of the Fish. Then Lane Crowden would hit a two out, two rbi single making it 11-2.
In the bottom of the 6th the Catfish kept piling on and the big blow in this inning was a 3-run shot to dead centerfield off the bat of Jeff Clarke, his 3rd home run of the season. His five rbi’s matched a season high and gave him 35 on the year. When the inning ended the Catfish were up 15-2 and they smelled short game.
In came local star Caden Bogenpohl (MO State) to mop up. He gave up a run on two hits and the game ended on a nifty 4-6-3 double play. Terbrak got the win, his second in two appearances. A nice late season addition could prove very big for the Catfish as the season winds down and post season is just around the corner.
In the end, as you can see by the pictures, Stockman was named the Garbers Best Dressed Player of the Game. His first green jacket of the summer and he was all smiles! His teammates hooted and howled as he did his on field interview after the game. All is well in Catfish land as they move to 34-15 on the season and back in sole possession of the best record in the league.
GAME NOTES:
Landon Godsey, the temp player turned mvp for the Catfish fell to the ground in pain after a deep fly ball in the 4th. He was rolling around in pain as he rounded first base. Nothing concrete yet but it was a hamstring pull. He will be out of the lineup at least the rest of this week. That would be a huge blow to the Catfish as Godsey was having a tremendous season. In 36 games he was batting .317. He had 40 hits, 29 runs scored, 11 doubles(3rd on the team) a triple and four home runs. Let’s hope he just tweeked it.
The Catfish and Pistol Shrimp players, coaches and fans all stood and had a moment of silence for 23 seconds before the game tonight. Honoring the life of Thrillville catcher, Ashton Smith, who passed away suddenly Monday morning.
Burger King gave away 400 Catfish Green Water bottles to the first 400 fans tonight.
The Catfish head to Danville tomorrow for game 3 with the Dans, the two teams have split the other two games this season. First pitch is at 6:35 ct and can be seen on PLTV.
Playoff tickets are available at capecatfish.com or by stoping by the Catfish office between 10-2pm this week. The home playoff game is scheduled for Sunday, August 6th, at 6:35 pm.