Catfish blow 4 run 9th inning lead
Catfish fall to 3-1
Jackson, TN -(June 1, 2024) At some point striking out 15 times a game will cost you baseball games and tonight in Jackson Tennessee the Cape Catfish found that tough lesson out. The Catfish fell to 1-3 and have struck out 16 times in three of their four games and struck out 12 times in their only win. Tonight’s loss was a heartbreaker as they blew a foru run lead in the 9th.
The Rockabillys were held to two hits and both runs were unearned until the 9th inning. Catfish starter Owen Clark, the lefty from Midland pitched 3 innings giving up a run on 2 hits and striking out 6 in his second Catfish appearance. Next out of the bullpen was the story of the night, Bryce Kemper. Kemper, a freshman from FSCJ, who hasn’t thrown to a live hitter in over 14 months was the first out of the bullpen. He was the most impressive pitcher of the night. Kemper threw three innings and faced only one over the minimum and that was a walk. What a debut for a young man trying to get some meaningful work this summer.
The Catfish were up 3-2 going into the top of the 9th when the bats finally came alive. They scored runs on hits by Stratton, Schnieder, Kowalski and Parker to take a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the 9th. Jackson native Cam Marchi, whom took the loss last time the Catfish faced Jackson was in line for his first save but the wheels fell off quickly. Marchi who made a nice play btu instead of getting the easy out at first and making it one on with two outs and a four run lead, he threw wild to second base and both runners were safe. A walk, a triple another walk and the score was 6-5 and head coach Phil Butler went out to change pitchers. Komoraski, making his second appearnce of the season couldn’t get it done either. He gave up a double to make it 6-6. Butler put on the next runner to load the bases and then the next hitter for the Rockabillys walked it off with a single.
Tough loss and a long bus ride home for the Catfish. They will roll in about 2:00am and then turn around and play at home against the same team who has beat them twice in four games. “To score six runs and give up one earned run and lose is tough,” said head coach Phil Butler. “We’ll see what we’re made of tomorrow when we face these same guys.”
Catfish finish week one of the 2024 season Sunday and then they will get some reinforcements on the offensive side. They have been playing with 8-9 position players and had an injury tonight so they are very, very thin. Winning one of the furst four isn’t the start the Catfish had envisioned after last years 12-0 start but if you are looking for a silver lining, their pitching staff looks to be very solid and if they can figure out how to cut down on the strikeouts, this will be a very dangerous team the rest of the way.