Catfish End Road Trip on Losing Note
Quincy, IL, June 19 – The Catfish dropped their fourth straight game Sunday night, losing to the Quincy Gems on the road 5-3.
The loss dropped Cape four games under the .500 mark at 7-11 while the Gems evened their record at 9-9.
The Catfish scored all their runs in the eighth inning when SIU-Carbondale’s J.D. Ortiz knocked a three-run homer over the right center field wall, scoring Danny Sperling (Southeast Missouri State) and Dante Zamudio (West Virginia State) ahead of him. Ortiz was four-for-four at the plate, including a double and two singles, and was the only Catfish player with multiple hits Sunday night.
“It was a good game for J.D.,” said Catfish field manager Stephen Larkin. “He was swinging the bat well Sunday night.”
The Gems scored the game’s first three runs with unearned run in the fourth inning and two runs in the sixth inning on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Maurice La Fon (Harris-Stowe State University). Quincy added a pair of solo homers, the first by Zack Stewart (Missouri State) in the seventh inning and the other off the bat of Lucas Loos (John Wood Community College) in the eighth.
Cape finished the game with 10 hits and one error while Quincy had 13 hits and no errors.
Quincy starter Ryan Reyerson (Iowa Western Community College) pitched the first six innings, scattering five hits and striking out five Catfish while allowing no runs to earn the win, improving his record to 2-1. The Gems’ Jacob Kroeger (Maryville University) pitched a one-two-three ninth to earn the save, his first of the season.
Cape starting pitcher Griffin Lohman (Purdue) was tagged with the loss, giving up one run on five hits while walking three and striking out three, dropping his record to 1-2.
Cape has an open date Monday before taking on the O’Fallon Hoots at Capaha Field in Cape Tuesday in a 6:35 p.m. game. The Hoots are on a five-game winning streak and are in second place in the Prospect League’s Prairie Land Division with a record of 10-8.
“We’re going to rest up tomorrow (Monday) and get back to work Tuesday,” Larkin said.