The Catfish Reel.
Your Catfish Baseball News.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (June 24) – The last time the Cape Catfish faced the River Dragons from Alton, Illinois, on June 6, the Fish pounded out 15 hits and crossed the plate 15 times enroute to a 15-5 win.

Saturday night at Capaha Field they again held the River Dragons to five runs, but could only score once themselves, falling to Dragons 5-1 and losing for just the third time this season.

The Catfish spotted the River Dragons two runs in the 1st inning Saturday night when starting pitcher Curry Sutherland (Missouri State) issued a pair of one-out walks to former Catfish Cole Yearsley (SIU-Carbondale) and Dominic Decker (Colorado-Mesa). The next Dragon batter, designated hitter Erik Broekemeier (SIU-Edwardsville), drove Yearsley home and then a grounder to short by Alton first baseman Bryce Zupan (Kentucky Wesleyan) allowed Decker to cross the plate.

The Catfish got a run back in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a leadoff double to right by center fielder Justin Carnici (Mineral Area College) who immediately stole third and scampered home when the throw to third by Dragons Catcher Kaden Byrne got past third baseman Bryer Arview and bounced down the left field line.

But Alton answered with three in the top of the 4th on a pair of singles by Zupan and Arview on back-to-back pitches by Catfish reliever Breven Yarbro, a triple to the wall in right center by Dragons shortstop Victor Heredia (Cuesta College) that scored Zupan and Arview, and an RBI single to right by Alton center fielder Dylan Mass (Saint Leo University) that drove in Heredia.

The Dragons would have scored at least two more runs had they not had two runners thrown out at the plate. Mass was gunned down in the 4th inning when he was thrown out trying to score from third on a sharply hit ball to Catfish first baseman Dee Triplett (Cumberland University) who threw a strike to catcher Landon Godsey (Belmont) who applied the tag.

The second put-out at home came in the 7th as Decker tried to score from first on a double by Broekemeier over the head of left fielder Brody Chrisman (Purdue). After catching up with the ball on the warning track, Chrisman hit cutoff man, Jacob Danneman at short, who then threw out Decker at home by a good five feet.

The River Dragons finished the game with eight hits while the Catfish had just six, half of which were by Chrisman who went three-for-four with a pair of singles and a double in the losing cause. With his three hits, Chrisman’s batting average improved to .480, ranking him second in the Prospect League behind teammate Chris Hall whose BA is .500. Hall was not in the lineup Saturday due to a death in his family a few days ago.

Catfish starter Curry Sutherland was tagged with the loss, giving him a record of 0-1. He allowed one hit and two runs while walking two and striking out two in his one inning on the mound. Ivetic was credited with the win, pitching three innings of shutout ball, allowing two hits while walking one and striking out three. All told, River Dragons pitchers struck out 13 Catfish including eight in the final three innings by lefty reliever Scott Detweiler from Webster University.

The loss dropped the Catfish record to 19-3 while the River Dragons improved to 9-13.

The Catfish will be on the road Sunday, traveling to Danville, Illinois, to play the Dans in a 4:30 p.m. game. They’ll take Monday off before returning to Capaha Field Tuesday to face the Rockabillys from Jackson, Tennessee. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Tickets for Tueday night’s game, and all Catfish home games, are available online through the Catfish website, www.capecatfish.com.