Catfish Suffer First Loss of Season
CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (June 14) – They say all good things must come to an end, what goes up must come down and nothing lasts forever.
And so it is with winning streaks.
After winning their first 12 games this season by a combined score of 131 to 39, the Cape Catfish could push just two runners across the plate Wednesday afternoon at Capaha Park, losing by one run to the O’Fallon Hoots 3-2 after failing to score in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and no outs.
Catfish pitchers chalked up 15 strikeouts, including eight by starter Eddie White from Southeast Missouri State, but they also allowed the Hoots to hit six singles and a pair of doubles. O’Fallon scored the game’s first run in the 5th inning when center fielder Braedon Stoakes, a sophomore at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, scored on an RBI ground out by third baseman Jack Meyer from Lindenwood University.
The Hoots added two more runs in the 6th when right fielder Tucker Platt from Indiana University at Kokomo hit a two-out double to left center, left fielder Ethan Rossow (Milwaukee Area Technical College) hit an RBI single to right, and shortstop Maloy Heaghney (Missouri State) singled to left to drive in Rossow.
Cape scored their two runs in the 8th when center fielder Cole Yearsley (Southeastern Community College) drew a one-out walk, shortstop Jude Putz (Florida State) singled and catcher Landon Godsey from Belmont connected hit a two-out triple over the head of Hoots right fielder Tucker Platt, scoring both Yearsley and Putz.
The Catfish played the first eight innings of Wednesday’s game with three of their best hitters – Chris Hall from Lincoln Memorial University, Brody Chrisman from Purdue and Justin Carinci from Eastern Kentucky – on the bench, but all three were called on to pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th.
Hall led off the inning with a walk, advanced to second on an error by Hoots first baseman Michael Long who let a pickoff throw get past him, and then stole third. The next two batters, Dante Zamudio (University of California at Irvine) and Chrisman both walked to load the bases with no outs. However, Carinci hit a line drive to Hoots reliever Samuel Feltz who quickly threw to third before Hall could scamper back to the base for a 1-5 double play. Pinch hitter Jeff Clarke (Belmont) then struck out to end the game.
Hoots reliever Drew Politte from the University of Illinois at Springfield got the win, pitching the fifth through eighth innings for O’Fallon. The save went to Feltz. Catfish reliever Noah Gadberry (Delta State) took the loss, allowing four hits and two runs in his one and a third innings of work.
The 12-1 Catfish will take the day off Thursday before traveling to for a 6:30 p.m. game Friday against the Burlington Bees. On Saturday and Sunday they’ll be in Quincy, Illinois, to play a pair of games against the Qunicy Gems before returning to Capaha Field to play the Thrillville Thrillbillies from Marion, Illinois, in a 6:35 p.m. game Monday.
Tickets for Monday nights game are available online through the Catfish website, www.capecatfish.com.