Catfish win at Thrillville
July 26th, 2026 – Marion, Illinois
As the Catfish finish their regular season and getting ready to host the divisional round of the playoffs next week, they added a few local soon to be freshman arms. In their last trip to Marion for the season, the Cape Catfish weathered an early deficit and pushed back relentlessly to notch a 7-3 victory over the Thrillville Thrillbillies.
Thrillville struck first with a solo homer and RBI single to take an early 2-0 lead in the first. Cape had more of a slow start but fired back in the third when Cooper Newsom (Harding University) doubled and brought in their first run of the night. Matthew Cash (Jacksonville State University) kept the ball rolling with a two-run single into left field to claim the lead.
From the third inning on, the Fish were hot! In the top of the fourth inning Caleb Champion (Southeast Missouri State University) drilled a single into right field to bring home two runners and keep the momentum going. In the fifth inning Nathan Bowie (Harding University) was able to score unearned on an error from the opposing team after hitting a single to put himself in the baseline. The final run of the night for the Catfish came in the seventh inning when Caleb Niehaus (Indiana State University) doubled to bring home Owen Mandler (Seton Hill University).
An outstanding offensive performance such as Cape’s display of batters at Marion on Saturday is only as good as those who defend it. The efforts of the pitchers and infield in the road matchup were just as phenomenal. Drew Wedgeworth (Missouri State University) threw an impressive six innings in the victory striking out six batters and only giving up two earned runs. He was relieved by one of the new arms, Parker Bryant from Oran, Mo. who will be attending Three Rivers Community College next month. He pithced a scoreless 7th inning. Trey O’Neil (University of Southern Indiana) closed out the final two innings producing two more strikeouts and holding the Thrillbillies from scoring.
Cape finishes off the week at Capaha tomorrow against their close rival the O’Fallon Hoots. As the season winds down they look forward to hosting the first round of playoffs and chasing that postseason dream.