Catfish Win By Nine On The Road Over Hoots

O’Fallon, MO July 28 – The Catfish combined strong pitching with timely hitting and solid defense to defeat the O’Fallon Hoots 13-4 Thursday night at Car Shield Field in O’Fallon.

The win gave Cape a record of 8-10 in the second half of the Prospect League’s season (20-29 overall) while O’Fallon fell to 6-13 (23-28 overall) with just over a week left in the season and postseason playoff berths still up for grabs.

Cape took an early 2-0 lead on the strength of University of Arkansas shortstop John Bolton’s first home run of the season in the first inning and an RBI double in the third inning by catcher Blake Barton (Belmont University) in the third.

Catfish pitcher and Jackson native Colten Weber (Oral Roberts University), making his eighth start of the season, allowed no hits and just one O’Fallon batter to reach base through the first 3 2/3 innings, issuing a one out walk in the third.

Cape then scored six runs on a dozen plate appearances in the fourth inning which included an RBI single by designated hitter Ty Stauss (SEMO State), an RBI groundout by center fielder Christopher Hall (Florida State College-Jacksonville), a bases-loaded RBI walk issued to first baseman Danny Sperling (SEMO State), and an RBi credited to second baseman Zane Wallace (Lyon College) who was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Sperling, who doubled to lead off the inning, also scored on a wild pitch and Bolton scored an unearned run when Barton reached base on an error by Hoots third baseman Jake McCutcheon (Missouri State University), one of two O’Fallon fourth-inning errors.

But in the bottom of the fourth O’Fallon center fielder Patrick Clohisy connected on a two-out solo home run, the first hit of the game for the Hoots. Clohisy, a redshirt freshman from St. Louis who is attending Purdue University, entered Thursday’s game with a .326 batting average and leads the team in home runs (10) and runs batted in (33). His home run made the score 8-1 in Cape’s favor.

The Catfish picked up two runs in the fifth thanks to infield singles by Hall and Bolton, an RBI groundout by left fielder Josh Cameron (SEMO State) that drove Hall home and a wild pitch that allowed Bolton to cross the plate, making the score 10-1 midway through the fifth.

The Hoots scored three runs in their half of the fifth on two-out RBI singles by McCutcheon and left fielder Blane Besse (Missouri Baptist), the latter scoring two runs to make the score 10-4 in Cape’s favor.

Cape added a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth. The run in the seventh came when Barton walked, advanced to third on a single by third baseman Kolton Poorman (Three Rivers Community College) and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder hit by Sperling. The eighth inning runs were scored when center fielder Jackson Jarvis (Columbia State Community College) beat out an infield hit and scored on a bloop double to right hit by left fielder Cam Hill (Purdue) who later crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make the final score 13-4.

Every Catfish position player with the exception of Wallace and right fielder Dalton Rudd (Western Kentucky University) had at least one hit with Stauss, Poorman and Bolton each with two. Cape finished the game with a dozen hits and one error while O’Fallon had eight hits, seven of them singles, and committed three errors.

Weber, the game’s winning pitcher, went five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits while striking out six and walking three, improving his record to 2-2.

From O’Fallon the Catfish head north to Springfield, Illinois, for a doubleheader Friday against the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes with the first game scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start. The Fish have home games at Cape Girardeau’s Capaha Field Saturday (6:35 p.m.) and Sunday (4:05 p.m.) against the Gems from Quincy, Illinois, and will wrap up their three-game home stand Monday with a 6:35 p.m. game against the Horseshoes.