The Catfish Reel.
Your Catfish Baseball News.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (June 3) – The Catfish bats were as hot as the temperature at Capaha Field Saturday night as the Fish pounded out 14 hits and scored 13 runs for the second consecutive night against the Jackson (Tennessee) Rockabillys.

More than 1,100 fans turned out for Cape’s home opener and they were treated to a game that featured plenty of offense, solid defense and strong pitching by Catfish starter Eddie White (Southeast Missouri State) who picked up his first win of the season, going five innings, allowing four hits and just one run while throwing only 44 pitches.

Catfish reliever Alex Esker, also a SEMO State roster player, pitched the final two frames of the seven-inning contest (shortened due to the Prospect League’s 10-run rule), striking out five Rockabillys while giving up just two hits.

Just as they did in the first two games of the season, the Catfish got on the scoreboard first Saturday night when left fielder Brody Chrisman (Purdue) drilled a single to right in the bottom of the first, driving home right fielder Jeff Clarke (Belmont) who had walked earlier in the inning.

The Catfish sent nine batters to the plate in the second frame, scoring four runs on five singles with RBIs credited to Clarke, Chrisman, center fielder Chris Hall (Lincoln Memorial University) and shortstop Justin Carinci (Mineral Area College), making the score 5-0 after two innings.

The Rockabilly’s cut the Cape lead to four runs in the top of the third when their centerfielder Nicho Jordan (Tennessee Tech) sent a ball over the right field fence and into the SoutheastHEALTH Home Run Deck.

Cape fired back in the bottom of the third when third baseman Curry Sutherland (Missouri State) scored when Clarke singled to left center. Clarke and second baseman Kevin McCarthy (Tennessee) then scored on a throwing error by Rockabilly second baseman Tyler Heckert (Memphis) whose throw to first went wide after he fielded a ground ball hit by Carinci.

The Catfish tacked on two more tallies in the fourth frame when, with two outs, Sutherland singled, McCarthy was hit by a pitch, Landon Godsey (Belmont) walked and Hall singled to center driving in Sutherland and McCarthy and making the score 10-1.

The Catfish hits kept coming in the sixth inning when Hall picked up his fourth RBI of the game with a ground-rule double to left followed by a long double and two more RBIs for Clarke, his third and fourth of the game, making the final score 13-1.

Cape’s record now stands at 3-0 while the Rockabillys are now 0-4 on the young season. The Catfish are averaging 11 runs a game so far this season and are leading the 17-team Prospect League in most offensive categories.

The Catfish will head to Marion, Illinois, Sunday to take on the Thrillville Thrillbillies. First pitch is slated for 6:18 p.m. at Marion Park in just east of Marion near Illinois Route 13.