The Catfish Reel.
Your Catfish Baseball News.

Cape Girardeau, MO (July 18th) – It has rained in Cape for the last 24 hours but the baseball Gods gave us a window Tuesday night with the Clinton LumberKings in town for their only trip to Cape. “Between bus costs, hotel costs and the money we had already invested with Alzheimer’s Awareness jerseys and hats, we were planning to wait the rain out as long as we needed to,” said Glenn Campbell, president of the Cape Catfish. Turned out the game only started 30 minutes late and the damp weather didn’t dampen the night for the fans or the Fish. On a night where the Catfish wore purple, the color of Alzheimer’s Awareness, winning the game was secondary behind raising money for a great cause.

Jorge Romero (Los Angeles Pierce College)was once again lights out as he threw 5 innings allowing no runs, scattering five hits, a walk and a hit batter. It was his 5th start and 8th appearance and he improved his record to 4-1 and his era went down to 1.59. “I didn’t have my velo tonight but I was locating the ball pretty well and my off speed was good,” said Romero.

On the offensive side of the ball the catfish didn’t exactly rip the cover off the ball as both teams suffered from a the very heavy air. The Catfish ended with five runs on five hits and drew two walks and had a hit by pitch. The key was they mad the hits count. With no score in the bottom of the second, the caytfish struck first. With two outs and no one on, Crowden (University of Southern Indiana) singled up the middle. Clarke (Belmont) reached on a fielders choice error by the second baseman, setting up the biggest at bat of the night. Dee Triplett (Cumberland University) from Malden smashed a ball off the wall for a long single and two rbi’s. That’s all Cape would need on this night.

The Catfish tacked on two more in the bottom of the 5th. Zamudio (UC Irvine) reached when the right fielder turned a routine fly ball into a three base error. Hall (Lincoln Memorial University) walked and then stole second. McCarthy (University of Tennessee Southern) flew out deep to left scoring Zamudio and advancing Hall to make it 3-0. Then Chrisman (Purdue) did the same thing scoring Hall and making it 4-0 Catfish after five innings.

In the bottom of the seventh the Catfish made it 5-0 when Zamudio who was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Carinci’s (eastern Kentucky)hard ground ball up the middle.

Bogenpohl (MO State) pitched a scoreless 6th striking out two, his Missouri State teammate next season Curry Sutherland threw two scoreless, striking out four and walking one. Then Cameron Marchi (St. Charles CC) who has only been a Catfish a few weeks, pitched the final inning, preserving the shutout.

The Catfish with the win beat one of the better teams in the Western Conference Great River Division. The LumberKings are 24-16 over all and 8-5 in the second half. Like the Catfish, they won their division in the first half and will host the winner of the second half. These two may see each other again if they can both win a home playoff game. The Catfish with the win are the first team in the league in 2023 to win 30 games as they sit 30-12, 8-6 in the second half.

The Catfish turn around and play an early game at 2:05 back at the pond. It’s the second and last matinee of the season as Alton comes to town. The SEMO Football team will be on the deck and Cape Parks & Rec will have kids all over the ballpark as any kid who plays on a soccer, basketball, baseball or softball team will be admitted for free with their jersey on. WAT’S KNOTS pretzels and Ty’s Snow cones will be on hand. Cape Parks and REC will also open the field back up at 7:45 for “free movie” night. Maverick Top Gun will be played once it’s dark enough.

Tickets for Wednesday matinee which starts at 2:05, and all Catfish home games, can be purchased through the team’s website, www.capecatfish.com.