The Catfish Reel.
Your Catfish Baseball News.

Cape Girardeau, MO July 16 – The Terre Haute REX came to their game against the Cape Catfish Saturday night boasting a team batting average of .301 to lead the 16-team Prospect League.

After 40 games, REX Baseball also came to Cape leading the league in home runs (45), runs (312), runs batted in (279), hits (401), and total bases (620), averaging almost eight runs per game.

And after trailing by as much as five runs, Terre Haute battled back to tie the game in the ninth before sending the game into extra innings, eventually taking the lead 11-9 in a four-hour game that was suspended in the top of the 12th inning.

The suspended game will resume Thursday, July 21, at 6 p.m. before the start of the regularly scheduled game between REX Baseball and the Catfish at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau.

Terre Haute got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when REX leadoff batter David Miller from the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana, blasted his team-leading ninth home run of the season over the left center field wall to build on his .355 batting average and give Terre Haute a 1-0 lead.

The Catfish rebounded in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs on one hit combined with three walks and a REX error, giving Cape a 2-1 lead after two.

Terre Haute regained the lead in the third thanks to an RBI double by Alec Brunson (University of Saint Francis) and a single by Miller that drove in Brunson.

Terre Haute starting pitcher Jacob Young, a sophomore at Dallas Baptist University, allowed just one Catfish hit in 3 2/3 innings, but issued eight bases on balls including four in the bottom of the fourth that helped Cape tie the game 3-3. Young was replaced on the mound by Chase Johnson from Catawba College who entered the game with the bases full of Catfish.

Cape then took a 4-3 lead thanks to a passed ball during Lane Crowden’s at bat. Crowden (Three Rivers Community College) subsequently walked to load the bases again bringing Cam Careswell (Mizzou) to the plate. Careswell, who hit his first career grand slam earlier this season, promptly crushed a Chase Johnson pitch over the SoutheastHEALTH Homerun Deck beyond the right field wall to give Cape an 8-3 lead after four innings.

At that point, Cape had scored eight runs on just two hits and 10 walks.

Terre Haute picked up a pair of runs in the fifth on a two-out single by Indiana State University’s Aaron Beck and an error by Catfish right fielder Khyle Radcliffe, playing in his first game with the Catfish, that allowed a second run to score, cutting Cape’s lead to 8-5.

Cape added a run in the bottom of the seventh when catcher Andrew Sharp from West Virginia State University hit his second home run of the season over the left field wall.

Terre Haute added a run in the eighth inning off Cape reliever Dante Zamudio (West Virginia State) to pull to within three runs of the Catfish and then, with two outs in the top of the ninth, Zamudio gave up a walk, a single and a three-run homer to REX catcher Connor Hicks from Indiana State University to tie the game.

After a scoreless 10th and 11th inning, REX managed to push two runs across the plate thanks to an RBI single by Brunson and an RBI double by Miller, making the score 11-9 in Terre Haute’s favor. At that point, play was suspended and will resume Thursday.

Game Notes: Saturday’s game marked the return of Catfish field manager Stephen Larkin to Cape Girardeau. Larkin, whose father, Robert L. Larkin, passed away in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 7. Larkin rejoined the team Thursday in Terre Haute.

Catfish pitcher Griffin Lohman has left the team roster and has returned to Purdue. His roster spot was filled by outfielder Khyle Radcliffe from John A. Logan Community College in Carterville, Illinois, who started Saturday night’s game in right field.

And if you were wondering about the origin of Terre Haute’s team name, no, it has nothing to do with dinosaurs. The team is named after the REX Coffee Company, a regional brand in Indiana and portions of Illinois.