Shoes Remain Lucky, Beat Fish for 2nd Time This Week
SPRINGFIELD, IL (July 11) – After losing at home Sunday afternoon to the Lucky Horseshoes, the Cape Catfish were looking for payback Tuesday night at the Horseshoes’ home park in Springfield, Illinois.
And, after scoring three times in the 2nd inning to take a 3-0 lead, it appeared the Catfish seemed well on their way toward their 27th win of the summer. But Cape would score just once more over the next seven innings as the Shoes came back to win 9-4, defeating the Fish for the second time in a three-day span.
Cape’s first run came when Catfish third baseman Lane Crowden from Southern Indiana, led off the 2nd with a solo shot over the left field wall. It was the Jackson, Missouri, native’s second homer of the season and put the Fish up 1-0. The next two runs in the inning crossed the plate when shortstop Creek Robertson from Southern Miss hit his first home run of the year, his first of the year, came with two outs with a runner on base, giving the Catfish their initial 3-0 lead.
The Shoes got one of those runs back in the bottom of the 2nd when third baseman Jacob Hager from Maryville University reached base on an error by Robertson, advanced to third when Shoes center fielder Payton Matthews from Rock Valley College doubled to the wall in right and scored when right fielder Hunter Moser grounded out to short.
Springfield took a one-run lead in the bottom of the 3rd when catcher William Zareh from Missouri State blasted a three-run no-doubter over the left field wall, his second home run this summer, giving the Shoes a 4-3 lead after three innings.
Dante Zamudio from Los Angeles Pierce College, making his second start of the season for the Catfish, was relieved after the 3rd inning by Kam Dohogne, a sophomore at Columbia College from Oran, Missouri. Dohogne allowed four hits in the 4th – a double and three singles – issued a walk and hit a batter, allowing two Shoes to score, giving Springfield a 6-3 lead.
Robertson led off the top of the 5th for the Catfish and hit his second round-tripper of the game (and second of the season), this time over the left field fence, making the score 6-4 in Springfield’s favor.
But Springfield got that run back, plus one, in the bottom half of the 5th when, with two outs, Shoes right fielder Hunter Moser (Lincoln Land Community College) reached base on an error by Crowden followed by a home run that cleared the right field wall, boosting the Shoes’ lead to 8-4.
The Shoes added a run in the 6th when Jacob Hager hit an RBI single off Catfish reliever Cameron Marchi a freshman at St. Charles Community College, giving Springfield a five-run advantage heading into the 7th frame.
Cape had a chance to get back in the game in the 7th when Brody Chrisman from Purdue, who entered the game tied for the top batting average in the Prospect League at .407, came to the plate with the bases loaded. But on a 3-2 count, Chrisman struck out looking. It was his fourth strikeout of the night (surpassed only by Springfield shortstop Trent Koehler who struck out five times against Catfish pitchers Tuesday – three times swinging and twice looking).
The first four batters in the Catfish lineup – Chris Hall, Kevin McCarthy, Justin Carinci and Chrisman – were a combined 0 for 14 Tuesday night, although Hall walked once, Carinci twice and McCarthy was hit by a pitch to reach base.
A quartet of Springfield pitchers – starter Zane Danielson and relievers A.J. Golembiewski, Brant Smith and Connor McCaleb – allowed just five Catfish hits while striking out 10 and walking six batters. The four Catfish pitchers in the game – Zamudio, Dohogne, Marchi and Kole Turner who came into the game in the bottom of the 8th, allowed 13 Horseshoe hits while recording 11 strikeouts and walking three Shoes.
With the loss, the Catfish are finally in double digits in the loss column with a record of 26-10, 4-4 in the second half of the Prospect League season. The win boosted Springfield’s overall record to 17-16, 6-0 in the second half.
The Catfish return to Capaha Field Wednesday to take on REX Baseball from Terre Haute, Indiana. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.
Tickets for Wednesday night’s game, and all Catfish home games, can be purchased through the team’s website, www.capecatfish.com.