Capahas Baseball

Blemker's play at World Series earns him honor (08/16/07)
Zak Blemker saw limited opportunities at the plate during the Southeast Missouri State baseball season. All Blemker needed was a chance to show his ability. Blemker finished fifth in hitting at the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., posting a .417 average for the Plaza Tire Capahas. He was rewarded for his play with a spot as the first baseman on the NBC all-American team...

Capahas run out of steam (08/10/07)
WICHITA, Kan. -- A seventh-place trophy for the National Baseball Congress World Series sat there on the bench in an almost empty dugout. In all honesty, it had been long decided that it would go home with the Plaza Tire Capahas on Thursday night. When the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters, the NBC's defending champion, scored four runs in the first inning, the game was not decided, of course. But no one had to detail the predicament to the Capahas...

Capahas survive to earn spot in elite eight (08/09/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas cruised into the last inning of Wednesday's National Baseball Congress World Series game against the Beatrice (Neb.) Bruins with an eight-run lead. By the end, the Capahas were thankful to have survived, and the Bruins were hopping mad over a called third strike...

Capahas rally to stay alive (08/08/07)
WICHITA -- Cape Girardeau's Jess Bolen has witnessed many a come-from-behind victories during his 41-year tenure as head coach of the Plaza Tire Capahas at the National Baseball Congress World Series. Bolen said he didn't remember the years precisely, but the Capahas rallied for 5-1 and 7-1 victories at the NBC World Series, along with coming back from a 10-0 deficit to beat Miami (Fla.). There was also the 12-3 deficit Cape rallied from to beat Nogales, Ariz., a few years ago...

Capahas stay alive at NBC World Series (08/07/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas broke open a tied game with a five-run sixth and avoided elimination with a 10-2 victory over Moreno Valley (Calif.) on Monday at the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kan. Plaza Tire improved to 30-7 and will play the Nevada (Mo.) Griffons at 8 a.m. today...

Havasu gets early jump on Capahas (08/06/07)
There's a reason baseball was invented and traditionally played during daylight hours.Baseball in the wee hours can be brutal. The Plaza Tire Capahas learned that lesson in the early morning hours Sunday at the NBC World Series at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kan...

Capahas open NBC tournament today (08/02/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas head into this year's National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., with greater expectations than last year. But the 2006 Capahas will be a hard act to follow with three straight wins that led to a 13th-place finish in the amateur wood bat baseball tournament that traces its roots back to the 1930s...

Capahas have an opponent for Thursday (07/30/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas now have an opponent for their first game in the 61st annual National Baseball Congress World Series. The 42-team double-elimination tournament began Sunday and is scheduled to conclude Aug. 12 in Wichita, Kan. Among the winners in Monday's games were the Junction City (Kan.) Generals, who defeated the Nevada (Mo.) Griffons 6-1...

Capahas close regular season with doubleheader split (07/30/07)
Plaza Tire Capahas manager Jess Bolen was not only looking for a final tuneup before the National Baseball Congress World Series, he was also looking for a team that would test his squad. Bolen certainly found both Sunday afternoon as the Capahas had to settle for a hard-earned doubleheader split with the St. Louis Kings...

Capahas secure third straight regional title (07/16/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas' third consecutive National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional title did not come without any speed bumps. But there was no stopping the Capahas once they survived Friday's opening-round thriller in the four-team, double-elimination event...

Capahas reach NBC regional final with rout of Riverdogs (07/15/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas barely survived Friday's National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional opener, rallying past Springfield 6-5 in 10 innings. Things were not nearly as difficult for the Capahas Saturday as they cruised into the championship round...

Capahas survive regional opener in 10 innings (07/14/07)
For most of Friday night's game, it looked like the Plaza Tire Capahas would fall into the loser's bracket of the National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional. But a late comeback allowed the host Capahas to escape with a thrilling 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Springfield (Mo.) Generals...

Strong pitching, potent offense carry Plaza Tire to win No. 20 (07/09/07)
When the St. Louis Printers played in Cape Girardeau on June 9, they were outscored by the Plaza Tire Capahas 14-1 during a doubleheader. Things were not even that close Sunday as the Capahas blistered the Printers 17-3 and 8-1. Once again feasting on an overmatched pitching staff, the Capahas banged out 25 hits as they improved to 20-4...

Plaza Tire exploded for 15 runs behind 14 hits, 10 walks, four errors (07/08/07)
The Fairview Heights (Ill.) Redbirds usually field a competitive team, but they came to Cape Girardeau on Saturday lacking quality pitching. The Plaza Tire Capahas made the visitors pay. Plaza Tire jumped on Fairview Heights' depleted mound corps for two home runs, four doubles and 14 total hits...

Plaza Tire built a nine-run lead then held on for the 9-5 win (07/07/07)
Asif Shah was one of the better pitchers in the Ohio Valley Conference this year, leading Southeast Missouri State with seven wins while compiling a solid 3.22 ERA. The left-hander had not yet lived up to that resume this summer for the Plaza Tire Capahas...

Defense propels Capahas to victory (07/03/07)
The Chicago Wildcats, a late addition to the Plaza Tire Capahas' schedule, proved to be a formidable opponent. In the end it was defense -- strong on the part of the Capahas and shaky on the part of the Wildcats -- that allowed Plaza Tire to escape with a 6-3 victory Monday night at Capaha Field...

Capahas can't hold leads, fall 10-9 (06/21/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas could not hold several leads Wednesday night and suffered a 10-9 loss to the host St. Louis Golden Spikes. Plaza Tire led 5-0 in the third inning and 8-4 in the eighth inning before the Golden Spikes forged an 8-8 tie with four runs in the bottom of the eighth...

Capahas thump Riverdogs (06/20/07)
CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The Plaza Tire Capahas posted their 12th win of the season Tuesday night as they rolled past the host Charleston Riverdogs 14-1. The game, scheduled for nine innings, was stopped after seven innings because of the 10-run mercy rule...

Capahas split doubleheader as pitchers have their way (06/18/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas' pitching was more than good enough to sweep Sunday's doubleheader. But the Springfield (Ill.) Pally's had a pretty tough pitcher of their own going in the second game. That, along with one poor defensive inning by the Capahas, caused Plaza Tire to settle for a split in a pair of seven-inning, wood-bat contests at Capaha Field...

Plaza Tire piles up the wins without a full lineup (06/10/07)
Jess Bolen, in his 41st year managing the Plaza Tire Capahas, knows one reality of life regarding summer baseball. A team will invariably be without some of its key players, particularly early in the season. "It's just hard to have everybody all the time. There are always a lot of reasons why guys can't make it, especially up until late June," Bolen said. "They're not professionals and they have other things going on in their lives...

Notre Dame grad suffers the loss for Printers (06/10/07)
Cape Girardeau native Billy Roll, who spent one season with the Plaza Tire Capahas, always enjoys pitching against his hometown team. His results Saturday weren't quite as good as they had been at various times in the past, but that didn't detract from his enjoyment in taking the mound at Capaha Field...

Capahas latch on to win No. 7 (06/09/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas passed their first major test of the young season with high marks Friday. On a night that featured Plaza Tire's biggest crowd so far -- thanks partly to about 50 area cub scouts and their parents who were in attendance -- the Capahas held off the visiting Waterloo (Ill.) Buds 6-3...

Capahas improve to 6-0 with rout of Riverdogs (06/08/07)
CHARLESTON -- It didn't take long for the Plaza Tire Capahas to pretty well assure themselves of a sixth straight win to begin the season. The Capahas jumped on the host Charleston Riverdogs for eight first-inning runs and cruised to a 16-4 victory Thursday night at Hillhouse Park in a game stopped after seven innings by the 10-run rule...

Capahas complete perfect weekend (06/04/07)
After opening the season with three home victories on Friday and Saturday, the Plaza Tire Capahas capped a perfect weekend with two resounding road victories Sunday in Evansville, Ind. In a pair of seven-inning games, the Capahas first defeated the Evansville Outlaws 12-2, then pounded Columbia, Tenn. 12-0...

New talent helps Capahas to season-opening win (06/02/07)
The Plaza Tire Capahas had a successful season opener Friday night, thanks largely to three players making their Capahas debuts. But considering Phillip Riley, Omar Padilla and Zach Blemker all recently completed their college seasons, that really didn't surprise manager Jess Bolen...

Capahas manager Jess Bolen enters his 41st season with optimism (06/01/07)
Jess Bolen is not about to predict how many more years he'll add to his four-decade run as the Plaza Tire Capahas manager. But if Bolen continues to get as excited for a new season as he is right now -- and his health continues to cooperate -- don't expect his tenure to end any time soon...