Thrillville strikes back, downs Cape in Wednesday intra-division shootout

Thrillbillys third baseman Bryson Arnette tags out Catfish shortstop Lane Crowden on Wednesday, June 12, at Capaha Field.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

With the second of three consecutive home games, the Cape Catfish welcomed the Thrillville Thrillbillies to town but once again squandered an early lead to lose 7-6.

Extending the season-opening slump, which coach Phil Butler claims to be uncharacteristic of this team, the offense lit a fire tonight in a shootout but couldn’t get past the streaking Thrillville.

Whether you check it down to the pitching struggles or a couple late misses on the basepaths, the Catfish missed a huge opportunity to take a game off the dominant Thrillbillies at home.

Part of a three-game homestand welcoming in some of the top teams in the Prospect League, it’s now back-to-back games that the Catfish lose because of some late pitching miscues.

Averaging six-and-a-half runs per game allowed in the two-game stretch, it’s been a struggle to get in a winning position over the home stretch, but that hasn’t kept the Catfish from trying.

Moving into a Thursday battle with Dansville, it’s the last chance to get a win on the homestand as the record continues to slip, now at a piddling 4-9 on the year.

Yet another loss, yet again some similar storylines to follow as another one slipped away from the Fish in front of a packed home crowd.

Thrillville Catches Fire

With Cape leading 2-1 in the fourth, Thrillville put two runners on before the first out and scratched the tying run across on a groundout before scoring the go-ahead run and padding another on with late hits.

A continued struggle for starter Raymond Ochoa to make it out of the early innings, the Central Methodist University starter again let the visitors get hot in the fourth.

He’s shown he has some great stuff this season, but he’s struggled to make it very deep into games before the opponent gets a handle of it.

With just three hits before the fourth, the Thrillbillies touched up Ochoa for another two in the fourth before forcing a change to Dylan Peck.

Peck, in his first outing of the year, quickly surrendered a third hit of the inning to add another earned run to Ochoa’s resume, now with a 9.81 ERA on the year.

After ending the fourth, Peck came back for the fifth and had a so-so start to the inning before Thrillville’s Jackson Lindsey cranked a no-doubt two-run bomb to the Mercy Southeast Home Run Deck to make it 6-2.

Rallying for five quick runs in two frames, the South Division-leading Thrillbillies escaped an early back-and-forth with the Fish with some fireworks, and it changed the atmosphere in a hurry.

Catfish outfielder Corbin Malott makes contact with a pitch against the Thrillbillies on Wednesday, June 12, at Capaha Field.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Rally Runs Cold

Going into the final few innings, Cape actually started to get some offensive momentum, largely thanks to a huge play off the bat of Bryce Cannon in the fifth.

Down in that four-run hole in the fifth, the Southeast Missouri State Redhawk Cannon got a tremendous two-run homer to cut that deficit to two on one swing.

Smoking one off J. Henry Hobson to chase the starter from the game, the Catfish started stringing together some hits that put some hefty pressure on Thrillville in the midgame.

After a slow start to the season following an appearance in the Fayetteville Regional earlier this month, Cannon’s blast made a lasting impression in a big hole early.

In the eighth, down three runs with just a few outs to spare, Easton Moore came around on a late passed ball, and Corbin Mallot followed on another passed ball right behind him.

A one-run game with Lane Crowden standing on third, Bryce Kemper’s groundout to short marked the end of an eighth-inning rally that could have turned this one upside down.

With a disappointing flare-out finish in the ninth, Cape ended what could have been a miraculous come-from-behind effort in a better-but-not-enough offensive performance.

Still with some work to do, it reflects on the comments of Butler a day prior: Working to collect consistency in all facets of the game, including prioritizing the scoring of runners in great positions.

But, at the very least, it’s some progress, especially against the top team in the South Division.

Dansville Finale

Next up on the docket for the Catfish, the finale of the homestand quickly approaches, and it doesn’t get any easier.

The Eastern Conference Central Division-leading Danville Dans come into town Thursday, with an 8-4 record after a Wednesday night loss at Terre Haute.

The Dans played the REX to a 3-2 loss on Wednesday, a day after the Catfish dropped a 6-3 contest to the same REX in Cape Girardeau.

Now, against a second consecutive division-leading opponent, the Catfish have yet another opportunity to correct this losing skid at home with a win against a phenomenal opponent.

Typically, the home-field advantage for the Catfish has played a fair role in deciding ballgames, with a notable improvement in last year’s record when at home versus away.

But this year, Cape has stooped to an unimpressive 3-5 record when at Capaha Field, certainly far away from where it’d like to be at this point in the season.

Still with much to learn, and the return of Brooks Kettering on the very near horizon, there’s hope yet for a big bounce on Thursday night against a fiery Danville squad.