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Catfish kindle new streak, rally to down Dans in homestand finale thriller
Friday, June 14, 2024
Cape Catfish second baseman Brooks Kettering homers against the Danville Dans on Thursday, June 13, at Capaha Field.
Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com
Behind some late hitting and even better situational pitching, the Cape Catfish ended a losing skid at home with a 7-5 win over the Danville Dans on Thursday night.
The final game in a three-game set at Capaha Field, Cape’s two losses were put in the rear-view mirror as the Catfish took a late two-run deficit and turned it on its head.
Receiving some help from Brooks Kettering in his first game as a Catfish, the offense turned up the heat in the final three innings as a couple of triples and some key singles kept the line moving.
Spending the first two games blowing early leads against some great teams, Cape killed the trend on Thursday with a late come-from-behind winner with seven runs, four scored in between the seventh and eighth.
The team’s seven runs is the second-most scored at home all year only to an 8-4 win over Jackson back on June 2.
Moving back into the win column for the first time since Sunday, it’s a return to form for the Catfish that coach Phil Butler speaks so highly of.
With the promises of the squad being in contention for the Prospect League title, the Catfish looked the part on Thursday as they clutched up for a big win on home turf.
“It's not good for my blood pressure, I’ll say that” Butler joked. “These guys have been on the verge all year of busting out and taking care of business.
“We just so happened to be on the right side of it tonight.”
Spectacular Debut
The long-awaited entrance of Kettering to the Catfish made for the biggest hometown headline of the night, with the freshman dominating the Dans.
A triple away from the cycle, Kettering got a phenomenal start to his Prospect League career with a single, two doubles and homer in his first game in green and gold.
With the Fish in a tight spot early, the Southeast Missouri State standout tattooed a ball to the Mercy Southeast Home Run Deck in right field for a solo shot to pull Cape back within one.
Adding a walk to his daily total, four hits and a base on balls is a heck of a way to start your season in any league, especially so when Cape’s been looking for some offensive heroes.
Speaking of offensive heroes, Alex Kowalski had a tremendous triple in the seventh inning that took Cape from down a pair to in front when he scored on a passed ball soon after.
Adding an insurance run off a Kettering double in the eighth, Cape bolstered its lead to two to take some pressure off going into the final frame.
Capitalizing on some huge extra-base hits, Cape looked at home offensively in the win, finally getting some situational pitching to match the offense’s efforts down the stretch.
Pitching In Spots
After a so-so start from Blake Kincaid, allowing three earned runs in three innings, he gave the ball to the Glendale graduate Drew Wedgeworth, and he went to work.
Throwing three innings of one-run ball, surrendering a solo homer to Colton Coates of Danville but otherwise pitching a strong three, he got the Catfish out of an early jam and into a late-game fight.
With Wedgeworth’s phenomenal performance in long relief, he gave way to a handful of later relievers, including a big final out in the seventh from Cameron Marchi.
After taking the lead in the seventh, Walker Brodt trotted out for the eighth and got three outs without surrendering a base in the clutch.
Brodt did so well, in fact, that he got the nod to continue that effort into the ninth, and despite some pressure from the Dans, he got the job done.
Some relievers are good for one inning, but Brodt can comfortably fit into the long relief role, and he came up in a huge spot for the Catfish when they needed him most.
“He's good for two innings, no problem,” Butler said. “There was no question he was going back out for the ninth, and that leaves us with our other closer, Arlon Butts, available for tomorrow for the same type of situation.
“That's kind of the thinking behind the scenes of why we did that.”
Holding on for the 7-5 winner, the Catfish allowed just two runs in the game’s final six innings, holding on for a victory in the clutch to exorcise some recent demons.
Upcoming Road Trip
It’s not often that a road trip is just one game, but in the expansive Prospect League, a trip to Terre Haute, Indiana is a mighty one.
Facing off against REX Baseball, already down 0-2 in the season series, the Catfish have a tough task ahead as a Friday night clash provides an opportunity to extend that winning streak.
Losing in tight ballgames twice, the Catfish have already shown multiple times that they have the weapons to compete with the REX, but it’s the getting-it-done part that stands in the way.
Second to Danville in a tough Central Division, Terre Haute has shown to be incredibly gritty so far this season, and the road trip won’t help Cape at all in that matchup.
Nearly an eight-hour road trip bus ride for the Catfish, all in one day, it’ll be a tough ask to get a win on the road, but it’s certainly not impossible for Butler’s boys.
Now 5-9 on the year, if they want to get anywhere, it’ll be the hard games that Cape will have to win in an unforgiving South Division, still sitting at the very bottom.
More importantly, it’s essential to find out how to manage those long trips without letting it wear on your players, and Butler understands that challenge.
“That's a normal trip for these guys, traveling for a midweek game in college,” Butler said. “The turnaround for the next day is going to be the issue. That will really be the telltale sign of how those guys bounce back.
“You gotta give those guys their time.”