Capahas' season to kick off; father-son duo a first

The nation’s oldest amateur baseball team, Cape Girardeau’s Capahas, open 2021 play with a home doubleheader Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against the St. Louis Printers – with an unusual twist to their latest roster.

The Caps, which began play in 1894, are believed never to have had a father and his son as active players at the same time – until now.

Billy Roll. 41, will come out of the bullpen for Tom Bolen’s team while Roll’s son, 19-year-old Cameron, is expected to start in the outfield.

“(Billy) had one of the best arms I’ve ever seen,” said Bolen, who has managed the team since succeeding his father, Jess, in 2017.

“Roll pitched in college, has stayed active since then in helping with amateur ball (and) can still throw the ball in excess of 80 miles an hour,” Bolen said.

Cameron Roll is a freshman at St. Charles Community College.

__Returning__

Bolen said his team has lost five starters from a season ago, but nine players return: Trent Pobst of Scott City, Austin Dill of Notre Dame, Austin Bucher of Leopold, Dee Triplett of Malden, Bobby Wright of Bell City, Landon Tenkhoff of Chaffee, Tanner Hecht of Jackson, plus two others – Caleb Richards and Brennan White.

__Schedule__

The Capahas have a 24-game Mon Clair League schedule but hope to play as many as 40 games in all in 2021.

In last year’s COVID-shortened season, the Caps had a 15-game winning streak snapped by eventual champion Belleville in single elimination postseason play, finishing 17-4.

The Capahas have finished the last three campaigns with the league’s best regular season record but have stalled each time in the playoffs.

“We’re going to be young this year and we’ll make some mistakes but if we can learn from them and not repeat them, I think we’ll be proud of what we did at the end,” said Bolen, whose career managerial mark with the team is 77-35 (.688)

__COVID concerns__

“We’re not going to do a temperature check before each game as we did in 2020, but we won’t shake hands – we’ll tip our caps instead,” said Bolen, who indicated there will be plenty of hand sanitizer around the dugout.

“We’ll continue to pay attention to the guidance of the Cape Girardeau County Health Department and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to try to stay as safe and sound as we can,” he added.

__Sponsor__

Bolen said the Capahas are still looking for a base sponsor to cover league fees, equipment and the cost of uniforms and paying umpires.

“We haven’t had such a sponsor for a few seasons, but we’ve been able to foot the bill through our booster club,” adding the Capahas are the only Mon Clair League team that does not charge team members to play.

“Dad and I have taken great pride in this,” said Bolen, adding, “if you’ve got talent and want to play some baseball, it won’t cost you anything but your time.”

Those who would like to support the 2021 Capahas may send a check made out to Capahas Baseball to 1450 Donna Lynn Drive, Jackson, MO 63755.

__LaRussa controversy__

Bolen weighed in on the comments this week from former Cardinals and current Chicago White Sox manager Tony LaRussa.

LaRussa criticized one of his players, rookie Yermin Mercedes, for hitting a home run in a blowout win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday.

“(LaRussa) is a Hall of Fame manager but I think he overreacted a bit,” Bolen said, adding, “you can’t ask a paid athlete to make an out because it’s a disservice to the game.”