Menu
Stout second-half start sees Cape blow by Dubois County, begin new year perfect
Led by a phenomenal day on the mound for Jorge Romero, the Catfish kicked off the second half of the 2024 Prospect League season with a resounding 7-2 victory over the Dubois County Bombers on the road.
For Romero, his seven innings without surrendering a run worked to give the Catfish the winning edge early, and two solid innings from Korey Bunselmeyer closed it off down the stretch to keep Cape undefeated in the new stretch.
After finishing the first half of the season at 14-15, ending the half on a 10-6 run to finish just a game under the .500 mark, Cape took that momentum into its Tuesday matchup with the Bombers.
All but two Catfish batters finished with a hit in the victory, moving the offense up and down the lineup for a hefty road victory.
Pitching Game Successes
A rare occasion for the Catfish this year, Romero logged a quality start as he went an astounding seven innings to start the game for Cape in the Hoosier State.
Surrendering three hits, a walk and two hit batters, Romero gave up less bases than he logged innings pitched as the Cape starting game lived up to the hype.
Romero struck out five in the victory, working out of a couple of tight jams in the game to keep it scoreless as the Catfish jumped out to the early lead with a handful of one-run frames.
Something of the Achilles’ heel of the Cape team this year, Romero’s quality start is a huge step in the right direction for a Catfish rotation that has certainly had its less-than-desirable moments this season.
Beginning the second half on a high note, it’s signs of life for a Cape team that ended the first half on a streak but well out of the divisional race.
In a loaded South Division, headed by a magnificent effort from Thrillville to claim the first-half rights, it’s tough sledding to grab the divisional crown in this league.
But with more efforts like Romero’s, it’s far from an impossible task for the new-look fish.
Offensive Excellence
It hasn’t been a hard task for this Cape squad to put numbers on the board this season, but it’s rare air for the Catfish to do it quite like they did on Tuesday.
Driving seven runs across in the victory, the Catfish hung five ones and a two as they scored in six of the game’s nine innings, consistently getting guys on and batting around to add on to the lead.
That consistency is something that some teams in this league would kill for, and it’s undeniably the driving force behind this Cape run of late to emerge as one of the division’s best suitors.
JJ Williams, Cordell Coburn, Alex Kowalski and Steven Schneider each notched two hits to lead the Cape offense at Dubois County, while Owen Mandler’s two RBIs led the team with a two-RBI eight-inning homer.
Jackson Three
Just as they did at the start of the season, Cape is now preparing for three consecutive games against the nearby division-rival Jackson Rockabillys, stretching from Wednesday to Friday.
Coming back home for a Wednesday night, 6:35 p.m. matchup with Jackson in the second game of the brand new second-half season, it poses some big implications for both squads in the new year.
As it stands, the Catfish are 2-3 this year when facing Jackson, with the home team having won each matchup this year as both sides continue to make the back-and-forth between Cape and Jackson.
For this three-game set, the sides will open up in Cape on Wednesday for a midweek clash before playing two games on Thursday and Friday at Jackson.
For the second, third and fourth games of the season, it’ll be some intense rivalry matchups as both sides could make a big statement in the early goings of the second half.
For the Catfish, they’ll look to keep their new undefeated season alive.