2006 champion Santa Barbara, Calif., pushes Plaza Tire into the losers bracket

WICHITA, Kan. -- Not much went right for the Plaza Tire Capahas on Friday against one of the nation's premier amateur baseball teams.

The result was a 12-5 loss to the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters in the winners bracket round of 16 at the National Baseball Congress World Series.

Santa Barbara (35-16) improved to 2-0 in the tournament and advanced to Sunday's winners bracket quarterfinals.

The Foresters, whose roster is primarily made up of players from major Division I universities, won the 2006 NBC World Series and finished fourth last year, when they eliminated the Capahas with an 11-1 romp.

"They've got a good ballclub, a national type ballclub," Plaza Tire manager Jess Bolen said. "They're one of the best teams out here. They are every year."

Plaza Tire (28-6) fell to 1-1 in the tournament and dropped into the losers bracket of the 42-team event.

The Capahas will play the Park City (Kan.) Rangers in an elimination game at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

Plaza Tire primarily struggled on the mound. Capahas pitchers walked nine and also hit a batter.

Phillip Riley, considered the Capahas' co-ace along with Anthony Maupin, walked six and did not make it out of the second inning. Four of the six batters Riley walked scored.

"We just couldn't get anybody on the mound to get people out," Bolen said.

The Capahas also committed three errors, which led to a pair of unearned runs.

Offensively, the Capahas had nine hits and received eight walks, but they grounded into five double plays. Plaza Tire placed runners on base in all nine innings.

"Every time we got something going, there would be a ground ball double play," Bolen said. "But you have to give their pitchers credit."

Riley entered the contest with a 0.89 ERA and had won seven of his eight decisions.

But Riley (7-2) struggled from the start Friday. He issued three straight two-out walks in the bottom of the first inning and allowed two runs.

After Riley walked three more batters in the second inning -- the third free pass forced in a run with two outs to make it 4-1 -- he was replaced by Ivan Nails.

Nails allowed a three-run double to the first batter he faced. All the runs were charged to Riley, who was tagged for seven runs despite giving up only three hits.

"Phillip's control and command are usually a lot better than that," Bolen said. "Today you could tell early he just couldn't find the plate."

Santa Barbara led 7-1 after two innings. The Capahas threatened to make it a game with three in the third, but the Foresters came right back with three in the bottom of the frame to go ahead 10-4.

The Capahas then were blanked until the ninth.

"When a team gives up seven or eight runs early like that, it really makes it difficult with wood bats," Bolen said.

Nails was charged with four runs (three earned) on five hits in two innings. He walked two.

Young, reliable arm

The most effective pitcher for the Capahas was Cape Girardeau native Brad LaBruyere, the youngest player on the roster.

LaBruyere, who has had a strong rookie season, worked 3 1/3 innings, allowed just two hits and an unearned run. He walked only one.

During Monday's 10-6 first-round win over El Dorado, Kan., LaBruyere retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning to earn a save.

"Brad had done a really good job out here," Bolen said.

Michael Mulholland, one of Plaza Tire's three roster additions for the tournament, worked a perfect eighth inning.

Omar Padilla, Jerry Hodges and Chris Gibson all had two hits for Plaza Tire. Gibson, another roster addition for the tournament, drove in a pair of runs.

Santa Barbara finished with 10 hits, just one more than the Capahas.

Kevin Keyes, who plays for the University of Texas, had three hits and five RBIs to lead the Foresters.

Despite the loss, Bolen believes the Capahas can make a strong tournament push. They also were defeated in their second game last year, then won three straight before losing again to finish seventh.

"We were in this same situation last year, and then played some good baseball," Bolen said.

Now that they're in the losers bracket, the Capahas will play every day until they suffer another defeat.

Maupin (9-0), the winning pitcher in Monday's first-round victory, likely will start Sunday's early morning game.

Sunday's opponent, Park City, Kan., dropped its tournament opener 4-3 in 10 innings to Gunnison, Colo., but has posted two lopsided victories in the losers bracket, 10-3 over El Dorado, Kan., and 11-2 over San Diego, Calif.

If the Capahas win Sunday morning, a matchup later in the day with defending World Series champion Havasu (Ariz.) Heat would be a strong possibility.

Havasu was the top seed for this year's tournament, carrying a 46-1 record into the event, but was upset in the first round.

The Heat blasted Plaza Tire 15-1 in the second round of last year's tournament on their way to the title.