SportsJune 30, 2013
Capahas build on streaks vs. Spikes
Plaza Tire won its 10th and 11th straight games against the Golden Spikes as it continued to protect its home field
~ Plaza Tire won its 10th and 11th straight games against the Golden Spikes as it continued to protect its home field
The red-hot Plaza Tire Capahas extended their impressive home winning streak against the last team to beat them at Capaha Field.
Plaza Tire suffered a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Golden Spikes on June 11, 2011.
The Capahas have not tasted defeat at home since then -- a streak of more than two years.
Saturday the Capahas captured their 40th and 41st consecutive home victories by sweeping a doubleheader from the Spikes, 4-3 and 8-2. Both games were seven innings.
"That streak is pretty unusual," Capahas manager Jess Bolen said. "You come to the park, you just feel like you're going to win."
The Capahas improved to 18-1 as they have won 11 straight overall. The Spikes, among the top squads Plaza Tire faces every year, fell to 17-7.
"They were a good team. They hit the ball up and down the lineup," the Capahas' Kody Campbell said. "We're off to a really good start and hopefully we can keep it going."
Campbell said the Capahas take pride in their home winning streak.
"It's pretty cool ... 41 in a row is 41 in a row, I don't care who you're playing," he said.
Said Skylar Cobb, a Plaza Tire rookie who continued his stellar pitching in the second game: "I actually didn't know about it [the streak] until I read it in the paper. But that's how it should be, when you have the home-field advantage. We feel like we shouldn't lose here."
The Capahas continued their season-long formula of strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting.
"We've been getting great pitching all year, and fortunately we've been able to scratch enough runs across," Campbell said.
Cobb and Steven Dooley, another Plaza Tire rookie, have been the Capahas' most dominant pitchers so far this summer.
Bolen said he would have had confidence giving any of a number of hurlers the ball Saturday but set up his rotation for Cobb and Dooley.
"I knew the Spikes had a good team. Every year they have a good hitting team," Bolen said. "I had it set up for them to pitch. They've been do dominant."
Cobb and Dooley, despite each giving up their first runs of the season, did not disappoint.
Dooley, an Oran High School graduate who recently completed a record-setting, All-American career at Division III Webster University in St. Louis, worked his third straight complete game in the tight opener.
Dooley allowed three runs and seven hits while striking out eight and walking one.
"Everything was a little more up than I would have liked it to be," said Dooley, who improved to 3-0. "I really couldn't locate my fastball. I kept leaving it up, and they kept hitting it."
Dooley's previous two starts featured nine-inning shutouts in which he struck out 16 in each outing and allowed a total of six hits. He expected those numbers to come down somewhat against the Spikes.
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
"Skip [Bolen] said this team would be better than the ones I've faced so far, so I was excited about that," Dooley said. "It wasn't one of my best starts, but it wasn't too bad. It could have been better, but the main thing is we got the win."
Dooley, after allowing a run in each of the first two innings, retired 14 of 15 hitters before running into trouble in the seventh.
The Spikes, trailing 4-2, threatened to forge a tie when the first two batters in the seventh singled, then moved up to second and third on a wild pitch.
A ground ball to shortstop Kenton Parmley drove in a run, but the Capahas took advantage of a baserunning mistake by the Spikes when Parmley threw to third to retire the potential tying run.
With two outs and a runner on first, the game ended when catcher Mark Hagedorn gunned down Corey Lofton trying to steal. Parmley made a nice pick of a short-hop throw and put down the tag.
"The first game was a dandy," Bolen said.
Plaza Tire snapped a 2-2 tie with a two-run fourth inning. Jake Pewitt drove in the go-ahead run when his two-out bunt single brought home Campbell, who led off with a single. Another run scored on an error, which proved crucial.
Both teams had seven hits. Noriyoshi Takeshita led the Capahas with two hits.
The second game, which featured a 13-minute rain delay in the opening inning, was never in doubt as the Capahas scored three first-inning runs and broke things open with a five-run fourth.
"They've got league games [today] and I think they ran out of pitching in that second game," Bolen said.
The Capahas certainly did not.
Cobb, a Scott City High School graduate who recently completed a solid junior season as a reliever for Southeast Missouri State, improved to 4-0.
Cobb allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked two.
"I was up a lot, but I battled through it and my defense made some good plays," Cobb said.
Cobb entered the contest having struck out 26 and allowing nine hits in 15 scoreless innings. But, like Dooley, he knew the competition would be stiffer Saturday.
"They're a good team," Cobb said about the Spikes.
Caleb Guilliams allowed two hits and an unearned run in the seventh inning when the Capahas committed their only error of the day.
Again the squads had the same number of hits, six.
Campbell's two-run single in the first inning -- immediately after the rain delay -- got the Capahas off to a good start. The five-run fourth inning was highlighted by a two-RBI double from Christian Cavaness and a two-RBI single by Hagedorn.
The Capahas are right back in action today with another home doubleheader against the I-70 Thunder from Flora, Ill. It will be the first meeting between the teams.
Spikes 110 000 1 -- 3 7 1
Capahas 200 200 x -- 4 7 0
WP -- Steven Dooley, 3-0. LP -- Kent Wallace. 3B -- Christian Cavaness (C). 2B -- Mike Luczak (S). Multiple hits -- Spikes: Keith Wallace 2-3. Capahas: Noriyoshi Takeshita 2-3. Records -- Spikes 17-6, Capahas 17-1.
Spikes 001 000 1 -- 2 6 3
Capahas 300 500 x -- 8 6 1
WP -- Skylar Cobb, 4-0. LP -- Jeremy Clubb. 2B -- Mike Tallis (S), Christian Cavaness (C), Kenton Parmley (C), Adam Blum (C). Multiple hits -- Spikes: Tallis 2-3, Mike Luczak 2-3. Records -- Spikes 17-7, Capahas 18-1.
Story Tags
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.
Advertisement
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
