Capahas encounter first loss

~ Plaza Tire lost 7-4 to visiting Valmeyer.

The Plaza Tire Capahas suffered their first loss of the season Friday night.

But the host Capahas had their chances.

Plaza Tire stranded 13 runners, including the bases loaded in both the eighth and ninth innings.

That failure to capitalize led to a 7-4 victory for the Valmeyer (Ill.) Lakers, who improved to 5-2 while dropping the Capahas to 1-1. The teams meet in a 1 p.m. contest today at Capaha Field.

"We had a lot of chances to win," Plaza Tire manager Jess Bolen said. "We just didn't get the big hit."

Both squads had 10 hits, even though Valmeyer used aluminum bats the entire game while the Capahas swung wood for the first seven innings before switching to aluminum for the final two frames.

"We're going to use aluminum [today]," Bolen said. "It's just too much of an advantage when one team uses aluminum and the other uses wood."

Not that Bolen was complaining.

"Valmeyer has a good ballclub and it was a very good game," he said. "For this early in the season, we didn't play a bad game at all."

In addition to the Capahas' 10 hits, they received eight walks from three Valmeyer pitchers.

"We just came up short," Plaza Tire's Jamie McAllister said.

Bolen thought the Capahas' pitching was solid enough. Four Plaza Tire hurlers combined to strike out 13 batters.

"Our pitching wasn't bad," Bolen said. "We didn't lose it on the mound."

Todd Strahlendorf was tagged with the loss. He allowed seven runs, six earned, and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

Southeast's final two hurlers were the most impressive as Matt Carter and Josh Parham each worked a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Daniel Bennett was the winner, allowing two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief. He worked around six walks. Dave Briesacher recorded the final two outs to earn a save.

It was a precarious save. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, John Amschler sent a line drive to left-center that looked like it might score all three runners.

But Valmeyer center fielder Chris Rohlfing made a sliding catch to end the game.

"If he doesn't make that catch, I think the game is tied," Bolen said. "He made a heck of a catch on it."

Sean Bard went 3-for-4 to lead Plaza Tire's offense. Josh Eftink added two hits.

Jeremiah Bergheger was Valmeyer's offensive star. He went 4-for-5, including a home run to lead off the contest. He also doubled and drove in two runs.

The Lakers snapped a 4-4 tie with a three-run seventh inning that featured an RBI double by Bergheger and RBI singles by Rohlfing and Brett Lancaster.

Plaza Tire was blanked over the final four innings despite having plenty of prime scoring opportunities.

Valmeyer 100 300 300 -- 7 10 3

Capahas 101 020 000 -- 4 10 1

WP -- Daniel Bennett. S -- Dave Briesacher. LP -- Todd Strahlendorf. HR -- Jeremiah Bergheger (V). 2B -- Bergheger (V), Matt Stuckmeyer (V). Multiple hits -- Valmeyer, Bergheger 4-5, Brett Lancaster 2-4; Capahas, Sean Bard 3-4, Josh Eftink 2-4. Records -- Valmeyer 5-2, Capahas 1-1.