Capahas itching to get back on the field

The Plaza Tire Capahas have not played at home in three weeks in this extremely strange season.

That hopefully will change today. The Capahas are scheduled to open a five-game weekend homestand with a 7:30 p.m. contest against the St. Louis Printers.

The Capahas also will face the Printers on Saturday in a 1 p.m. doubleheader, followed by Sunday's 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Perryville Longhorns.

"It'll be nice to be back at home again and to hopefully finally get in a few games in a row again," Capahas manager Jess Bolen said. "We haven't done that in a while."

The Capahas only have played twice since their last home date, which was June 17 against Perryville. Those contests resulted in losses last weekend during the Valmeyer (Ill.) tournament. The Capahas fell to 11-3.

"What's bad is you go up to Valmeyer having not played much and those are very good teams," Bolen said. "It's tough when you've played twice in three weeks to face those types of teams.

"It's hard to get in any kind of rhythm or to get your timing down when you're off so much."

The Capahas have had a staggering 10 games rained out, including nine straight during one recent stretch.

"I've never had a year like it," said Bolen, in his 45th season as the Capahas' manager. "It's really been a strange season."

There is about a 50 percent chance of rain today but only about a 10 percent probability Saturday and Sunday, so the Capahas should be able to get most if not all of the five games in against familiar opponents.

The Capahas rolled past the visiting Printers 9-1 on June 10.

The Capahas own two lopsided, run-rule wins over Perryville, 20-1 on the road June 7 and 10-0 at home June 17. Both contests lasted just seven innings.

But Perryville did split two games with the Capahas last season, the Longhorns' first year of existence, and the Printers have given the Capahas problems in the past.

And the Capahas won't be playing with a full deck. Normal position starters Daryl Graham, Ky Burgess and Dylan Drury are out with injuries.

"We're shorthanded, but luckily we've got plenty of pitching," Bolen said. "You can't take anybody for granted when you step on the field. That's a good way to get beat."

Bolen just hopes the Capahas can begin playing on a regular basis.

"Hopefully we can kind of get in a groove here," Bolen said.