WICHITA, Kan. -- With the National Baseball Congress World Series going to a wood bat format this year, McDowell Capahas manager Jess Bolen figured runs would be extremely hard to come by.
But that theory was shot down quickly -- at least for one game -- as the Capahas opened the tournament Saturday against the Wichita Twins.
Darin Kinsolving belted a pair of two-run home runs and Shane Allen had a tie-breaking three-run shot as the Capahas posted a 9-8 victory, marking their first NBC World Series triumph since the 1997 season. McDowell had gone 0-2 in each of the last two national tourneys.
The Capahas, who improved their record to 32-8, now move into the second round of the winner's bracket, where they will face Denver, Colo., at 5 p.m. Monday.
"There were four home runs and 20 hits in the game," said Bolen. "You wouldn't expect it with wood bats, but both teams hit the ball well. Our guys are swinging the bats much, much better than they had been."
McDowell led 6-1 after five inning, but the Twins (36-12) tied it with one run in the seventh and four in the eighth.
The Capahas went ahead for good in the bottom of the eighth. Ross Bennett walked, was sacrificed to second by Kevin Meyer and was still there with two outs. Kinsolving was intentionally walked and Allen drilled a three-run homer to put the Capahas ahead 9-6.
Wichita rallied with two runs in the ninth and had the bases loaded with two outs. Lanson Debrock, the Capahas' six pitcher of the game, came on with a 2-0 count on a batter but battled back to get the out and earn a save.
"Lanson came up big for us in that situation," Bolen said.
Jeffrey Hilz started on the mound but felt some tightness in his back and came out in the second inning after allowing one run in the first.
Chad Bogenpohl replaced Hilz and pitched scoreless baseball until the seventh. He came out in the eighth after allowing a three-run homer that tied the contest.
Brent Self, who received credit for the victory, finished up the eighth and got two outs in the ninth before being removed as the Twins were rallying. Matt Palmer and Billy Huston also hurled in the ninth but did not retire any batters before giving way to Debrock.
Kinsolving, Bennett and Nathan Taylor all had two of the Capahas' nine hits. Kinsolving, in addition to driving in four runs, scored three times.
"It was a good ballgame," said Bolen. "We had a lot of big performances. Bogenpohl really pitched well after having to come into the game early and Kinsolving and Allen both had really big hits."
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