Capahas' rally on road falls short

Plaza Tire Capahas manager Jess Bolen knew his team would face a rugged challenge Wednesday night.

Not only are the St. Louis Golden Spikes a strong squad, they used aluminum bats while the Capahas swung wood.

The combination proved too much for the Capahas to overcome as they dropped an 8-5 decision in St. Louis.

Plaza Tire, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, fell to 5-3.

"They've got a good team, and there's a difference between using aluminum and wood," Bolen said. "But that was our choice. We could have used aluminum."

The National Baseball Congress regional tournament and World Series are both wood bat affairs, and Bolen likes the Capahas to hit with wood as much as possible leading up to those important events.

"I don't like switching back and forth. We need to get used to swinging wood," Bolen said. "Five runs with wood is a pretty normal game. I'm not disappointed in the way we played."

The Capahas had just five hits, four singles and a three-run home run by Zach Borowiak. The Golden Spikes had 10 hits off three Plaza Tire pitchers.

Ryan Poole started and took the loss. He worked the first 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs, three earned.

Cameron Heath allowed four runs, three earned, and two hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Josh Parham finished up with 1 2/3 dominant innings, giving up one hit while striking out five.

"Josh really threw the ball well," Bolen said.

The Capahas grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. The Golden Spikes tied things in the fourth and went ahead for good with a four-run fifth.

A three-run seventh by the Golden Spikes opened up an 8-1 lead.

Plaza Tire made things interesting late. Borowiak's three-run homer in the eighth pulled the Capahas to within 8-4, and they added their final run in the ninth before the rally fell short.

Omar Padilla and Denver Stuckey had the other RBIs for the Capahas.

The Capahas have another road game today, against the Charleston Riverdogs at 7:30 p.m.

Following that contest, the Capahas will hold an old-timers game at 7 p.m. Saturday.

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WP -- Chris Floyd. LP -- Ryan Poole. HR -- Zach Borowiak (C), Jim Altis (GS), Eric Walls (GS). 2B -- Randy Thomas (GS). Multiple hits -- Golden Spikes: Altis 2-5, Walls 2-4. Records -- Capahas 5-3.