Capahas rebound from first loss with sweep of Fairview Heights

The Plaza Tire Capahas used stellar pitching and just enough hitting to bounce back from their first defeat of the season.

Plaza Tire started a new winning streak Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader from the visiting Fairview Heights (Ill.) Redbirds 4-3 and 3-1. Both games were seven innings.

The Capahas, who lost to the St. Louis Spikes 6-2 on Saturday, improved to 9-1 as they concluded a four-game weekend homestand. The Redbirds are 8-5.

"These were two good games," Capahas manager Jess Bolen said. "They have a good ballclub."

The Capahas won the opener in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning despite having just one hit in the frame.

The Capahas' Jake Pewitt steals second base against Fairview Heights during the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday at Capaha Field. Pewitt scored the winning run on a single by Kody Campbell as the Capahas won 4-3. More photos can be viewed at semoball.com. (Fred Lynch)

Jake Pewitt led off by drawing the first walk of the game from Rob Blumberg. Pewitt stole second with one out and moved to third on a wild pitch.

Blake Slattery also walked and stole second. Kenton Parmley was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Kody Campbell foiled that strategy with a single to left-center, scoring Pewitt.

"With the winning run on third with less than two outs, I at least wanted a sacrifice fly," Campbell said. "[Blumberg] left one out over the plate and I was able to get a hit."

It made a winner of Brad LaBruyere, who improved to 3-0 as he has posted one-third of the Capahas' victories.

The Capahas' Kody Campbell drives in the winning run against Fairview Heights with a one-out single during the seventh inning in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader.

LaBruyere gave up four hits and two runs in the first inning. He allowed a run and four hits over the final six frames. He struck out eight and walked none.

"Brad has really looked good," Bolen said.

Parmley and Campbell each had two of the Capahas' eight hits. Sean Bard drove in two runs with a first-inning single.

The Capahas finished off the sweep as three pitchers combined on a one-hitter in the second game. Kenny May led off the contest by bunting for a single to account for the Redbirds' lone hit.

Jason Chavez, in his 10th season with the Capahas although he's still only 28, made his 2011 debut with four shutout innings to notch the victory. He struck out one, walked two and hit a batter.

"My arm feels good. I'm still throwing quite a bit [in the offseason]," Chavez said. "I was a little worried about my legs but I felt good."

Jayden Pobst worked scoreless fifth and sixth innings before running into trouble in the seventh as Fairview Heights threatened the Capahas' 3-0 lead.

A passed ball on a swinging third strike, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out for the top of the Redbirds' lineup.

Left-hander Jordan Underwood relieved and his first pitch to the left-handed hitting May resulted in a ground ball double play as a run scored.

Underwood retired the next batter on a ground ball to earn a save.

"With a left-hander available and them having some left-handed batters coming up it was an easy decision," Bolen said of bringing in Underwood.

The Capahas, who scored single runs in each of the first three innings, again had eight hits.

Campbell went 3 for 3 and finished the day 5 for 7. Parmley had two hits and went 4 for 6 in the doubleheader. He scored three runs. Bard added two hits. He had three hits and three RBIs on the day.

"We swung it well and our pitching was great," Campbell said.

The Capahas have a chance to avenge their only loss when they visit the St. Louis Spikes at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

(Game 1)

Redbirds 200 010 0 -- 3 8 2

Capahas 201 000 1 -- 4 8 0

WP -- Brad LaBruyere. LP -- Rob Blumberg. 3B -- Kenny May (R). 2B -- Jake Bayers (R), Brad Dunnigan (R), Kenton Parmley (C), Kody Campbell (C), Ky Burgess (C). Multiple hits -- Redbirds: Blumberg 2-3, May 2-4. Capahas: Parmley 2-3, Campbell 2-4. Records -- Redbirds 8-4, Capahas 8-1.

(Game 2)

Redbirds 000 000 1 -- 1 1 1

Capahas 111 000 x -- 3 8 2

WP -- Jason Chavez. LP -- Adam Hill. Multiple hits -- Capahas: Kody Campbell 3-3, Kenton Parmley 2-3, Sean Bard 2-3. Records -- Redbirds 8-5, Capahas 9-1.