Capahas stage a late, late rally

Plaza Tire defeated the Oklahoma A's 7-5 in their NBC opener played in the wee hours Monday.

Southeast Missourian

WICHITA, Kan. -- Playing a game at the unusual hour of just after midnight worked out fine for the Plaza Tire Capahas.

The Capahas rallied for a 7-5 victory over the Oklahoma A's early Monday morning in the opening round of the National Baseball Congress World Series.

Plaza Tire (30-10) advances to face the Alaska League champion at the similar time of 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

The Capahas, who led 3-1 after one inning, found themselves behind 5-3 after the A's scored three runs in the top of the eighth. But the Capahas answered with four in the bottom of the eighth, getting five of their 12 hits during that frame.

Bryan Kurt led off with a single and Levi Olson drove him in with a double, although Olson was caught off second base for the first out. Tom Bolen walked, Seth Hudson bunted for a hit and Robby Moore singled home Bolen with the tying run as Hudson and Moore both advanced on the throw.

Eric Horstman's sacrifice fly to center field plated Hudson with the go-ahead run and Lance Seasor's single scored Moore to complete the rally.

Seasor went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Capahas. Kurt was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Moore went 2-for-5. Horstman added a triple, while Wade Walter and Josh Eftink both joined Olson in getting doubles.

Jason Chavez started and worked into the eighth inning before being relieved by Jamie McAlister. Chavez allowed eight hits and five runs (four earned) while striking out five and walking three.

McAlister was the winner. He allowed a single to the first batter he faced in the eighth but then retired the final six hitters of the game to nail down the victory.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, the Capahas plated three in the bottom of the frame, getting a triple from Horstman, an RBI single from Seasor, a double from Walter and a two-run single from Kurt.

The A's got one more in the second and then went ahead with their three-run eighth as the Capahas were held off the scoreboard until their answering rally in the bottom of the frame.