CAPAHAS WIN AGAIN IN TOURNEY

WICHITA, Kan. -- The Kohlfeld Capahas remained hot at the plate Sunday -- and in the process remained in contention for the National Baseball Congress World Series title.

Kohlfeld, after losing its opening tournament game last weekend, made it three straight victories in the double-elimination event by holding off the Tacoma (Wash.) Timbers 11-10 Sunday afternoon.

The Capahas, now 33-6 overall on the season, can finish no worse than seventh in the 32-team tournament. They'll be in action again today when they take on the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters at 4:30 p.m. in a fifth-round game.

"When you're averaging 16 hits a game, you have to feel like you can play with anybody," said Capahas manager Jess Bolen in summing up his team's chances the remainder of the way.

The Capahas had 16 more hits Sunday, giving them 62 in their four tournament games. Cory Crosnoe and Ryan Murphy each had three hits while Tom Breuer, Jeremy Johnson and Shawn Pemberton added two apiece. Murphy and Johnson both drove in two runs.

Crosnoe is now batting .520 for the tournament while Breuer and Johnson are both at .500 and Murphy is hitting .478.

Eric Moore, pitching his first game for the Capahas after playing for Paducah (Ky.) during the regular season, was the winner even though he allowed 16 hits and 10 runs (six earned) in 7 1/3 innings.

Kevin Vent came on to earn his second save of the tournament with 1 2/3 innings of exceptional relief. He struck out three and allowed just one hit.

"Vent came in and did an unbelievable job," said Bolen. "He got two big outs in eighth and then finished it out in the ninth."

The Capahas led most of the way but they never could shake a talented Tacoma team that finished second in last year's NBC World Series.

Kohlfeld held an 11-7 lead before the Timbers scored three runs in the eighth. That's when Vent came on to close the door.

Tacoma actually had one more hit than the Capahas, getting 17. Mark Lopez led the way with four, including the game's only home run.

"It was just a great ballgame," Bolen said. "This team was loaded. But it just shows you the kind of talent we've got in our area."