Capahas win opener, drop regular-season finale to Charleston

The Plaza Tire Capahas finished the regular-season the same way it started -- by splitting a doubleheader with the Charleston Riverdogs.

The Capahas won Game 1 5-2 before losing their regular-season finale 6-1 on Sunday at Capaha Field.

"I thought the Riverdogs played good baseball the whole day," Capahas manager Jess Bolen said. "They played a good game the first game, they just happened to lose the game, but I thought they played well. And they played better than we did the second game."

Plaza Tire, which finished its season 16-7, erased Charleston's 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning of Game 2.

Center fielder Drew Morecraft reached when the throw from shortstop Dylan Koehler pulled the first baseman off the bag. Left fielder Ramsey Scott and catcher Brandon Bennett drew walks to load the bases with one out and a groundout to second scored Morecraft to tie it.

The Riverdogs responded with four runs in the third inning to regain the lead for good.

Pitcher Andrew Williams, who relieved starter Grant Gray just one batter into the game after he left with discomfort in his throwing arm, hit Charleston catcher Greg Craft with a pitch and center fielder Seth Childers reached on a fielding error by second baseman Cody Heisserer. Third baseman Spencer Sander hit a high chopper that jumped over Williams and beat out the throw to first from second. A groundout scored the go-ahead run.

A walk and a two-run single by Jacob Wilson to left made it 4-1, and a single and an error put the Riverdogs up four. They scored once more in the sixth inning.

"We had that one inning where we made a few errors, and it seemed like we made 10," Bolen said. "Couldn't field the ball in the infield and everything, but that happens to everybody."

The Capahas' Alex Heuring watches his home run against the Riverdogs during the sixth inning of the first game Sunday at Capaha Field. (Fred Lynch)

The Caps collected two hits in the first inning but were held without another hit until the fifth. They had two more in the sixth and seventh but were unable to push a run across.

Riverdogs pitcher Connor Scott picked up the complete-game win. He had three strikeouts and walked three.

"Their pitcher, he was coming at us," Capahas outfielder Alex Heuring said. "And we kind of came up with the wrong approach. You know, we popped up a lot of balls the second game and I guess we just came [to the plate] a little too relaxed. We didn't have that sense of urgency, but that happens with baseball."

Williams took the loss for the Capahas in 5 2/3 innings of work. He had two strikeouts and walked three and hit one batter.

"Second game was already set up to be Andrew and Grant," Bolen said. "Grant was going to start, give me three and then four by Andrew. Well, when Grant goes down there that throws you another curveball. Andrew comes in and didn't get a fair shake. I mean, Andrew pitched better than that. You can't blame the pitcher when guys are kicking the ball around."

Heisserer pitched a scoreless seventh, walking two and striking out three.

Heuring's homer, throw highlight Game 1 win

Heuring had struck out in each of his first two plate appearances in Game 1 of the doubleheader.

His defense then allowed the Capahas to maintain a one-run lead in the fifth and he followed that up with a two-run home run in the sixth to help Plaza Tire to a 5-2 victory.

The Capahas held a 3-1 entering the top of the fifth when Riverdogs' right fielder Ian Householder drew a one-out walk and reached third on a Cord Sheehy double.

A hit by third baseman Spencer Sander dropped in front of Heuring to score Householder, but Heuring's throw to catcher Chase Simmons was on target and he tagged out Sheehy sliding home to end the inning and keep the Riverdogs at bay.

"I got a pretty good read on it. I saw that it was going to be in and gave me a perfect hop," Heuring said. "It bounced right up to me, got it in stride and put a dang near perfect throw on it. I was fortunate to be a part of it. That was a good play."

Right fielder Drew Morecraft reached to lead off the bottom of the sixth before Heuring blasted a homer over the left-field wall to extend the Capahas lead to 5-2.

"The first two at-bats I'd kind of caught myself just up there with an urgent feeling," Heuring said. "Third at-bat I came up and just kept telling myself to relax, just let the ball travel and put a good swing on it. It worked for me."

The Riverdogs had taken a 1-0 lead in the third after a lead-off walk came around to score on a single and throwing error by shortstop Laban Petzoldt.

A three-run fourth gave the Capahas a lead they'd never relinquish.

First baseman Sean Bard doubled to left to start the inning and scored when designated hitter Ramsey Scott, who went 3 for 3 in the game, doubled to left center to tie it 1-1.

Third baseman Bennett drove home a run with a single that scored Scott and right fielder Drew Morecraft, who'd drawn a walk, to give the Caps a two-run lead.

Caps starter Lance Young picked up the win on the mound. He pitched six innings and allowed just two runs on five hits. He had a pair of strikeouts and walked a pair.

Kenton Parmley, who suffered a hamstring injury in a game last weekend, pitched the seventh, allowing no runs on one hit.

Charleston's Alex Beussink took the loss for the Riverdogs. He pitched six innings and allowed five runs on 10 hits, striking out three and walking two.

The Capahas will open play in the National Baseball Congress World Series on Friday in Wichita, Kansas.

Riverdogs 001 010 0 -- 2 8 1

Capahas 000 302 x -- 5 10 1

WP -- Lance Young. LP -- Alex Beussink. HR -- Alex Heuring. 2B -- Cord Sheehy (Char), Alex Heisserer (C), Sean Bard (C), Ramsey Scott (C), Drew Morecraft (C). Multiple hits -- Riverdogs: Spencer Sander 3-3. Capahas: Heisserer 2-4, Bard 2-3, Scott 3-3.

Riverdogs 014 001 0 -- 6 7 1

Capahas 010 000 0 -- 1 7 3

WP -- Connor Scott. LP -- Andrew Williams. 2B -- Greg Craft (Char), Drew Morecraft (C). Multiple hits -- Riverdogs: Tyler Anderson 2-3, Patrick Shuff 2-4. Capahas: Blake Slattery 2-3.