CAPS PUT HURT ON O.B. CLARK

With two-time defending National Baseball Congress state champion St. Louis O.B. Clark in town for a doubleheader Sunday, the Kohlfeld Capahas were expecting two tough games.

But the Capahas made O.B. Clark look more like the state Little League champs with two dominating wins at Capaha Field. The Capahas pounded 24 hits in the two games, winning the first game 7-1 and the second 11-4.

The Caps used just three pitchers and committed no errors in improving to 6-0. O.B. Clark (5-3) used eight different hurlers and committed six errors on the day, including five in the final game.

"They're not at the top of their game yet, but at the same token they've played more than we have," said Capahas manager Jess Bolen. "Any time you can play 18 innings and make no errors, you've done a pretty good job. This early in the year, it's kind of surprising that we're playing as sound fundamentally as we happen to be doing."

Kohlfeld starting pitchers David Michel (game one) and Chad Bogenpohl (game two) both shook off first inning home runs by Clark to earn their first wins of the year.

Michel (1-0) allowed a one-out home run to Terry Oetting, then shut out Clark the next eight innings for a six-hit complete game. He struck out five and walked one.

"David went out there and just pitched a tremendous first game," said Bolen. "He was down in the strike zone and changing speeds well. After the first inning they didn't touch him."

Bogenpohl (1-0) gave up a two-out homer to Reed Hartman and another run in the second but settled down until being relieved in the seventh inning. Bogenpohl struck out the side in the fifth inning for his only three strikeouts.

"Right now, the kids we have are throwing strikes," Bolen said. "With our defense, we can win. We've got a pretty good infield defense."

And the Capaha bats are smoking too. Third baseman Ryan Murphy was all the offense the Capahas needed in the first game, going 4-for-4 with five RBIs. Murphy blasted a three-run homer to the scoreboard in the sixth inning that staked the Caps to a 5-1 lead.

In the seventh, Murphy ripped a two-run double to the fence in left-center. Five other players had the Caps' five other hits.

Murphy reached safely his first two at-bats in the second game, knocking a single and double, before being retired his final three times up. Kohlfeld pounded 15 hits -- eight for extra bases -- in the nightcap

Capahas' leadoff batter Lance Craft picked up where Murphy left off, going 4-for-5 with two singles, a double and a triple. Craft scored three runs in the game and had two triples on the day.

With the score tied 2-2, the Capahas pounded five hits, including four doubles, in the third inning to take a 6-2 lead. Cory Crosnoe opened the inning with a double. With one out, Steve Kress, Murphy and Darin Kinsolving hit consecutive doubles to open up the game.

Craft ended the scoring in the inning with an RBI-single to score Kinsolving. Kress went 3-for-5 in the second game. Crosnoe and Kinsolving both added two hits.

A run in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth made the score 10-2 and put the Capahas in position to end the game early via the 10-run rule.

But O.B. Clark scored once in both the seventh and eight innings, and allowed only one more Capaha run in the seventh to go the full nine innings.

The Caps' final run came after Craft started the seventh with a triple to the gap in left-center. Darrick Smith scored Craft with a single to make the score 11-3.

CAPAHA NOTES: Richie Phillips, the Capahas' leading winner in recent history with 48 career victories and record-holder for most wins in a season (12), will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder today. Bolen said he could be back on the mound in about three weeks.