Golden Spikes coach takes mound, befuddles Capahas

Plaza Tire sustained a 5-3 loss at home to the St. Louis team

By SCOTT ROSCOVIUS

Special to the Southeast Missourian

Back-to-back doubles by Kenton Parmley and Sean Bard in the bottom of the first inning Saturday afternoon had the Plaza Tire Capahas faithful believing another easy victory was in store.

Not so fast.

The Capahas’ Brandon Bennett doubles during Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Golden Spikes at Capaha Field. (WAYNE MCPHERSON ~ Special to Southeast Missourian)

Bard's hit was the last the Capahas would get until the eighth inning. By then, the St. Louis Golden Spikes had built a 5-1 lead, and hung on for a 5-3 victory at Capaha Field.

"Two hard-hit balls to the wall, you think we're going to put up about six or seven runs in this game," said Capahas manager Jess Bolen after his squad fell to 11-3 on the season. "But man, that was it."

Blame Keith Wallace, the bearded 34-year-old manager of the Spikes (21-4) who found it difficult even fielding a team to face the Capahas in what was supposed to be a doubleheader. Work schedules and prior commitments forced Williams to convince Bolen to play just a single nine-inning game.

Williams even took the mound himself for the first time this season, not knowing he would wind up the hero of the game. He pitched all nine innings, allowing just three runs on five hits while confounding the Capahas batters with his assortment of medium-speed fastballs and slow curves.

"I'm going to go out and do my job, that's what I'm here to do," said Williams, who took over leadership of the Spikes following the untimely death of former field boss and team founder Jay Davis in 2012. "I pitched against [the Capahas] four years ago and had a decent outing against them for six innings ... actually no-hit them for six innings. It was kind of funny. But to do it again ... I couldn't say I was going to do it. My goal was to come out and throw strikes."

Capahas catcher Chase Simmons returns from a visit to the mound during Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Golden Spikes at Capaha Field. The Golden Spikes won 5-3. (WAYNE MCPHERSON ~ Special to Southeast Missourian)

Which he did.

After allowing a run on two hits in the first inning, Williams silenced the Capahas bats, not yielding another hit until the eighth, when the Capahas squandered a leadoff single from Cody Heisserer. By then, the Spikes had fashioned a 5-1 lead.

Trailing 1-0 entering the top of the sixth, Williams led off with a bunt single. Two outs later, Mike Luczak was hit by a pitch from Capahas starter Travis Hayes. Brian Benson plated both with a triple over the head of Capahas right fielder Brandon Bennett, and George Carnahan followed with a single to left that scored Benson and put the Spikes up 3-1.

Defensive lapses by the Capahas led to two more Spikes runs in the top of the eighth. Luczak reached on an infield error and went to third on Benson's single to center. With the infield in, Carnahan hit a chopper that Bard, the Capahas' first baseman, speared with a leap, but he threw wildly to first base and Luczak scored. Benson, who took third on the play, scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.

The Capahas scored twice in the bottom of the ninth on Bennett's two-run double to the left-field corner, but it wasn't enough.

"You've got to tip your hat to a guy like that," Bolen said about Williams. "He knew that he was the only shot they had to win that game. I don't think he had any backup or anything else. He went out there and did a job. My hat's off to him. They're a good bunch of guys."

Williams estimated he threw more than 140 pitches, but the Capahas batters simply couldn't figure him out. The only Capahas baserunners for six innings, between the second and seventh frames, came via three walks. Williams coaxed 14 flyouts in the game, and at one point set down 10 consecutive batters.

"It's not really an excuse to say he's throwing slow," said Plaza Tire catcher Chase Simmons, who was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts against Williams. "You get four at-bats. Maybe your first or second one, but by the third or fourth you've got to make the adjustment. Today we got five hits, and we didn't really make the adjustment."

Hayes took the loss, allowing three runs -- all earned -- on six hits over seven innings, walking two and striking out 12. Riley Calbird finished the game in relief.

No Capahas batter had more than one base hit.

"Our focus wasn't really right, I don't think," said Capahas designated hitter Alex Heuring, who was 0 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base. "We've been seeing a lot of [slower pitchers], but we haven't really been hitting it that well. I think it's all with our approach. Going up there, trying to hit one out every time because he's slower, but you can't. You've got to stick to the basics, just try to string hits together."

Bennett was one of the few batters able to finally solve Williams. He was 0 for 2 with a pair of infield groundouts before his two-run double in the ninth.

"He's slower than most people we've seen," Bennett said. "A guy that slow is hard to adjust to, a junkball pitcher. We really haven't hit junkball pitchers all that well this year. We've got to adjust."

Golden Spikes 000 003 020 -- 5 7 0

Capahas 100 000 002 -- 3 5 2

WP -- Keith Williams. LP -- Travis Hayes. 2B -- Kenton Parmley (C), Sean Bard (C), Brandon Bennett (C). 3B -- Brian Benson (S). Multiple hits -- Spikes: Benson 2-4, George Carnahan 2-4. Records: Spikes 21-4, Capahas 11-3.