Rain stops, reign continues

The Plaza Tire Capahas survived spotty weather and the much-improved Pine Bluff (Ark.) Braves to win their fifth straight National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional title.

In a championship-round game that spanned two days, Plaza Tire held off the Braves 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field.

"It's always nice to win a championship," Plaza Tire manager Jess Bolen said.

This year's crown, which qualifies the Capahas for their 28th consecutive NBC World Series, might have been extra sweet.

That's because this has not been a vintage Capahas squad, as they entered the three-team, double-elimination tournament with a 12-8 record.

The Capahas' Denver Stuckey doubles with the bases loaded during the sixth inning Sunday. Three runs scored on the play.

"Most of my teams by now would be 23-4 or something like that," Bolen said.

Also, for the first time in the past several years, the Capahas faced a stiff challenge throughout the tournament.

Pine Bluff also had finished as the regional runner-up the past three summers, but rarely had the Braves offered the Capahas much competition.

That wasn't the case this time. The Capahas needed a brilliant pitching performance from Brad LaBruyere to win Friday's tournament opener 4-0, before squeezing out a two-run victory Sunday.

"That's by far the best team I've seen Pine Bluff have," Plaza Tire shortstop Denver Stuckey said. "They were tough."

Capahas left fielder Tom Bolen endures heavy rain during Sunday's championship game of the NBC Mid-South Regional at Capaha Field. (Kit Doyle)

Sunday's contest began Saturday night, but rain and lightning forced its postponement after three innings with the score tied 1-1.

Even Sunday, the weather didn't fully cooperate. Part of the game was played in rain, and there was a 40-minute lightning delay following the top of the seventh inning.

"It was kind of a crazy weekend, with the weather and all," Bolen said.

The Capahas finished the tournament 3-0 -- including a 10-3 win over the Charleston Riverdogs on Saturday -- to improve to 15-8 on the season.

Pine Bluff (19-6) entered the championship round 1-1 -- beating Charleston 11-2 Saturday -- meaning the Braves would have had to defeat the Capahas twice in order to claim the title.

Runner Denver Stuckey, left, talks with manager Jess Bolen Sunday, July 12, 2009, at Capaha Field. (Kit Doyle)

The Braves weren't too far off from forcing the if-necessary championship game as the squads were tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday.

An error by the Braves helped set up the Capahas for Stuckey's two-out, three-run double that put Plaza Tire ahead 5-2. All three runs were unearned.

"That was a really big hit," Bolen said. "If we don't get that hit, we might not win the game."

Plaza Tire's pitching, strong throughout the tournament, did the rest.

Jason Chavez notched the win with seven solid innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) and five hits, with six strikeouts and three walks.

"I thought he did a real good job, to come back after pitching three innings yesterday and throw four more today," Bolen said.

Drew Graham gained a save with two dominant innings. He struck out five and allowed one hit.

Graham, who fanned the side in an inning of work Saturday against Charleston, joined the Capahas this weekend. The same goes for his older brother Daryl, who played center field in all three tournament games.

Drew played his freshman season at Southeast Missouri State before transferring and finishing up at Louisiana-Monroe. Daryl played his final two seasons at Southeast after transferring from junior college.

"I was a little sore today throwing back-to-back," said Drew, who completed his eligibility at Louisiana-Monroe this year. "I hadn't thrown since our conference tournament about five weeks ago."

The Capahas had eight hits. Stuckey went 3-for-5 with two doubles, while Kendal Deason added two hits.

Corey McCoy went 4-for-4 with a triple and double to lead Pine Bluff's six-hit attack.

"Pine Bluff was a quality team, the best team I've seen them have," Bolen said. "It feels good to win it this year."

Braves 100 100 100 -- 3 6 2

Capahas 001 103 00x -- 5 8 3

WP -- Jason Chavez. LP -- James Mitchell. S -- Drew Graham. 3B -- Corey McCoy (B). 2B -- McCoy (B), Denver Stuckey (C) 2, Daryl Graham (C). Multiple hits -- Braves, McCoy 4-4; Capahas, Stuckey 3-5, Kendal Deason 2-3. Records -- Braves 19-6, Capahas 15-8.