Springfield foils Capahas sweep

Plaza Tire came one out away from a road sweep of Springfield (Ill.) on Sunday, but the Capahas had to settle for a split of the doubleheader.

After winning the opener 1-0 behind the two-hit pitching of Anthony Maupin and Josh Parham, the Capahas suffered a 4-3 loss in the nightcap.

The Capahas (16-4) scored the only run of the opener in the fourth inning, when Tom Bolen scored Jordan Payne with a single. Payne had singled, stole second and advanced to third on a fly ball.

Maupin struck out four in 6 1/3 innings and allowed two hits. Parham finished out the seventh with a pair of strikeouts.

Plaza Tire had four hits in the game.

The Capahas nearly rallied for a victory in the second game. Trailing 2-1 entering the seventh, the Capahas took a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly by Payne and a two-out RBI single by Asif Shah.

Shah, the third Capahas pitcher in the game, then retired the first two Springfield batters in the bottom of the seventh. Shah then issued a walk to the No. 9 batter, which was followed by a double and a two-run game-winning single.

Shah struck out three, walked one and allowed three hits in 2 2/3 innings. Chad Bogenpohl allowed four hits and two runs over the first two innings, and Stan Skakalski followed with two hitless innings.

Each team finished the game with seven hits.

Plaza Tire returns to action today when it plays a previously unscheduled game against the Chicago Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. at Capaha Field.