St. Joseph eliminates Capahas from postseason

WICHITA, Kan. -- The Craftsman Union Capahas were eliminated from the National Baseball Congress World Series after a 7-4 loss to the St. Joseph Saints on Friday.

The loss in the elimination game ended the Capahas' season at 32-8. The Capahas, who were shut out by Pueblo. Colo., in the opening round, struggled offensively again in its second game. The Capahas managed just six hits against the Saints and finished the tournament with nine.

A four-run sixth-inning by the Saints proved to be the Capahas' undoing an rallied St. Joseph from a 4-2 deficit. Jason Chavez suffered his first loss of the season.

The Capahas went ahead with two runs in the second inning and later snapped a 2-2 tie with two runs in the bottom of the fifth off Saints starter Chris Jones. With two out, Lance Seasor scored on a double by Jake Tippee, who then scored when Justin Welker followed with an RBI single for a 4-2 lead. The Capahas later threatened with runners at second and third, but Jones escaped further damage.

"I thought we were going to run that pitcher out of the game," Capahas manager Jess Bolen said. "If we could have scratched out one more hit, we could have run him."

The Saints responded by chasing Chavez (8-1) in the sixth. A two-out double by Trevor Allen tied the score and brought on Matt Stroup in relief. Stroup walked the first man he faced before yielding a triple to right-fielder Collin Henderson.

St. Joseph's Steven Murphy added an insurance run in the ninth with a home run off Andy Davidson, the Capahas' third pitcher.

The Saints collected 11 hits, including seven off Chavez, who struck out six and walked three in 5 2/3 innings. Stroup allowed two hits over 2 1/3 innings.

Murphy, Allen, Henderson and Shane Roberts each had two hits for St. Joseph.

Tippee went 2-for 5 for the Capahas, while Welker was 2-for-4. Seasor and Josh Eftink each had a hit to round out the offense.

"It was a successful season," Bolen said. "Any time you win 80 percent of your games you have to feel pretty decent. But it's always disappointing to lose in the tournament. I don't make any excuses. We played pretty decent but lost to a team that played a little better."