Strong pitching, potent offense carry Plaza Tire to win No. 20

~ The Capahas collected 25 hits in their doubleheader sweep.

When the St. Louis Printers played in Cape Girardeau on June 9, they were outscored by the Plaza Tire Capahas 14-1 during a doubleheader.

Things were not even that close Sunday as the Capahas blistered the Printers 17-3 and 8-1.

Once again feasting on an overmatched pitching staff, the Capahas banged out 25 hits as they improved to 20-4.

"It was another good day for us," Plaza Tire's Omar Padilla said after the Capahas won their four weekend home games by a combined 49-9 and pushed their overall winning streak to five. "We're rolling pretty good."

Capahas starting pitcher Phillip Riley delivered against the St. Louis Printers in the first game Sunday at Capaha Field. (Fred Lynch)

They certainly are. The Capahas have outscored the opposition 203-69 this season.

"We're playing really good baseball right now," the Capahas' Asif Shah said. "We're hitting the ball up and down the lineup, and we've got so many good pitchers."

While the Capahas have not exactly played a murderous schedule -- through no real fault of their own; there just aren't as many good summer amateur teams in the region as there once was -- Plaza Tire manager Jess Bolen is quick to point out that his squad has something to do with all the blowouts.

"One thing you have to put in perspective ... we have a pretty good team," Bolen said. "We've said all along we've got some pretty good players.

"We have a lot of talent on this team."

The Capahas' Dustin Pritchett scored the first run against the St. Louis Printers in the first game Sunday at Capaha Field.

The Capahas are already within four victories of matching last year's win total. The 2006 squad went 24-11.

But that club finished especially strong by going 3-2 at the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., which produced an impressive tie for 13th place.

"We've got a lot of potential to do well in Wichita, but first we've got to get there," said Bolen, whose team will host the NBC Mid-South Regional this weekend, with the winner qualifying for the World Series.

The Capahas, who blasted the Fairview Heights (Ill.) Redbirds 15-0 on Saturday, continued to build momentum for the regional tournament against the Printers.

After getting 15 hits -- including four doubles and a triple -- in Sunday's 17-3 opener, the Capahas tacked on 10 more hits, including two doubles, in the 8-1 nightcap.

The Printers also helped out with a total of 13 walks and eight hit batters in the two games.

"Sometimes you wish the competition was a little better, but we're doing what we need to do," Padilla said. "We've played some good teams this year and I know we'll play some more good ones, especially if we can make it to Wichita, where the competition is really strong."

Shah went 5-for-6 with three doubles and four runs batted in during the doubleheader.

Zach Johnson was 5-for-10 with four runs scored, while Padilla had a triple and a double among his three hits. He scored four runs and drove in three.

Jordan Payne and Jamie McAlister both added three hits for Plaza Tire. Payne scored four runs and McAlister delivered three RBIs.

Phillip Riley moved to 5-0 with the first-game win. He allowed one run and two hits in three innings.

"He'll start the opening night of the [NBC Mid-South Regional] tournament and we didn't want him to go too long," Bolen said. "We had him scheduled for five innings, but he said his shoulder was a little tight so there was no reason to push it."

McAlister allowed two runs and four hits over three innings while Stan Skakalski worked a hitless seventh.

Jason Chavez (6-0) regained the team lead in wins from Riley by pitching all seven innings of the nightcap. He allowed five hits and an unearned run, while striking out eight and walking two.

The Capahas visit Fairview Heights, Ill., on Tuesday night.