Waterloo baseball team holds off Capahas

For the second time this season the Waterloo, Illinois, baseball team was able to best the Burger King Capahas.

The Capahas (14-3) came back from a three-run deficit and tied the game up in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn’t hold off the visiting Millers, who answered in the ninth to secure a 4-3 victory at Capaha Field on Friday night.

“I thought it was a pretty good game,” Capahas manager Jess Bolen said. “Two good teams playing and we just came up short on this one. But you can’t fault a team that comes from three down with two outs in the eighth.”

Right fielder Alex Heuring snapped Waterloo’s shutout with a three-run triple to left center with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to even it at 3-3.

“First pitch he hung a slider,” Heuring said. “Put a good swing on it. We hit a lot of balls hard all night and finally one of them got to land.”

Heuring pitched the ninth in relief. Leadoff hitter Ethan Ruff reached on a single that skipped over second baseman Garret Reynolds before Heuring issued a walk. Dre Gleason, who reached base in all five of his at-bats, singled past first baseman Kyle James, scoring Ruff to make it 4-3.

“I wanted the ball. I told 'Skip' [Bolen] I wanted the ball,” Heuring said. “That first ball that bounced right over Garret’s head, that crazy hop kind of set the tone for the inning. I think if that ball doesn’t take that crazy hop it’s a completely different inning, but that’s just the way baseball is.”

Bolen agreed that there were some unfortunate plays in the final frame.

“The run they got to win it, if our first baseman doesn’t deflect it [right fielder] Drew [Morecraft’s] got the best arm on the team,” Bolen said. “He can throw from foul pole to foul pole, so we would’ve had a shot at him at the plate.”

Capahas center fielder Josh Haggerty hauls in a Waterloo fly ball during the second inning Friday, July 22, 2016 at Capaha Field.FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com

The Capahas never led in the contest, with the Millers scoring once in the second inning. Three singles loaded the bases with one out and a sacrifice fly to center drove in a run. Center fielder Josh Haggerty’s throw home beat the runner, but took a bounce that catcher Tyler Qualls was unable to snag.

“If it bounced two feet shorter he could’ve handled it, or if it came on the fly, he was out,” Bolen said. “He would’ve been out at the plate, no question.”

Waterloo tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh with a two-out, two-run double by Craig Ohlau off reliever Lance Young to extend the lead to 3-0.

The Capahas didn’t record a hit off starting pitcher Noah Thaggard until the fifth inning, when James and Adam Connor hit back-to-back two-out singles. Their only other base runners came via a leadoff walk in the second and a leadoff hit batsman in the fourth.

The two singles in the fifth were the only allowed by Thaggard, who exited with one out in the eighth after an error and a walk. Reliever Austin Nunnery hit the next batter to load the bases before Heuring tied it up.

“Mainly a lot of off-speed [pitches],” Heuring said of how Thaggard kept the Capahas off balance. “I think some of us hitters were a little lackadaisical at the plate, looking for a lot of fastballs but we were getting a lot of off-speed. We were just swinging through a lot of pitches.”

The Capahas got the tying run to second in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out double by Connor, who went 2-for-4.

“I thought Alex Heuring’s hit was beautiful,” Bolen said. “If he or Connor would've gotten under that ball even just a little them balls would’ve went out.”

Heuring took the loss on the mound, but the Capaha pitching staff may have suffered even worse losses as both starter Tyler Thompson and Young were taken out of the game with elbow issues.

Capahas starter Tyler Thompson pitches to a Waterloo batter during the second inning Friday, July 22, 2016 at Capaha Field.FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com

Thompson went six innings, allowing one run on five hits. He walked one, hit one and struck out five.

“I thought Tyler pitched great. He’s never pitched anything but great for us,” Bolen said.

Young pitched two innings, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

The Capahas return to action with a 1 p.m. contest against the St. Louis Printers on Saturday.

Waterloo 010 000 201 — 4 10 1

Capahas 000 000 030 — 3 4 1

WP — Austin Nunnery. LP — Alex Heuring. 2B — Adam Connor (C), Ethan Ruff (W), Craig Ohlau (W). 3B — Heuring (C). Multiple hits — Waterloo: Ruff 2-5, Dre Gleason 4-4; Capahas: Connor 2-4.