Semoball

Walks, errors cost Catfish in loss to River Dragons

Cape Catfish pitcher Kyle Potthoff throws a pitch against the Alton River Dragons on Thursday at Capaha Field.
J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

The Cape Catfish outhit the Alton River Dragons 12-6, but mistakes would come back to bite the ‘Fish in a 7-2 loss Thursday night at Capaha Field.

Catfish pitcher Kyle Potthoff was solid through four innings, allowing just two hits and two earned runs while striking out five.

Then the fifth inning rolled around.

Potthoff walked the first three batters of the inning — one of whom was caught stealing by catcher Jackson Campbell. The University of Missouri product struck the next batter out, walked the next then allowed an RBI single before being pulled by Catfish manager Steve Larkin with the bases loaded.

“He got up there with his pitch count and we didn’t want to waste him,” Larkin said. “He came out and he had a good outing. One bad inning and you give up some free bases, that catches up to you.

“We all noticed that he was a little frustrated. He wasn’t really tired, but the pitch count got him.”

Cape Catfish infielder Kolten Poorman scores a run against the Alton River Dragons on Thursday at Capaha Field.
J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

Will Gilmer relieved Potthoff in the fifth, but walked the first batter to give the River Dragons another run. Gilmer then threw a wild pitch and Campbell recorded an error to allow two more runs and give Alton a 6-2 lead.

Potthoff picked up the loss for the Catfish. He threw 4 2/3 innings, allowing just three hits and striking out six, but also giving up five earned runs.

The drama continued in the sixth inning when Catfish infielder Jackson Jarvis got tangled up with his bat and it ended up in the infield, prompting the umpires to delay the game approximately 10 minutes to check the rules.

Upon the umpires’ return, Alton manager Darrell Handelsman protested the game.

“Jackson Jarvis kind of tops a ball down the line,” Larkin said. “I guess the bat got stuck on his hands with the pine tar, or got caught in his feet or something, and the bat flew toward the pitcher.

“The umpires were wanting to make sure there was no intent or malice, which there wasn’t, and they just wanted to make sure in the rulebook if anything should happen if a bat ends up in fair territory. I guess they protested it, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen with that.”

The Catfish (25-18) travel to Terre Haute, Ind., Friday for a two-game series against REX (19-23) before returning home Sunday for another showdown with the River Dragons (19-23).

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