Menu
Playing for Cape Catfish leaves impression on young athletes
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Cape Catfish player Ellison Hanna II lifts the championship trophy next to manager Steve Larkin following his team's victory in the Prospect League championship game on Thursday against the Lafayette (Ind.) Aviators in Lafayette, Ind. at Loeb Stadium.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball player Ellison Hanna III returned to play this summer for the Cape Catfish “for one reason,” he screamed after helping the Catfish win their first Prospect League championship on Thursday over the Lafayette Aviators.
Holding the championship trophy was Hanna’s “one reason,” but his belief in the organization to not only help him develop as an athlete but also compete for a title, was also a factor in his decision to spend one more summer in Cape Girardeau.
“It’s a player-driven organization,” Hanna III said of the Catfish. “We ultimately have administrators that care about us, personally, and you feel that all the way from the top.”
The Catfish are two-for-two in competing for a title after falling in three games to Chillicothe in the 2019 championship series.
Cape had the best record in the Prospect League in 2019 and the second-best mark (next to the Aviators) this season. That isn’t happenstance.
“You feel it from (general manager) Mark Hogan,” Hanna III said of the caring nature of the franchise. “You feel it from (manager) Steve Larkin. You feel it from all of the coaches.
“It is easy, so, so easy, to play with all of your heart.”
Hanna III was one of several Catfish players who returned for a second season with the club. However, former Three Rivers College standout and now, Missouri recruit, Kolten Poorman was in his first season with the team, which he said, made an immediate impression on him.
“The first day of practice,” Poorman said of knowing this was a special organization. “We had batting practice and it was like watching a big-league team.”
Poorman said his father had played professional baseball and he has seen how a professional organization conducts itself. He said that is exactly what he experienced all summer in Cape Girardeau.
“This organization is unbelievable,” Poorman said. “I have played a lot of baseball and been around a lot of guys, and this is one of THE best baseball organizations that I’ve ever witnessed.
“I’ve been around professionals, pretty much my entire life, and this organization is up there. It’s a professional organization. It’s a professional organization in the Prospect League.”
Like Poorman, Rend Lake Community College sophomore pitcher Korey Bunselmeyer was a first-year ‘Fish. He too felt an impression by being a member of the team.
“I’ve learned so much this summer,” Bunselmeyer said. “It’s been great. I’ve had great coaching, great teammates, it’s been as good of an experience as I have ever had.”