Late mistakes, Walks lead Terre Haute REX over Catfish, 9-7
With a two-run lead heading into the top of the eighth inning, a misplay in the outfield, and a string of walks delivered by Cape Catfish pitching, proved to be the deciding factor in a 9-7 loss to the Terre Haute REX on Saturday at Capaha Field.
Cape started off plating one run in its half of the first inning, as Missouri recruit Kolten Poorman drove in Christopher Jordan, who had reached base on a throwing error by Terre Haute shortstop Kody Putnam two batters prior, to give the Catfish a 1-0 lead.
The Catfish added another run in the bottom of the third inning, as infielder Diego Johnson tripled to center field. The next batter was Jordan, who drove in Johnson on a 6-3 groundout to give the Catfish a two-run advantage.
Cape added another run in the bottom half of the fourth, as DJ Wright tripled to right field and later scored on a single by left fielder Josh Caraway.
The REX would get on the board in the top of the fifth inning, with a leadoff single through the middle by Jack Lavernze, who later scored on a passed ball by Catfish catcher Jackson Campbell. A second run crossed the plate as Terre Haute catcher Canton Terry scored on a fielding error by Campbell.
Cape extended their lead in the sixth inning as the Catfish scored two more times. Andrew Stone scored on a base hit by Bonne Terre native Poorman.
Poorman would come around to score on the second triple of the inning hit by Seth Johnson, giving the Catfish a 5-3 lead.
With the REX adding a run in the top half of the seventh inning, and the Catfish scoring a run in the bottom of the inning, Cape led 6-4 going into the eighth,
That is where the problems started for Catfish relief pitcher Austin Brock, who relieved starting pitcher Jalen Borders.
After a leadoff strikeout to Terre Haute’s Nate Wolf, Brock allowed the next two batters to reach base, followed by a costly fielding error by Caraway, who misplayed a pop up to left field.
After Brock got the REX’s Sean Becker to strikeout, second baseman Alec Atkinson made Cape pay with a go-ahead single to left field, scoring both Wolf and Terry.
The Catfish tied the game up in their half of the eighth on an RBI single by designated hitter Grayson Taylor, scoring Campbell.
After back-to-back-to-back walks to Rob Weissheier, Alex Brunson, and Wolf to load the bases, Cape manager Steve Larkin made a pitching change, bringing in Ste. Genevieve native Chad Donze.
Donze allowed the go-ahead, and ultimately winning runs, to score via fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly that gave the REX a 9-7 lead.
Borders threw six innings in a no-decision performance, giving up just three runs (two earned) on three hits, striking out eight, and walking four.
“He’s a big lefty who throws strikes and gave us a chance to win,” Larkin said about Border’s performance.
“He went the deepest a starter has gone so far, we just didn't give him enough support to give him a chance to win.”
Brock earned the loss, allowing two earned runs in ⅔ inning, walking three, and striking out two.
Marshall Brown also gave up four runs (three earned) in relief, throwing just 1 1/3 innings.
“We’ve lost a couple of people in our bullpen, and we had a chance to score with runners on base,” Larkin said. “We just didn't get the timely hits we needed.”
Poorman led Cape offensively, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Diego Johnson, Stone, and Seth Johnson also recorded two hits in the game, with Seth Johnson driving in a run.
Terre Haute was led by Jake Leverenz, who recorded two hits and two RBIs to lead his REX to their fifth win of the season, bringing their record back to .500 at 5-5.
Designated hitter Clay Wisner earned the win on the mound for Terre Haute, throwing two innings of relief, giving up a run on one hit while striking out two Catfish, and allowing a walk.
“The beauty of this sport is we play every day,” Larkin said about getting back to fixing mistakes.
“We’ll learn from what we did wrong, build on what we did right, and go right back out there and have fun tomorrow.”