Ortiz lifts Catfish, former Saxony pitcher in Catfish home W

Cape Catfish pitcher Eli Brown throws against Springfield on Friday at Capaha Field.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

Former Saxony Lutheran High School pitcher Eli Brown made his debut on Friday for the Cape Catfish with mixed results, but in the end, Catfish infielder J.D. Ortiz made sure every Catfish fan walked out of Capaha Field feeling good.

Ortiz smacked three hits and drove in five runs, including three in the eighth inning, to lead Cape to an 8-6 come-from-behind win over Springfield in Cape’s 2022 home opener.

“J.D. has a really simple approach,” Catfish manager Steve Larkin said following his team’s first win of the season. “He sprays the ball around during batting practice and in the game, he keeps that same approach.”

Brown made his first start for the Catfish (1-2) and fared fairly well.

He allowed three earned runs over 4 2/3 innings, gave up five hits, walked one, and struck out five.

“He came out and commanded the ball early for us,” Cape pitching coach David Lawson said. “He did a good job.”

Brown is coming off a freshman season at Lindenwood University, in which he worked 46 innings and allowed just 21 earned runs while striking out 30 batters.

“He kind of set the tone for us,” Lawson said. “He ran into a little bit of trouble, but we have to catch the baseball for him a little bit better, and maybe he stays in that game a little bit longer.”

Lawson said Brown’s innings are being monitored this summer, so he probably won’t have many opportunities in which he throws extended innings.

The Lucky Horseshoes (1-2) scored a run in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead, but Ortiz made his first impact by driving in former Jackson High School standout, Lane Crowden, who had singled earlier.

Ortiz’s RBI single cut the Cape deficit to 2-1, which was followed by Dante Zamudio hitting a sacrifice fly that scored Christopher Hall to tie the game.

Veteran Catfish hitter Kolten Poorman belted a solo home run in the fourth inning to give his team a 3-2 lead, but Springfield, which had beaten Cape on Thursday in Springfield, scored two runs in the fifth and another in the seventh for a 5-3 margin.

Ortiz doubled home Hall in the seventh to pull the Catfish (1-2) to within 5-4, but Springfield came right back with another run in the eighth for a 6-4 lead.

Following a Poorman walk, Catfish hitter Andrew Sharp connected for a triple to make it a 6-5 game, before Ortiz doubled in three runs on a hit to center field that the Lucky Horseshoe outfielder misplayed.

“I just have to stay relaxed and not try to do too much,” Ortiz said. “When you try to just put the bat on the ball, good things happen.”

Cape used four pitchers on the night, as Colin Bryant allowed no earned runs in 2 1/3 innings and struck out four.

Former Senath-Hornersville High pitcher Austin Brock got the win after working one inning, allowing one earned run, and striking out three.

Former Poplar Bluff High pitcher Noah Burkey threw the final inning and struck out two.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted in the two (earlier) losses,” Larkin said, “but we never stopped fighting. We’ve never stopped playing. Guys are in the dugout supporting each other.”

Ortiz also had a pair of walks, while Hall (three walks, three runs), Zamudio (one hit, one RBI), Poorman (two runs, two hits, one RBI, one walk), Sharp (one hit, one run, one RBI), Gavin Jansen (one run), and Crowden (one run, one hit) also contributed.

The Catfish will host O’Fallon tonight at 6:35 p.m. at Capaha Field.