by TAYLOR ELDRIDGE
8:32 P.M. — The Force win 8-7. I knew it. Had to be those warm-up dunks.
7:37 P.M. — Houston adds one in the top of the 8th. It’s 8-7 now going into the bottom of the inning.
7:19 P.M. — The Force are back. They scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 8-6 lead entering the eighth inning.
6:37 P.M. — Sorry for the lack of updates. Working on my notes, so I’m good to go with the story and then I’ll be done. The Force scored three runs in the bottom of the first, but then the Apollos responded with five of their own and tacked on another one in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead in bottom of 4th.
6:11 P.M. — The Force jump out to a 3-run first inning and lead 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning.
5:29 P.M. — A late rally ends up short in a game-ending double play for the Doubledays. The A’s win 9-6 and advance, while the DD’s go home. Sad story. Warm-ups are almost over for the Houston Apollos and San Diego Force in the last battle to stave off elimination. I talked to the Force before the game. I like them this game.
Colorado Springs hero’s: RF Greg Volz (3-3, 2 R, 2 BB); C Brandon Beall (3-3, 1 R, 1 RBI); DH Anthoney Edwards (1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI).
Clarinda hero’s: CF Steven Sultz-Baugu (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI); DH Mick Gaston (2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR); 1B Stuart Smith (2-3, 1 R, 2 RBI).
4:40 P.M. — I’m enjoying watching the San Diego Force, playing in the next game, warming up for the game by having a slam dunk contest over on the 8-foot goal down the first base line. Some pretty sweet dunks going down over there. At least I thought so until I remembered the goal is only 8 foot. Still amusing though.
4:33 P.M. — Update on the game at hand: Clarinda A’s 7, Colorado Springs Doubledays 4 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
3:23 P.M. — A foul ball brings out the youth in everyone. This one was sprayed to the first base line stands and bounced by no one. A 50-year-old male scrambled for it until it bounced out of his reach, which in result set off a mad scramble for the ball between a 8-year-old, a 18-year-old and a 38-year-old. The teenager won, but not before the little kid took one last desperate swipe at the ball. Gotta love it.
3:16 P.M. — Figured I should eventually update you on this game going on in front of me. In the third elimination of the day, the Colorado Springs Doubledays and the Clarinda (Ia.) A’s are playing right now. The A’s have a 3-0 lead right now in the bottom of the third inning. I’m intrigued by this Doubledays nickname. More research on the way.
3:07 P.M. — OK, after some research the last couple minutes here is what I’ve come up:
The reason I couldn’t find what the heck what a Capha was, was because it isn’t called a Capha. There’s another ‘a’ in between the ‘p’ and the ‘h’ to make the Capahas. So with this knowledge, I can tell you that a Capahas is a native Indian tribe to the Missouri region. The tribe called themselves “Oyuapes” or “Kapahas” and they are the origin for the Capaha Trail in Missouri. Another sidenote is that their manager, Jess Bolen, was recently inducted into the NBC Hall of Fame. At the end of July, Bolen also moved his all-time record to exactly 1,000 games over .500 – quite the feat. So there is your Plaza Tire Capahas history lesson for the day.
Jamey Bradshaw is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior left-handed reliever at Louisiana Tech. He hails from Choudrant, La. He appeared in 15 games his junior season and started six of them. In his profile picture on the La Tech athletic site he is sporting a soul patch. Very nice. He finished his junior season with a 1-4 record and a 8.72 ERA in 42.1 innings. So that’s who Jamey Bradshaw plays in his spare time.
I was informed there was a 25-minute rain delay in the first game of the day. It was sprinkling lightly before this game started, but nothing serious. The first game of the day, the 8 a.m. game, lasted nearly three hours. Ugh. Not how you want to start your morning.
I have to give people credit, they definitely like their space. Everyone is spread out, making this very difficult. I can count about 47 people in my eye sight, but I can’t see who all is sitting under the press box. So who knows how many people are down there.
The tandem of the two taller kids team up to win this game played on an estimated 8-foot goal. That only favors height. One of the smaller kids, in red shorts, is so dismayed at the outcome of the game, he sticks around after and is still shooting That is dedication. Meanwhile, the taller kid walks away with the girl. Oh yeah.
2:44 P.M. — After looking over the first two games of the day, I had a list of questions:
- What is a Capha?
- Who is Jamey Bradshaw?
- If the second game of the day took under two hours, why is the third game starting almost an hour and a half late?
- Can I count the fans in attendence for the day’s third game?
- Who will win the two-on-two matchup of 13-year-olds playing on the goal over in right field?
Answers coming up shortly.
2:32 P.M. — Just got settled in here at the LD before the day’s third game, which has been rain delayed to a 2:20 start from its original 1:00 start time. So here’s an update on the first two games of the day:
- 8:02 A.M.: Crestwood Panthers 6, San Antonio Titans 4
Crestwood scored five runs in the first three innings to gain a 5-1 advantage. Another run tacked on in the sixth inning proved to be too much of a defecit for the Titans to chip away at. San Antonio scored a run in the eighth and then two in the ninth before Marcus Uechi grounded out to end the rally.
Crestwood used an interesting approach of pitching four pitchers and spreading out their time. Cody Lillich pitched two, Chase Saunen pitched two, Ryan Quigley threw three and Joe Scummer pitched the final two innings. San Antonio’s starter, Grant Harrelson, was roughed up early. He gave up five runs in 2 1/3 innings pitched with the Titans using four relievers to give up one run in the final 5 2/3 innings.
San Antonio is eliminated from the competition with its second loss of the tournament, while the Panthers recover after losing their first game.
Crestwood standouts: CF Eric DeBlank (3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B); 1B Bill Storrs (2-4, 2 RBI); RP Chase Saunen (2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB).
San Antonio standouts: LF Tyler Migl (3-5, 2 R); 2B Reagan Mocygeuba (1-4, 2 RBI); C Ryan Morrow (2-4, 1 R, 2 2B).
- 11:44 A.M.: Game Time (La.) Rockies 6, Plaza Tire (Mo.) Caphas 0
The story here was the pitching of Game Time’s Jamey Bradshaw, a senior reliever for Louisiana Tech in his spare time. Bradshaw finished his junior season at La Tech with an ERA of 8.72 in 15 games, but he was dealing this morning. He hurled a complete game shutout, scattering five hits and walking only one. He wasn’t over-powering (only three K’s), but he pitched to contact and his defense backed him up.
While Bradshaw was keeping the Caphas off the scoreboard, Game Time’s offense got the job done with a four-run fourth inning. All four runs were scored with two outs. In the days’ third elimination game, Game Time moves on to play the El Dorado-Southern Cal loser on Saturday, while the Caphas drive back to Missouri. There was only one extra base hit in the game.
Game Time standouts: SP Jamey Bradshaw (CG, W, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K); LF Corey Dickerson (2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI); SS Jordan Marks (2-4, 3 RBI).
Plaza Tire standouts: DH Garrett Stevens (1-3); RP Dustin Hunter (3.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 K); RF Tyrell Cummings (1-4).