Caps start on familiar (sour) note in Wichita

Southeast Missourian

WICHITA, Kan. -- The Plaza Tire Capahas have struggled in recent years at the National Baseball Congress World Series.

That trend continued Saturday morning as the Capahas lost 12-4 to the Houston Apollos in the opening round of the 42-team, double-elimination tournament.

The Capahas (21-10) will play an elimination game Wednesday against an opponent to be determined.

"It's tough to get in the loser's bracket right away," said Capahas manager Jess Bolen, whose squad fell to 1-7 at the NBC World Series over the past four years. "You'd like to stay out of that as long as you can."

Bolen came away impressed with the Apollos, who banged out 16 hits. The Capahas had nine hits.

"I didn't expect them to hit the ball like they did. They hit the ball well," Bolen said.

Anthony Maupin took the loss. He pitched the first six innings, allowing seven hits and six runs -- five earned -- with two strikeouts and three walks.

Matt Stroup gave up five hits and five runs in 1 2/3 innings. Josh Parham finished up, allowing four hits and one run in 1 1/3 innings.

Chris Gibson and Scott Hubbard both went 2-for-4 to lead the Capahas offensively. Gibson drove in two runs.

Brandon Richey and Andrew Gay each had three hits for the Apollos. Justin Ard delivered four RBIs.

The Apollos broke on top with four runs in the top of the second inning, the big blow being Ard's bases-loaded triple.

"I've played out there a long time and I learned a long time ago that the team that puts up four, five early runs with wood bats, they're hard to beat," Bolen said. "They put up those four early and put us in a hole."

Still, Plaza Tire managed to hang around until the late going. Trailing 6-1, the Capahas scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, the key hit being Gibson's two-run double.

But the Apollos came right back with five runs in the top of the eighth off Stroup to break the game wide open.

"We had our chances," Bolen said. "We scored three in seventh to make it 6-4 and get back in the game. Then you really need a good inning from your pitcher, but they come right back with five in the eighth."

Chris Ryan was the winning pitcher. In six innings, he allowed eight hits and three runs, with four strikeouts and three walks.

Wulfers leads Griffons

Notre Dame High School graduate Matt Wulfers went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored Friday to lead the Nevada (Mo.) Griffons past the Military All-Stars 15-2 in an NBC World Series first-round game.

Wulfers, who spent the past two seasons on the baseball team at the University of Missouri but saw little action, is transferring to Southeast Missouri State, where he will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Another Southeast transfer from the Big 12 Conference, Matt Wagner, had two RBIs and two runs scored for the Griffons. Wagner, who was with Nebraska's program the past two seasons and saw little action, will also have three years of eligibility at Southeast.

The Griffons were scheduled to play a second-round game late Saturday night.