Plaza Tire piles up the wins without a full lineup

~ The Capahas swept another doubleheader to push their record to 9-0.

Jess Bolen, in his 41st year managing the Plaza Tire Capahas, knows one reality of life regarding summer baseball.

A team will invariably be without some of its key players, particularly early in the season.

"It's just hard to have everybody all the time. There are always a lot of reasons why guys can't make it, especially up until late June," Bolen said. "They're not professionals and they have other things going on in their lives.

"You just accept it and deal with it. You do the best you can. I've never used not having certain players as an excuse. If we get beat, we get beat."

Capahas baserunner Omar Padilla safely stole second as Printers second baseman Raffeale Gatti fielded the throw. (AARON EISENHAUER ~aeisenhauer@semissourian.com)

Even if Bolen wanted to make excuses so far this year, he wouldn't need them.

Despite not having their full roster available for any game yet this season, the Capahas continue to pound the opposition.

Saturday's doubleheader sweep of the visiting St. Louis Printers -- by scores of 7-1 and 7-0 at Capaha Field -- kept Plaza Tire undefeated at 9-0.

"Once our offense gets going, it doesn't matter who's in the lineup," second baseman Omar Padilla said. "We've been hitting the ball well and our pitching has been great so far."

The Capahas were missing three of their hottest hitters so far this season during their weekend homestand -- Asif Shah, Zach Blemker and Daryl Graham -- but didn't miss a beat.

Capahas first baseman Chad Mercado snagged a high bouncer during the sixth inning of the first game against the St. Louis Printers.

Plaza Tire defeated perennial power Waterloo, Ill., 6-3 on Friday night in a nine-inning game before sweeping the Printers in a pair of seven-inning contests.

"They all have legitimate reasons why they're not here, and I have no problem with that," said Bolen, who has also been without one of his top pitchers so far as Anthony Maupin has not yet joined the squad.

Continued Bolen, "And that's the way it's going to be for a while. [Shortstop] Robby Moore is getting married next Saturday and we'll be without several guys that day.

"But we've got a pretty deep team and right now everybody is contributing pretty well."

After surviving its stiffest test of the season so far Friday night, the Capahas had little trouble Saturday as they have now outscored their opponents by a combined 92-22.

"We're rolling pretty good and hopefully we can keep it going," pitcher Jamie McAlister said.

McAlister hurled the second-game shutout, after Chad Bogenpohl allowed only an unearned run during the opener.

McAlister allowed five hits, no walks and struck out 12.

Asked if it meant a lot to get the shutout, a smiling McAlister said, "I was wanting it. I guess Jess was, too, because he didn't come out and ask me how I felt in the sixth inning like he did with Bogie."

Bogenpohl gave up just three hits. He did not issue a walk while striking out eight and hitting a batter.

"I had to match Bogie's performance," McAlister said. "He was really good and I tried to match him pitch for pitch."

Just about everybody Bolen has sent to the mound has done the job, as evidenced by the Capahas having allowed just 22 runs in nine games.

"Our pitching has been really good so far, and so have other areas of our game," Bolen said. "We're just playing good baseball right now, no matter who we put out on the field."

The Capahas had 17 hits Saturday, led by catcher Levi Olson, who went 4-for-6 and drove in four runs. Olson was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the opener.

"I felt really comfortable in the box today," Olson said. "I actually started feeling real good yesterday [he had two hits against Waterloo]."

Padilla was the only other Capahas player with more than two hits on the day. He went 3-for-8, including a solo home run in the first inning of the nightcap. It was the only home run of the day.

The Capahas swung wood bats Saturday -- they have hit with wood in five of their nine games so far -- and Padilla took particular pride in clearing the left-field fence without aluminum.

"You have to hit it a little better, and it's a lot more rewarding with wood," Padilla said.

The Capahas used a big inning in each game to open comfortable leads.

A four-run third in the opener gave them a 5-0 cushion, while a four-run fifth in the nightcap made it 6-0.

"We've got good hitters up and down the lineup," Olson said.

Bolen figures it will get tougher for the Capahas to keep their record unblemished as the season goes along. He pointed to Wednesday's 4 p.m. doubleheader at Dyersburg, Tenn., as an explanation for possible trouble ahead.

The Capahas normally play night games during the week, but Dyersburg has no lights, so the twin bill will begin at a time when some Plaza Tire players might be working.

"I don't know how many people we'll have to start that one," Bolen said. "But we'll make do with what we have."

Game 1

Capahas 7, Printers 1

Printers 000 100 0 -- 1 3 1

Capahas 104 011 X -- 7 9 2

WP -- Chad Bogenpohl. LP -- Billy Roll. 3B -- Jeff Thieme (P). 2B -- Rick Mundy (P), Levi Olson (C), Jorday Payne (C), Dustin Pritchett (C). Multiple hits -- Printers, Mundy 2-3; Capahas, Olson 3-4. Records -- Capahas 8-0.

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Game 2

Capahas 7, Printers 0

Printers 000 000 0 -- 0 5 3

Capahas 100 141 X -- 7 8 1

WP -- Jamie McAlister. LP -- Moe Moellering. HR -- Omar Padilla (C). 3B -- Jordan Payne (C). 2B -- Robby Moore (C). Multiple hits -- Printers, Jake Tippy 3-3; Capahas, Padilla 2-4. Records -- Capahas 9-0.