Notre Dame grad suffers the loss for Printers

~ Billy Roll allowed six runs on nine hits over six innings

Cape Girardeau native Billy Roll, who spent one season with the Plaza Tire Capahas, always enjoys pitching against his hometown team.

His results Saturday weren't quite as good as they had been at various times in the past, but that didn't detract from his enjoyment in taking the mound at Capaha Field.

"I like coming back to Cape, seeing family and friends, and pitching against the Capahas," Roll said.

Despite literally having not thrown a baseball since last summer, Roll had a solid outing as his St. Louis Printers lost to the Capahas 7-1 in the first game of a doubleheader that Plaza Tire wound up sweeping.

Although Roll's final numbers weren't that impressive, even Capahas manager Jess Bolen acknowledged that Roll pitched much better than what the statistics showed.

"I've always liked Billy. He's a good kid," Bolen said. "And he still throws the ball well. I thought he did a good job against us."

Roll worked all six innings, allowing nine hits and six earned runs. He struck out seven, walked three and hit two batters.

The Capahas hurt Roll the most during a four-run third inning that gave them a 5-0 lead.

Roll was within one strike of escaping the frame unscathed, but he did not get the call on a debatable check swing that would have ended the inning.

Plaza Tire's Jordan Payne was ruled to have held up on the two-out, two-strike pitch, and he later was hit by Roll. The Capahas went on to score four runs.

"I thought I had him on that one," said Roll, a right-hander. "But that's the way it goes sometimes."

The 29-year-old Roll graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1996. He wasn't even a pitcher with the Bulldogs. But, following his graduation from Notre Dame, Roll attracted the attention of a coach from a junior college in Maryland who liked his arm strength while at a baseball camp.

Roll wound up pitching for that two-year school and then pitched for Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo.

"I was pretty lucky with the way all that worked out," Roll said.

Roll pitched one season for the Capahas early this decade, but after moving to O'Fallon, Mo. -- where he has a family and works for that community as a parks and recreation department supervisor -- he figured it was best to continue playing baseball closer to home.

So for the past several summers Roll has pitched for the Printers, although by his own admission he never has much time to prepare for a season.

"I haven't thrown a ball since last year," Roll said with a laugh. "I just showed up here today to pitch."

Even though Roll didn't approach last summer's performance against the Capahas when he hurled five shutout innings during a win in St. Louis, or other outings against Plaza Tire over the past several years, he wasn't all that disappointed.

"I thought I threw all right. But I think I've lost some velocity over the years," he said. "I usually pitch better against the Capahas, though."

Another local connection

Roll wasn't the only Cape Girardeau native to play for the Printers on Saturday.

Catcher Dusty Barrows, a 2001 Central High School graduate who still lives in Cape, is in his first year with the St. Louis squad.

Barrows played at Meramec Community College in St. Louis, where he competed with several current Printers players. He was looking for a place to play again and things worked out.

"I hadn't played baseball since 2003, but I wanted to play again," said Barrows, who had one of just eight hits by the Printers in Saturday's two seven-inning games.

Appreciative of airwaves

Capahas catcher Levi Olson said he speaks for all his teammates in singing the praises of Plaza Tire Service for its recent gesture in its continued commitment to the squad.

Plaza Tire made the financial arrangements to have all of the Capahas' remaining home games, along with any contests in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., broadcast live on local radio station KGIR 1220 AM.

The contract began with Friday's contest against Waterloo, Ill., and continued with Saturday's doubleheader.

"What Plaza Tire is doing for us is awesome," Olson said. "I have never met [Plaza Tire president] Mark Rhodes, but I just want to let him know how much everybody appreciates it."

What has Olson even more excited is that the broadcasts are streamed live on the internet at www.espn1220.com, meaning people can listen to Plaza Tire Capahas games around the world.

That comes in handy for Olson's parents, who live in California.

"When my parents heard the games were going to be on the radio, they were ecstatic," said Olson, who played at Southeast Missouri State. "When I played for SEMO and they couldn't make it here, they listened all the time on the internet.

"I know they haven't missed an inning yet in these first three games. It's great."