Tumultuous Capahas season to end at familiar NBC World Series

~ The Capahas open play against Puerto Rico tonight in Wichita, Kansas

The Plaza Tire Capahas have faced their fair share of challenges this season.

After Plaza Tire Service announced in early April that they were ending their sponsorship of the team after 10 years it was unclear whether funding could be raised in time for the 2014 season.

Plaza Tire and a group of anonymous donors eventually joined forces to fund the team for the summer, but it left the Capahas with several available roster spots because players had chosen to find other teams when they were unsure of the future of the Capahas.

And throughout the season injuries and rainouts have hampered the team, which finished the regular-season 17-6.

But after working through all those tests the Capahas will finish their season the way they have for the last 33 years -- at the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas.

"This has been a tough year," Capahas manager Jess Bolen said. "If you start and think where we started and how it came about and how [many] struggles we had, and how many players we lost because they went somewhere else -- which I said then I don't blame them, you know, they've got to have somebody that's solid -- and it's been a tough year for injuries, too."

The Capahas' first game of the 80th NBC World Series will be at 10 p.m. tonight against Puerto Rico at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

Plaza Tire finished one win shy of the double-elimination tournament's championship week last year. The Seattle Studs from Seattle, Washington, were the champions.

"The key for us, I think, is to concentrate on defense because out there the mistakes send you home," Bolen said. "It's just like last year, we played the best defense in the tournament so what'd we do? We wound up a team that probably should've finished 15th in the nation and wound up finishing fourth.

"Defense will get you a long ways out there. It's all wood bats, so there's not a lot of homers hit or nothing, but there's good hitters. They'll be the best collegiate hitters in the United States out there."

Bolen's defense took a hit after veteran shortstop Kenton Parmley injured his hamstring during a game on July 11 and third baseman Adam Connor is trying to get inflammation in his shoulder to go down and be able to bat.

Steven Dooley tore his labrum earlier in the season and Grant Gray left Sunday's start two batters into the game with discomfort in his pitching arm.

Former Southeast Missouri State pitcher Dylan Lynn will start tonight and left-handed pitcher Tyler Borski, who Bolen picked up from the Springfield Pallys, will start the Caps second game.

Riley Calvird, Lance Young and Andrew Williams are also available to pitch.

The Capahas picked up Billy Roll and Semoball Awards Player of the Year Josh Haggerty as well as Calvin Lovig to join the team in Wichita.

"It is what it is. We'll go out there and the whole left side of my infield is gone with Connor and Parm," Bolen said. "But I thought Laban [Petzoldt] played pretty good at short [on Sunday] and [Brandon] Bennett can fill in at third. So we'll go out there and play. You never know what these young kids might do. ... Sometimes you're surprised at what a team will do in big competition, big crowds.

Bolen showed some concern over not knowing how players who have never competed at the NBC World Series will respond to the atmosphere and large crowd, but Alex Heuring is optimistic about his first trip to the tournament.

"It's a big park and they say it's real nice," Heuring said. "I'm just looking forward to the experience, you know. We've got a good group of guys. We're all laid back and I think we're ready to go in with the right attitude."

Win or lose tonight, the Capahas next game will be on Sunday against a team that has yet to be determined.

"You've got to go out there and compete, you've got to have good at-bats, you've got to play good defense, but all in all you've got to go out there and win," catcher Chase Simmons said. "I think competing on the mound, with defense and hitting-wise, we're going to be good. Just win, that's all you can think [about]."