Struggling to score

Capital City baseball ends season with loss to Washington

Offensive efficiency spelled the end of Capital City’s second season.

The Washington Blue Jays scored 10 runs on seven hits and left five runners on base to beat the Cavaliers 10-0 during Class 5 District 5 quarterfinal action Monday at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.

Capital City left five runners on base in the first two innings, while the Blue Jays built their lead.

The Cavaliers started the day with a Justin Sullens single to left, then Caydin Engelbrecht walked, but two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice ended the inning without a run.

The Blue Jays did not face the same issue.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases before Hanon Jarvis took an RBI walk for Washington’s first run, leading to a Capital City pitching change with no outs. Gavin Matchell then sent a line drive over the Cavaliers’ right fielder for a bases-clearing triple before Grant Trentmann hit a sacrifice fly to center to put the Blue Jays up 6-0 after one.

Jamisen Schwarzer and Noah Nicklas hit consecutive singles with one out

in the second for the Cavaliers, but a strikeout, a hit batter and a flyout ended the inning with the bases loaded.

“It’s unfortunate we picked the worst time of the year to play some of our worst ball of the year,” Capital City coach Brett Skinner said. “But it doesn’t take away from what these guys accomplished in only our second year. … Overall it was a great season and a great stepping stone. I think our foundation is laid now.”

Pecka hit a single, reached second on a passed ball, got to third on a dropped third strike and scored on the first of Capital City’s four errors to put the Blue Jays up 7-0 after two.

Ben Turner took a third-inning walk for the Cavaliers, then the Blue Jays combo of Grant Trentmann, Ian Junkin and Matchell set down eight consecutive batters to keep Capital City off the bases the rest of the game.

Meanwhile the Blue Jays’ offense kept working.

Will Lingle and Trentmann reached on consecutive errors with one out in the third, then Landon Boston walked before Cooper Thiemann collected two RBI with a single.

Brett Kuebler stopped the bleeding for Capital City when he made a catch in shallow center and fired toward home where first baseman Turner was waiting for a relay to get Boston at the plate for an inning-ending double play.

Washington added a run in the fourth when Samuel Pule was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Matchell single.

The Blue Jays then ended the game early in the bottom of the fifth. Boston led off with a single then moved to third on an error when Thiemann tried to sacrifice bunt. Pecka reached base for the fourth time with his third single to score Boston and put the Blue Jays up 10-0 with no outs in the fifth.

Capital City ends its second season with a record of 13-16, adding 10 wins to its inaugural record.

“We learned how to win, we won 13 ballgames in a lot of different fashions,” Skinner said. “… I think the experience really did a lot for us, last year, we didn’t really know what to expect. … We had a lot of guys step up.”

It was the final game in the careers of the first crew of Capital City seniors, Grayson Jones, Carlos Ayala, Taggert Bodenstab and Brett Kuebler.

“These seniors have been asked to do a lot since they stepped in as sophomores and had to be leaders for three years,” Skinner said. “I’ll never forget those four guys. They’ve done a lot, I’ve leaned on them since Day 1. They’ve always tried their best, but this year they really put people on their back and did a fantastic job. They’re a big reason we got to where we were this year.”

Bodenstab, Kaiden Menning, Hayden Carroll and Jones combined for Capital City’s pitching duties.

Sullens had a single and was hit by a pitch, while Turner and Engelbrecht walked and Schwarzer and Nicklas both singled.

Trentmann led the Blue Jays with three shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks, while striking out four. Junkin pitched the fourth inning and didn’t allow a baserunner, then Matchell did the same in the fifth, while striking out two.

No. 4 seed Washington moves on to play top-seeded Camdenton at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Camdenton beat Jefferson City 3-1 in Monday’s first game.