In a pair of close losses Thursday at home against Southern Boone, the Capital City baseball team continued to show its summer ball improvement.
The Cavaliers led in Game 1 before eventually falling 4-1, and they took the lead in Game 2, gave it back, then had the tying run on third base with one out in the top of the sixth inning but couldn't bring him in, losing 5-4.
It's not a perfect comparison, as neither team was at full strength - the Eagles without six usual starters and Capital City working around an injury or two - but when these two teams last played on June 3 in Ashland, Southern Boone carried 10-1 and 16-1 wins.
The Eagles were hoping to compete for a Class 4 state title this past spring, while Capital City coach Brett Skinner and the Cavaliers wanted to play their first season of ball in blue and white. The two teams would have competed against one another in Class 4 District 9 before the coronavirus pandemic shut down all MSHSAA competition in mid-March.
"Defensively we've gotten a little bit better," Skinner said Thursday night. "We don't compound things as much as we were earlier on in the season. Pitching, when we throw strikes, that helps. It keeps our defense engaged. Offensively, we've still got a little work to do, just our approach at the plate, they're still learning."
In the first inning of the first game, Capital City strung together a single from Caydin Engelbrecht and opposite-field singles by Brett Kuebler and Ben Turner to take a 1-0 lead. But Eagles' starter Carter Salter kept the Cavaliers off-balance, giving up six total hits and two walks in a complete-game effort.
"I think overall our hitting got a little bit better," Southern Boone coach Brian Ash said. "Defense and pitching we knew was gonna be pretty solid from the get-go. We played well, I think we finished 13-4 on the summer, and that's playing eight games between all the Columbia schools, so we played a Class 5 schedule."
Southern Boone tied the game in the top of the second but otherwise Cooper Rowden did his job on the mound, too, giving up an unearned run, two hits and four walks while striking out two in five innings of work. He also singled in the fourth and reached on an error in the sixth.
Both teams threatened in the first game but the Eagles broke through after a pitching change, putting runners on second and third with none out. An RBI groundout, a triple and another RBI groundout put Southern Boone up 4-1. Capital City got runners into scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings but couldn't cash in.
"I think defensively they got a little bit better, and I think they've improved in all facets of the game," Ash said of Capital City. "They're still a young team trying to figure out things, and they're only going to continue to get better. Coach Skinner does a good job, and coach (Jim) Womack, so I have no doubt they're going to continue to get better. They're going to be a handful here in a year or two."
The Eagles scored a run in each of the first two innings of Game 2 as the home team and didn't allow a baserunner past first. Then Ty Wood led off the top of the third with a walk, and Brock Miles doubled to center with one out. Rowden followed with a two-run triple to the wall in center, and came home on a wild pitch dropped third strike that put Kuebler on second base. Kuebler then scored on a double steal after Grayson Jones reached on an infield hit to take a 4-2 lead.
Southern Boone answered with two runs in the bottom half to tie the game, then scored again in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. After a 1-2-3 fifth from both teams, Preston Pinet hit an opposite-field double to lead off the sixth, and Noah Nicklas laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Pinet up, but Pinet was stranded by a strikeout and a fly to center to end the game.
Capital City's varsity schedule concludes Tuesday at Blair Oaks, while the JV team wraps up Thursday in a makeup against Southern Boone.
"I'd like to go out and compete," Skinner said. "Blair Oaks has got a really good squad, a very good offensive squad, so it'll be a big test for us. If we can go out there, play defense, throw strikes, hopefully we can hang in there."