Bishop keeps Kaufman in check as Kapper keeps Class A hopes alive in 8-4 win
However, on Tuesday, August 16 at Tuscora Park in New Philadelphia, Kapper Chiropractic pitcher Joe Bishop challenged his foes, hitters from league champion Kaufman Realty, by coming at them head on.
Bishop was masterful after a shaky start, striking out 10 in Kapper’s 8-4 victory, and his effort helped keep his team alive to play again in the double elimination tournament, forcing a second championship game.
Marcus Mamarella began the game for Kapper with a single, advanced to second on a bunt and third on Ryan Fondriest’s single, and then scored on Jeremy Fisher’s sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
Bishop then took the mound and gave the lead away, but it could have been much worse. Ross Yoder and Josh Jarvis singled for Kaufman, and Clinton Yoder then bunted his way on for a hit to load the bases with no outs. Bishop then got Keene Marstrell to ground back to him, and went home to first for the double play. Opposing pitcher Josh Frank then induced a walk, and Brandon Wengerd then hit a fly ball to Mamarella in right which he dropped for an error, producing two runs. Bishop then struck out Tim Kandel to end the threat, but in a game featuring two of the league’s top hurlers, it was almost surreal that each team had plated runs in the first inning.
“I missed some spots early, and I think I was being a little too careful,” said Bishop. “You make a mistake to these guys and they make you pay.”
If Mamarella felt bad about allowing the two unearned runs to score in the first, he atoned in the second. After Cameron Bahler led off with a single, Jimmy Fickes advanced him to second with a bunt, and he raced home on Bobby Hall’s single. Then after Kyle Sattler struck out, Mamarella drove a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall off of Frank to spot Kapper to a 4-2 lead.
Bishop began settling in, and in the third his battery mate Fisher gave him another insurance run, clobbering a colossal shot over the left field wall for a 5-2 lead, and what would eventually become the winning run.
Not that Kaufman wouldn’t make it interesting. Marstrell walked and came around to score from second, racing all the way home on a Wengerd infield single to make it 5-3. But with runners on first and second and two outs, Bishop got Kandel to hit a high fly to right, and this time Mamarella safely tucked it away to end the threat.
Kapper then went to work in the sixth, effectively putting the game away. With one out, Hall and Sattler singled and Mamarella drew a walk, bringing Sam Fondriest to the plate. Fondriest lined a single to left to make it 7-4, then Fisher came through again, ripping a single down the left field line to spot Kapper to an 8-4 edge.
That lead was enough for Bishop to go right at Kaufman’s hitters, and he did, getting the final six outs on strikeouts, although Kaufman did load the bases in the seventh before Bishop got Nicky Yoder on a nasty breaking pitch to end it.
“I felt like I got stronger as the game went along,” said Bishop. “I was getting a little tired but I felt like I had my A game. Pitching on three days rest for the second time in a row, I felt surprisingly good.”
Kapper coach Jeff Fondriest said that his star pitcher was throwing free and easy, and didn’t have to force anything. He wasn’t surprised by that.
What did come as a shock was the eight-spot his team put up against Frank, who annually is one of the league’s best.
“Eight runs... I don’t know when the last time was that we would have scored that many against Kaufman let alone Josh,” said Fondriest. “That was a surprise.”
The outpouring of offense shocked Kaufman skipper Chuck Jarvis as well, especially since these two teams had locked horns for three low-scoring heart-stoppers this season, all won by one run by Kapper.
What was par for the course, according to Jarvis, was Bishop.
“My hat is off to him,” said Jarvis of Bishop. “He’s one of the best in the league, and he pitches well in big games. His curve ball was fantastic tonight and he made us look really bad at times. I’m not surprised at how well he has pitched.”
Not surprised because it was the third time this year that Bishop has taken down Kaufman, a major feat considering Kaufman has only lost five games all season.
As for his own ace, Jarvis said Frank wasn’t missing pitches, but Kapper was simply hitting the ball where it was pitched, and putting good pitches in play.
“They’re playing very good baseball right now,” said Jarvis of Kapper. “It obviously didn’t turn out like we had wanted it to, but it was an entertaining ball game. We’ll come back and see if we can get it done tomorrow night.”
On this night, Bishop takes king, and because of his effort, Kapper has one last move left.
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The championship game will have been played Wednesday, August 17. For a report and photos on the game, check out our website at http://www.HolmesCountyJournal.com or http://www.TuscBargain Hunter.com.
Published: August 16, 2011
