Six-run implosion dooms Cape at Caesar Rodney

Baseball is a game of half inches. At Caesar Rodney May 6, the Cape baseball team scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the Riders at 3-3 thanks to RBI hits from David Kwan and Drew Mulcahy against ace pitcher Steve Clavier.

The Riders responded by loading the bases in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and a full count and all runners moving, Cape pitcher Griffin Kammerer grooved a pitch too close to take but "no swing batter” let it go by for ball four, forcing in the go-ahead run.

Griffin grimaced and the umpired pointed and told him balls and strikes cannot be argued. Coach Ben Evick called time out and asked the umpire a pointed question. “Where the heck was that pitch?" The answer was heard by all along the backstop brigade, “It was a half inch outside.”

That opened the door to a disastrous Cape inning in which the Riders scored six runs to race out to a 9-3 lead, which held up for a 9-4 victory.

Cape outhit the Riders 9-4 in the ballgame, but the six-run fourth proved to be a killer.

Quintin Ivy was the offensive leader for the Riders, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

Cape dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 7-8 on the regular season with three home games remaining.

The Vikings hosted Polytech (7-4) Thursday, May 8. They finish up the schedule with Smyrna (10-4) Tuesday, May 13, and Saint Mark’s (13-1) Friday, May 16.

Caesar Rodney, under head coach Rich Szvitich, improved to 11-3 on the season.