Late rally falls short as Gems lose again in Cape Girardeau, fall 4 1/2 games out of first place

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The Quincy Gems fell behind 4-0 in the first inning to the Cape Catfish and never could catch up in a 10-8 loss Sunday afternoon in a Prospect League game at Capaha Field.

The Gems (28-26 overall, 9-13 second half) are in third place in the Great River Division, 4 ½ games behind Normal. 

Quincy picked up a run in the third inning when shortstop Hayden Moore (Missouri State) tripled and scored when Dayson Croes grounded out. The Catfish answered with three more runs in the bottom of the third off Gems starter Peyton Clampitt, then another run in the fifth inning made the score 8-1.

Quincy scored twice in the top of the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Luke Napleton and first baseman Jayden Shafer and an RBI single by Jaison Andujar, but Cape scored two more times in the bottom of the seventh.

Quincy scored twice in the eighth inning, then added three more runs in the top of the ninth when Moore knocked a three-run homer. The next two batters, Croes and Drew Townsend, flied out to left and grounded out, respectively, to end the game.

Clampitt took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out two over three innings. Reliever Stefan Stockwell allowed one earned run and two hits in five innings. Napleton, Andujar and Moore had two hits each, and every starter had a hit but Croes, who saw his 11-game hitting streak end.