Catfish Drop to .500

Led by Ben "Cooter" Jones, the Charleston Riverdogs (Yankees) handed the Columbus Catfish their second straight loss tonight, 9-5, dropping the Catfish to 8-8 for the second half.

Jones, as far as you know, no relation to Ben Jones of Dukes of Hazzard and U. S. Congress fame, hit two home runs to lead the Charleston attack.

The Catfish had a 4-2 lead after the second inning, but four multi-run innings by the Riverdogs did in the local nine.

RF Sergio Pedroza and 1B David Sutherland each had two hits to pace the Catfish.

In the bottom of the second inning, down 2-0, the Catfish punched four runs across on a walk, two doubles, and two singles. After DH Jason Mooneyham walked to lead off the second, David Sutherland hit a one-out double (his 11th). C Juan Apodaca grounded out, but scored Mooneyham. CF Bridger Hunt singled in Sutherland. After SS Ivan De Jesus reached on a single to right field, 2B Travis Denker doubled to right, scoring De Jesus.

The Catfish managed only one other run, when David Sutherland singled in Lucas May in the third inning.

The defensive highlight for the Catfish was Pedroza throwing out Charleston runner Eduardo Nunez, who tried to advance to second after Pedroza caught Riverdogs batter Kevin Nelson's fly ball to deep right. A perfect throw was needed to keep Nunez from advancing, and Pedroza delivered, showing again why he should have been selected to the league all-star game.

With the loss, the Catfish fall to .500, tied with Charleston for fifth place in the second half. Friday night, the Catfish open a series when the Rome Braves come to town. The team plans a beach promotion to kick the series off.