Cairo drops to Higbee

By Kris Childs

The Cairo Bearcats hosted a non-conference game against the Higbee Tigers Tuesday evening. Higbee has been having a pretty successful season coming into the game with a 7-1 record while Cairo has been competitive as well posting a 6-3 record on the season.

Higbee got on the board in the first inning when a dropped pop fly allowed the first run to score.  Cairo added one of their own later to tie the game at one a piece. The score remained tied until Travis Holtzclaw belted a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning to give Higbee a 2-1 lead. 

The Tigers added two more runs in the fifth when Craig DeJonge doubled home two runs extending the Tiger lead 4-1. Later in the sixth inning Zach Kirkendoll added another run with a towering solo shot that landed beyond the left field fence making the Higbee lead 6-1.

Cairo’s Seth Barratt narrowed the lead later to 6-3 in the sixth with clutch a 2 RBI double with 2 outs in the inning but Higbee’s strong pitching and hitting was more than Cairo could handle Tuesday night. Higbee added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning from two fielding errors which were more than enough for them to hang on for the victory by a final score of 8-4.

For Cairo, Seth Barratt suffered the loss giving up 5 runs through 4 and 1/3 innings. Barratt also had a double at the plate with 2 RBI’s.

Arthur Fuller was the winning pitcher for Higbee pitching 4 innings only surrendering one run. Travis Holtzclaw and Zach Kirkendoll headlined Higbee’s assault at the plate with a solo home run each. Craig DeJonge also had a double with 2 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.

Cairo is now 6-4 overall and will travel to New Franklin for their next game April 22. Higbee improves to 8-1 overall and will next play MMA at home on April 20.

Photo above: Higbee’s Travis Holtzclaw gets a low-five from Coach Chris Sanders as he nears the plate following his homerun against the Cairo Bearcats.