Oct. 16, 2008
Box Score 
NORMAL, Ill. - Corey Maines allowed one hit in five shutout innings and hit a solo home run while leading the Capra All-Stars to a 4-1 win over the Bergman All-Stars in game four of the Redbird Fall Series at Duffy Bass Field Thursday.
Maines struck out seven and retired 13 consecutive batters from the end of the first inning through the end of the fifth. He finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a double in the second inning and a towering home run to left center in the fourth. Maines was also sharp with his glove, snagging a sharp comebacker from Jake Thornton in the fifth inning.
"I saw it and didn't think I was going to be anywhere close to catching it," Maines said. "I thought it was just going to hit me and then somehow it hit my glove and I fell over, shocked that I caught it."
That's just the type of day Maines had. The sophomore from Houston, Texas, received a boost from his teammates before he even took the mound as Ryan Court homered with two outs in the top of the first to put the Capra All-Stars up 1-0.
Maines ran into some trouble in the bottom half of the inning, surrendering a leadoff single to Bergman All-Stars shortstop Collin Salzenstein and later walking Evan Kohli. Both runners would reach scoring position on a wild pitch, but Maines sat down a swinging Mark Evans to end the threat.
From there, Maines was dominant on the hill, retiring all twelve batters he faced in four perfect innings. The Capra All-Stars added a run in the top of the second inning and Maines made it a 3-0 game with his solo shot in the fourth off of Bergman All-Stars starter Ryan Copeland.
"I was feeling really good today," Maines said. "Copeland left a couple of pitches up in the zone and I got to both of them. On the mound, it's always better pitching with the lead. When you have a lead, you can throw strikes and challenge hitters - it's a lot easier."
Copeland wasn't bad in his five innings of work, despite a few hard hit balls. He struck out four batters and walked one while getting charged with two of the three runs.
The Bergman All-Stars pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth against Team Capra reliever Dan Sorce, but couldn't get any closer. The Capra All-Stars answered with a run in the top of the seventh and Sorce closed the game by fanning the final two batters of the game.
The win by the Capra All-Stars sets up a dramatic finish for the Redbird Fall Series on Sunday at 10 a.m. at Duffy Bass Field, with the winner of that nine inning contest earning bragging rights for the whole series.
