Area digest 7/6/03

Capahas rebound at Valmeyer tournament

The Craftsman Union Capahas rebounded from an opening day loss to Alton (Ill.) by routing Granite City (Ill.) 11-3 Saturday at the Valmeyer tournament.

Despite being eliminated from championship contention, the Capahas (24-2) jumped on Granite City for 12 hits, including four runs in the first. The key to the Capahas success was a solid fielding performance behind Murray State ace Kyle Perry.

After starting the season with only three errors through 16 games, the Capahas committed four errors in Friday's loss. A first-inning error Saturday looked ominous for Craftsman Union, but the defense was sure-handed the rest of the way and Perry took over from there.

Perry improved his record to 3-1 with 11 strikeouts in eight innings of work. Perry allowed 10 hits but did not walk a batter and allowed only two extra base-hits.

The Capahas were led offensively by Josh Eftink and John Payne, who each went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. Dave Lawson added two hits, including a home run and two RBIs. Lance Seasor and Steve Kress also had two hits apiece for the Capahas.

The Capahas play Fairview Heights (Ill.) at 10 a.m. today in their tournament finale.

Ford and Sons wins at Ballwin Tournament

Cape Girardeau's Senior Legion team put up 23 hits in a 15-6 rout of Thoman Boothe Saturday at the Ballwin Tournament.

Ford and Sons rebounded after dropping its first two games in pool play Friday. Cape (16-10) took an early 7-0 lead before Thoman Boothe answered with six runs in the bottom of the second. Lee Essner settled down from there to pick up the win. Essner allowed 13 hits, struck out seven and walked one in seven innings.

Chris Conrad led the offense with a 5-for-5 performance, including two doubles. Tyler Schlosser came up big for Cape, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs. Josh Ford added three hits while Seth Hudson, Wayne Essner, Luke McClellan and Kyle Diveley had two hits apiece.

Ford and Sons will finish tournament play today with a 9 a.m. game against Manchester.

Cape A's reach final of Firecracker Classic

Corey Huskey tossed a three-hit, five-inning shutout against Oran Saturday at Capaha Park to lead the Cape A's to their third straight Senior Babe Ruth Firecracker Classic championship game appearance.

The A's used the mercy rule in its 10-0 pool win over Oran. Huskey struck out five and walked four to pick up the win. Offensively, Huskey and Chance Franklin had two hits apiece.

In the other pool, Chaffee advanced to the championship game with a 1-1 record. Chaffee's record matched those of fellow pool members Steele and Dexter, but due to run differential Chaffee moved to the championship game. Chaffee was a plus-1, while Dexter sat at an even zero after a 5-1 win over Steele on Saturday.

The championship game will be at 5:30 p.m. today at Capaha Park. Charleston will meet Steele in the fifth-place game after beating New Madrid 10-5 Saturday, and Oran and Dexter will meet in the third-place game.

-- From staff reports