Area sports digest 8/4/04

Jackson 11-U wins state Cal Ripken titleThe Jackson 11-and-under Cal Ripken baseball team won the state championship on Monday, beating Washington, Mo., 12-0 in the final.

The victory capped a 4-0 run through the tournament, in which Jackson outscored its foes 47-1. Jackson will play Aug. 12 through Aug. 17 in the Midwest Plains Regional in Boonville, Mo.

Zach McDowell led the tournament with 11 runs driven in, and Clay Baker pitched two one-hitters.

Other members of the team: Chase Crowden, Neil Johnson, Mason Sander, Ethan Ruch, Ryan Sprandel, Ryan Gendron, Will Artadi, Trace Uren, Logan Bartels, Afton Eftink and Bobby Clark. Ron Clark coaches the team with assistance from Mike Eftink and Nate Crowden.

Jackson had won the district title by coming through the losers bracket and then beating Mineral Area 1-0 and 6-3 in eight innings.

Two local players assist Diamond KingsThe St. Louis Diamond Kings won the NABF 15-and-under World Series on June 25 at Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee.

Matt Hester of Cape Girardeau and Luke Crader of Jackson played roles in the championship run. Jerod Scott of Sikeston also played for the team, which included mostly St. Louis-area players.

The Diamond Kings were 7-0 in the 31-team tournament.

Southeast volleyball honored academicallySoutheast is one of five OVC volleyball teams that earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2003-04 season.

The award, which went to 46 Division I women's programs, honors teams that maintained at least a 3.3 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.

-- From staff reports