BIG 8 TOURNEY TO OPEN

Local baseball fans looking for some high-quality high school baseball action this weekend will be in for a treat at the Cape Central Big 8 Invitational.

The eight-team tournament begins today with four games and will conclude Saturday. All teams will play three games in the two-day event that will include three games at Capaha Field tonight. All other games will be played at either the Central or Notre Dame fields.

Local squads Cape Central and Notre Dame will face some tough competition in the likes of St. Louis area teams Fort Zumwalt South, Eureka, Rockwood Summit and Hazelwood Central. Owensville, Mo., and Harrisburg, Ill., will also be competitive.

According to Central coach Steve Williams, Eureka, Fort Zumwalt, Harrisburg and Notre Dame look to be the top squads in this year's field.

Eureka has lost only once this year and is ranked highly in the St. Louis area. But the team with possibly the most intriguing player will be last year's Class 4A state runner-up, Fort Zumwalt.

Steve Collier, a left-handed pitcher for Fort Zumwalt, has been named by a national scouting service as the top high school pitching prospect in the country. He is expected to be a high pick in the upcoming major-league draft.

"He's a lefty and he'll throw the ball 94-95 miles per hour," Williams said. "He'll likely be a No. 1 draft choice this year."

In 22 innings this season, Collier has struck out 45 batters. He's allowed 18 hits, walked 16 batters and has an E.R.A. of 3.68.

Action begins today with three games at Capaha Field. Notre Dame will begin action with a contest against Eureka at 4 p.m. Harrisburg and Fort Zumwalt will follow at 6:15 p.m. and Owensville and Hazelwood Central will end action at Capaha with a game at 8:30 p.m.

Also today, Central will host Rockwood Summit on the Tiger Field at 4:30 p.m.

Saturday's action will begin at 10 a.m., with consolation bracket semifinal action at the Central and Notre Dame fields. Semifinal action will follow on both fields at noon.

Third- and seventh-place games are scheduled for 2 p.m. Central will host the third-place game and Notre Dame the seventh.

The tourney will conclude with the championship and third-place contests scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The championship game will be at Tiger Field and Notre Dame will host the third-place game.

* Kelly High School will also be holding the Hawk and Lady Hawk four-team invitational on Saturday.

For the boys, Kelly will host Scott City starting at 9 a.m. Perryville and Jackson will follow at 11 a.m. First- and third-place games will be played later in the afternoon.

In the girls tourney, Chaffee and Notre Dame will start play at 9 a.m. Kelly and St. Vincent's will follow at 10:30 a.m. First- and third-place games will also be played.