Cape eliminates Jackson 19-13

~ While Jackson lost, it will still play in next week's zone tournament.

Jackson knows it will participate in next week's American Legion Zone 4 tournament because Post 158 is serving as host of the five-team event.

Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons knows the only way it will advance to the zone is by winning this week's District 14 tournament.

Those two local rivals slugged it out Thursday in a wild losers bracket game at Capaha Field.

In a contest that took nearly 3 1/2 hours to complete, second-seeded Cape outlasted Jackson 19-13.

Jackson Legion coach Mark Lewis placed the ball in the glove of pitcher Levi Petzoldt, who relieved Kyle Birk in the second inning of Tuesday's District 14 tournament game against Cape Girardeau Legion at Capaha Field. (AARON EISENHAUER ~aeisenhauer@semissourian.com)

"It was definitely a battle," Cape assistant coach Ryan Essex said.

Jackson, the bottom seed for the five-team, double-elimination district meet, can take solace in the fact it will not yet have to hang up its gear.

"We're disappointed we weren't able to continue with the tournament, but we're excited about being in the zone," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said.

District host Cape was, for the moment at least, content that it had survived and advanced to face top-seeded Scott County later Thursday night in the losers bracket final.

"At this point, it doesn't really matter what kind of game it is, you just want to win and stay alive," Essex said. "They played hard. I'm proud of them."

Ford & Sons (30-19 prior to Thursday's nightcap) remained alive thanks primarily to a 17-hit attack, just enough pitching and plenty of help from a Jackson defense that committed seven errors.

Jackson (23-27) also had considerable offense with 14 hits, and Post 158 benefited from a Cape defense that made five errors.

"A lot of times you get a pretty wild game in these situations," Lewis said.

Blake Slattery and Cody Tellor did much of the damage at the plate for Cape.

Slattery, who earlier this week signed a letter of intent to play baseball for Southeast Missouri State, continued his monster offensive summer.

Slattery belted his 13th home run of the Legion season, a three-run shot in the bottom of the first inning.

He drilled RBI doubles in the second and third innings before forcing home a run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth.

Slattery walked in his next plate appearance before finally being retired. He finished the game 3-for-4 with six RBIs.

"He's a lot of fun to watch," Essex said.

Tellor contributed nearly one-third of Ford & Sons' hit total as he went 5-for-6, including a triple and two RBIs.

Winning pitcher Garrett Stevens added two hits for Cape.

Stevens allowed nine hits and nine runs, five earned, in 5 1/3 innings.

Nick Allen worked the final 3 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and four runs.

Cape's hurlers combined to walk 10 batters, which aided Jackson's cause.

"But they hung in there for us," Essex said. "At this point you want to use as few pitchers as possible."

Ryan Cheney had a huge offensive night for Jackson, going 5-for-6 with a triple, a double and three RBIs.

Jake Hime, Sam Lincoln and Alex Tripp all added two hits.

"We hit the ball," Lewis said. "But we just couldn't shut down their offense. That's a credit to Cape."

Starter Kyle Birk was tagged for five hits and six runs, five earned, in 1 1/3 innings.

Levi Petzoldt took the loss. The second of four Jackson pitchers, Petzoldt gave up eight hits and six runs, three earned, in 2 2/3 innings.

Cape led 6-2 after two innings, fell behind 7-6 in the top of the third and regained the lead for good with three in the bottom of the third.

Ford & Sons opened a 17-9 advantage after seven innings and held off Jackson at the end.