Cape Jr. Legion Post 63 wins zone tournament

The Cape Girardeau Junior Legion Post 63 baseball team needed four consecutive wins in the Zone 4 Tournament to reach the state tournament, and the team did so in dramatic fashion with pitcher Noah Arnzen firing a no-hitter at Rock Memorial in the if-necessary championship game Saturday evening in Bonne Terre, Missouri.

Cape punched its ticket with a 12-0 victory in five innings after defeating the same squad from Imperial, Missouri, 14-2 in six innings earlier in the day.

The victories came on the heels of a 14-8 win over Eureka and a 12-1 victory over Bonne Terre on Friday. Cape dropped its tournament opener 7-6 in eight innings Thursday after leading 6-2 at one point.

"We've been through a lot of adversity [this year]," Post 63 coach Josh Meyer said. "Losing that first one was tough, but numerous times we've fought and swept doubleheaders, and that's how we looked at it -- two doubleheaders, one on Friday and one on Saturday. And we needed to sweep both of those, and that's what we did."

In the zone clincher, Arnzen struck out five batters and walked two, and he also helped himself at the plate with a double and three RBIs.

Jawonne Newell also had a double in going 3-for-4 for Cape, which improved to 30-9. James Reid also had a pair of hits in the game as Post 63 finished with 11 hits overall.

Cape took a 2-0 lead into the top of the third inning, where it scored five times. It added five more runs in the fourth for a 12-0 advantage.

In the first championship game, Post 63 banged out 13 hits and scored seven runs in the second inning to seize control. Seven of the hits were doubles, including three by Nathan Patterson, who went 3-for-4.

Newell, Nick Lindsay and Austin Dill each added two hits, including doubles by Dill and Lindsay.

Jacquen Cummins, who also had a double, picked up the win on the mound, striking out eight over five innings. He walked three and yielded five hits. Dill pitched the final inning and struck out one and gave up one hit.

The state tournament begins Thursday in Washington, Missouri.

Cape Post 63 12, Rock Memorial 0 Cape 115 50 -- 12 11 1

Rock 000 00 -- 0 0 6

WP -- Noah Arnzen. 2B -- Arnzen (C), Nathan Paterson (C), Jawonne Newell (C). Multiple hits -- Cape: Newell 3-4, James Reid 2-3.

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Cape Post 63 14, Rock Memorial 2

Cape 073 004 -- 14 13 3

Rock 000 000 -- 2 6 4

WP -- Jacquen Cummins. 2B -- Cummins (C), Nathan Patterson 3 (C), Austin Dill (C), James Reid (C), Nick Lindsay (C). Multiple hits -- Cape: Newell 2-4, Lindsay 2-5, Patterson 3-4, Dill 2-3.