CAPE LEGION ENDS REGULAR SEASON BY SPLITTING PAIR AGAINST SIKESTON

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau's Ford & Sons American Legion baseball squad wrapped up its regular season Saturday night by splitting a doubleheader with host Sikeston. Cape won the opener 9-3 and dropped the nightcap 5-4.

Cape is 25-20 overall while Sikeston is 25-11. Both teams finished with 19-9 District 14 records -- tied for third place in the eight-team league and split the four games with each other, but Ford & Sons will earn the No. 3 seed for this week's District 14 Tournament based on run differential.

Jason Chavez pitched all seven innings of the opener, allowing four hits and two earned runs. He struck out five and walked four.

Dusty Barrows was Cape's offensive star, having three of his team's seven hits, including a first-inning grand slam home run. Barrows drove in five runs. Shane Kistner added two hits and two RBIs.

Gabe Scherer, who had fired a one-hit shutout at Cape earlier in the year, suffered the loss as he gave up eight runs and four hits in just two innings. Scherer was hurt by six walks.

In the second game, Sikeston pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Brian Nelson to break a 4-4 tie and end things.

Justin Welker was the tough-luck loser. In 6 2/3 innings, he allowed four hits and only one earned run while fanning nine and walking three. Bobby Landers earned the win in relief.

Welker also had three of Cape's eight hits.

Late Friday night, Cape lost the second game of a doubleheader at Chaffee 7-3. Ford & Sons had dropped the opener 12-3.

Riverdogs win pair

MOBERLY, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau Riverdogs won two routs Saturday in round-robin play of the over-18 division at the Show-Me Games.

The Riverdogs pummeled the Higby Tigers 14-1 and then pounded the Columbia Sox 12-2.

Steve Fowler picked up the win in the opener, allowing two hits in four innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

Shane Gibson and Greg Craft led a 12-hit attack with three hits apiece. Gibson had three RBIs while Josh West had two hits and five RBIs.

Chris Reeves allowed just two hits against the Sox. He struck out three and walked one.

West, who had a home run, and Craft had three hits each for the Riverdogs (11-13). Cape had 15 hits in the game.

With a win over Imperial, Mo., today, the Riverdogs will advance to the championship game.

Regional softball

LAKIN, Kan. -- The Heartland Nationals moved to within one victory of the Babe Ruth Softball 12-under regional championship.

The Nationals, based in Benton, Mo., defeated Southwest Kansas 24-11 Saturday in the winner's bracket final. They'll play either Southwest Kansas or Eastern Colorado at 11 a.m. today in the championship round.

Southwest Kansas or Eastern Colorado would have to beat the Nationals twice in order to win the title and earn a berth in the Babe Ruth Softball World Series in Pine Bluff, Ark.

Whitney Horrell pitched all six innings for the victory Saturday. She received support from a 16-hit attack.

Miranda Schlosser had two hits and six RBIs. Hannah Glueck led the way with three hits while Horrell, Summer Proctor, Kalie Hughes, Kristain Burger and Brittany Ponder all added two.

The Heartland Americans, another Benton-based squad competing in the regional tournament, lost to Eastern Colorado and was eliminated. No score was available.