Cape Legion team out to prove it belongs

Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons didn't have to earn a spot in the American Legion Zone 4 Tournament that begins today at Capaha Park.

Even so, manager Tom Reinagel is confident his team will prove it belongs in the field.

Cape joins four district champions in the double-elimination event that advances the winner to next week's four-team state tournament in Columbia. Cape is in the zone tournament only because it serves as host, but Reinagel said the team plans on being more than just an easy mark for the other four teams.

"I think we'll match up pretty well with everybody else and playing at home should help us," Reinagel said. "There are going to be four other really good teams here, but if we play well, then I think we'll be right in there."

Today's first-round games have Anheuser-Busch (22-12) playing Oakville (33-9) at 5:30 p.m. and Cape (21-16) facing Festus (29-12) at 8:30 p.m.

Dunklin County (35-7) received an opening-round bye into a 1 p.m. Friday game against the Cape-Festus winner.

Dunklin County, which has won six of the past seven District 14 titles and features Southeast Missouri State University signee Nathan Baker among a young squad, has appeared in zone events four straight years. The team was second in the state in 1999 and captured the 2000 state title on its way to a second-place regional finish.

"This is another very talented bunch," Dunklin County manager Jamie Johnson said. "We should be able to compete well, but it's going to be a great tournament, with five quality teams."

District 13 winner Festus, which lost to eventual state champion Chaffee 11-10 in last year's zone title game, has won 21 of its last 22 games. The team features a host of potent hitters and left-handed pitcher Jake Habsieger, who was taken in the 44th round of this year's baseball draft but elected not to sign.

"We had a rough start, but we've been playing well for quite a while now," Festus manager Pat Bone said. "This is a real solid group. We've got kids that can hit one through nine, but our calling cards are defense and pitching."

Bone is wary of all the zone teams, including host Cape, which Festus rallied past 8-7 early in the season.

"Cape will be a handful for us in the opener," Bone said. "The entire zone is excellent. We've had the state champion several years in a row out of this zone."

Oakville, which won the highly competitive District 10 in St. Louis County for the second straight year, features a trio of Division I signees in Jason Murray, Chris Jones and Kyle Kolb, who are all headed to Indiana State. The squad has a collective .360 batting average, led by Jason Perniciaro, who is hitting an eye-opening .535 with 61 RBIs.

"We feel a lot better this year than last year," said Oakville manager Ryan Hetzer, whose team went 0-2 in the 2001 zone tournament. "I think last year we kind of went to the zone wondering if we belonged. We ran into some tough luck and some good teams.

"We've got most of those guys back and we feel confident that we'll have a better showing, but anything can happen. There are a lot of good teams in this tournament."

Anheuser-Busch, which advanced out of St. Louis' District 11-12 that includes just two teams, features left-handed pitcher Ron Martin, a high-school senior-to-be who figures to be one of the state's top professional prospects next year. Martin enters zone play having thrown back-to-back no-hitters.

"Ron is really a good pitcher," Anheuser-Busch coach Mike Clifton said. "But considering our pitching staff going in (three hurlers recently quit the squad), we're definitely not the favorite."

Cape, while having something of an up-and-down season, showed flashes throughout the summer. Shane Kistner is batting .470 to lead eight players hitting above .300 and ace hurler John Thies has been solid, although the rest of the pitching staff has been inconsistent.

"We've got the potential," Reinagel said. "Hopefully we'll put it together this week."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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