CAPE SR. BABE RUTH TO IGNITE FIRECRACKER CLASSIC FRIDAY

The Cape Girardeau Senior Babe Ruth baseball program will host its annual Firecracker Classic this weekend.

Eight teams -- including two from Cape Girardeau -- will participate in the three-day tournament that will be played at Capaha Field, Central High School and Notre Dame High School.

Cape's two squads are the Yankees, who are made up primarily of players ages 17 and 18; and the White Sox, who consist mainly of 16-year-olds.

Joining the Cape teams in Pool A are Jackson and Sikeston's Junior American Legion squad.

Pool B consists of Dexter, New Madrid, the Steele Junior American Legion and the Mayfield (Ky.) Senior American Legion.

Pool play will be held Friday and Saturday. There will be four games Friday, three of them at 6 p.m. as the Cape Yankees play the Cape White Sox at Central, Jackson faces Sikeston at Notre Dame and Dexter takes on New Madrid at Capaha. The other Friday contest, set for an 8:30 p.m. start, pits Steele against Mayfield at Capaha.

There will be eight games Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. as the Cape White Sox play Jackson at Capaha. At 11 a.m., Dexter plays Mayfield at Central and New Madrid faces Steele at Notre Dame. Then at 1 p.m., the Cape Yankees play Sikeston at Capaha.

At 2 p.m., New Madrid plays Mayfield at Central while Dexter takes on Steele at Notre Dame. The final two games of the day are set for Capaha, with the Cape White Sox playing Sikeston at 6 p.m. and the Cape Yankees facing Jackson at 8:30 p.m.

The tournament wraps up Sunday. At 1 p.m., the champion of Pool B plays the Pool A runner-up at Central while the Pool A champion takes on the Pool B runner-up at Capaha. Those winners will square off at 4 p.m. at Capaha to decide the title.