CAPE USES BIG INNING TO SALVAGE SPLIT

As futile as Cape Girardeau's Ford & Sons American Legion baseball team looked for the first 11 innings of Wednesday night's doubleheader against visiting Sikeston, the local squad must feel pretty good about gaining a split.

After being blanked on one hit -- an infield single -- by Gabe Scherer in the 6-0 opener, Cape failed to score in the first four innings of the nightcap, again having just one hit to that point.

But, all of a sudden, Ford & Sons exploded. Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Cape used four hits along with two crucial Sikeston errors to put seven runs on the board. That uprising paved the way for an 8-2 victory.

"We needed that one," said Cape manager Tom Reinagel of the huge fifth inning. "We hadn't done much to that point."

Cape is now 9-10 overall and 6-4 in District 14 play. Sikeston is 11-5 overall and 8-4 in the district.

The opening game belonged totally to Scherer, a Bell City High School product.

Scherer, while not overpowering, totally dominated Cape's batters, who hit precious few balls hard. The right-hander struck out two, walked four and allowed only one man to reach as far as third base.

Only an infield single by John Snider in the third inning -- he hit a little dribbler down the third-base line that somehow stayed fair, which resulted in no play by the Sikeston third baseman -- prevented Scherer from recording a no-hitter.

"I really wanted the shutout, but I didn't think I would get it," said Scherer, who needed a nifty game-ending double-play started by standout shortstop Adam Garrett with runners on first and third in the seventh to keep Cape off the scoreboard. "Adam made a great play."

Losing hurler Justin Welker was solid, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in six innings. He fanned six and walked one.

Ben Nelson went 4-for-4 to pace Sikeston's 12-hit attack.

In the nightcap, 16-year-old right-hander Jake Kimball blanked Cape on one hit through four innings as Sikeston led 2-0.

But an error and two walks --Kimball walked seven while fanning eight -- loaded the bases with one out and marked the end of the line for Kimball, who was replaced by Nelson.

Cape then tagged Nelson -- who took the loss -- for four hits, and another key error thrown in caused six of the seven runs to be unearned. Tyler Schlosser's two-run single tied the contest, the go-ahead runs came in on an error, then Timmy Wencewicz had a two-run double and Zac Fidler an RBI single for some insurance.

Jay Pierce hurled impressively for the victory. Working all seven innings, he allowed seven hits, with three strikeouts and two walks.

"Jay pitched a really good game," Reinagel said.

Fidler had two of Cape's seven hits. Chris Cota had three hits for Sikeston while Jamie Puckett added two.