Central baseball team opens district tourney today against Farmington

Central baseball coach Steve Williams hopes the rollercoaster season that has been the 2013 Tigers is back on the incline.

Central (10-19), which blanked Charleston 6-0 on Wednesday, enters Class 5 District 1 tournament play today having won seven of its past eight games. The Tigers, seeded fifth in the district, will play fourth-seeded Farmington at Hillsboro at 4:30 p.m.

"We've been playing better the past couple of weeks," Williams said. "Our defense has gotten solid and we're swinging the bats better. That's a good combination for us."

Central got off to a decent start before enduring a 12-game midseason losing streak that tested the Tigers' mettle. Many of those losses, Williams said, were one-run or extra-inning affairs in which Central failed to connect on a key, timely hit to turn the tide.

That seems to have turned around the past eight games in which the Tigers have played some of their best ball of the season.

"We're starting to execute both offensively and defensively," Williams said, stressing his squad's ability to move baserunners along while cutting down on fielding and throwing errors. "We're making those plays work for us where earlier in the year, we weren't."

The district bracket includes top-seeded Seckman (13-6), which defeated Central earlier this season, seeded No. 1. Jackson (19-6), 9-3 winners over Festus on Wednesday, is seeded No. 2. Other teams in the district include No. 3 seed Poplar Bluff and No. 6 seed Hillsboro.

"I think it's wide open," Williams said of the field, noting his top starters are available after his second-tier pitchers threw against Charleston. "We should have everybody ready."

Jackson will open district play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against today's winner between Poplar Bluff and Hillsboro.

Other local teams also begin district play Saturday, while some will not take the field until Monday.

In Class 1 District 2 at Oran, Oak Ridge (9-9) and Richland will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, while Advance and Scott County Central will square off at noon. Oran (16-5) will play the Advance-SCC winner at 2 p.m. Monday, while Bell City will take on the Oak Ridge-Richland winner at 4 p.m.

In the Class 1 District 3 tournament at Caledonia, top-seeded Leopold will not be in action until 2 p.m. Monday, when it plays the winner of Lesterville vs. Viburnum.

In Class 2 District 3, Saxony Lutheran (12-9-1) will face Greenville (7-12) at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the winner meeting host Chaffee (20-7) at 2 p.m. Monday.

St. Vincent also begins what would be a three-game trek to a district championship when it plays Crystal City at 2 p.m. Saturday in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., where the Class 2 District 4 tournament is being hosted by Valle Catholic. The winner will face Bismarck at 4:30 p.m. Monday. Meadow Heights also plays Kingston in a first-round game Saturday. The winner will play top-seeded Valle at 2:30 p.m. Monday.

In Class 3 District 2 in Charleston, Mo., Woodland (12-13) and Kelly (6-15) both will be in action Saturday. Woodland will face Charleston at 11 a.m., while Kelly will take on East Prairie at 2 p.m. Scott City (17-5) will jump into the fray Monday, when it plays the Kelly-East Prairie winner in a 4 p.m. semifinal.

Notre Dame (22-6) also will not see action until 4 p.m. Monday in the Class 4 District 1 tournament, which it will host. The top-seeded Bulldogs await the winner of Saturday's first-round game between No. 4 Dexter and No. 5 Perryville. Second-seeded Sikeston will face the Kennett-Fredericktown winner in the other semifinal.