Central, Jackson to meet for title

~ The SEMO Conference rivals will play for the Class 4 District 1 championship Friday.

Senior pitcher Brad LaBruyere tied a Central school record Wednesday with his 29th career victory as the Tigers reached the championship game of the Class 4 District 1 tournament in Hillsboro with a 6-1 victory over Fox.

The top-seeded Tigers (15-10) seeking their first district title since 2000, will face Jackson at 6 p.m. Friday. Jackson routed Hillsboro 12-2 in six inning in the other semifinal.

LaBruyere (7-2) struck out six, walked two and allowed four hits in seven innings. LaBruyere, who is 29-7 in his varsity career at Central, tied former Tigers pitcher Steve Goodman for career victories.

"He didn't have his best stuff, but he really battled whe he had to and gave us a chance to win," Central coach Steve Williams said.

Central scored three runs in both the first and sixth innings.

The Tigers popped for four hits in the first inning and had nine in the game. LaBruyere and Chris Brotherton had RBI singles in the first.

"It gave us a little cushion where a mistake doesn't kill you," Williams said of the Tigers' quick start.

Fox commited two errors in Central's three-run sixth. Eric Ennis had an RBI single in the inning.

Matt Hester went 2-for-4 and Ennis was 2-for-3.

Logan Lawson struck out 10, walked one and allowed just three hits in six innings in Jackson's win. Lawson added a three-run home run for the Indians with two outs in the third inning to start Jackson's scoring.

"The big blow being that three-run homer because they were up 1-0 and had some momentum," Jackson coach Rex Crosnoe said. "That kind of gave us a jump-start and kept the pressure on them."

Lawson finished with four RBIs. Rex Meyr added two hits and two RBIs, and Luke Crader also had two hits.

Jackson and Central have split their two meetings this season. Central won the first meeting 3-2, and Jackson beat Central 11-10 in the SEMO Conference Tournament.

"We've had two exciting games -- one a low-scoring game and one a long, crazy one -- so you never know," Crosnoe said.