Central season ends in district loss to PB

JACKSON, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Central's season ended with a 3-2 loss to Poplar Bluff in Tuesday's opening round of the Class 4A, District 1 baseball tournament at American Legion Field.

"It went kind of like the whole season has gone," Central coach Steve Williams said. "We were close, but just couldn't get it done."

It was the eighth one-run loss for the Tigers (9-14), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Central scored two runs in the fourth inning to take the lead, but Poplar Bluff (8-16) picked up three in its half of the inning to account for all the scoring in the well-played game that saw neither team commit an error.

John Thies (3-8), the losing pitcher, tossed a four-hitter, as did winning hurler Josh Smith.

Poplar Bluff advances to today's 4 p.m. semifinal against top-seeded, host Jackson. The 6 p.m. semifinal pits No. 2 Farmington against No. 3 Hillsboro.

Class 2A, District 2

Top-seeded Notre Dame survived the first round by beating No. 8 Crystal City 9-4, but second-seeded Chaffee wasn't so fortunate as the Red Devils were surprised by No. 7 Grandview 4-2.

Other opening-round games saw No. 3 Kelly rout No. 6 Charleston and No. 5 Woodland slip past No. 4 Scott City 5-3.

Notre Dame (14-5) was led by Tim Wencewicz, who went 3-for-3. Shane Kistner, Matt Wulfers and Scott Wittenborn all added two hits while Kyle Diveley homered. Wayne Essner pitched 6 1/3 innings for the victory. Crystal City is 6-12.

Chaffee (12-9) committed four errors as all of the Grandview (8-8) runs were unearned. Brandon Davis and Brent Thomason each had two hits for Chaffee. Zac Horman was handed the loss. Mike Barton pitched a seven-hitter for the victory.

Kyle Long allowed just one hit and no runs while striking out 12 in 6 1/3 innings and also hit a two-run homer to lead Woodland (13-8) past Scott City (5-10). The Rams got a strong performance from Jason Umfleet, who hurled a four-hitter.

Kelly (8-10) needed just six innings to dispose of Charleston (9-9). Derrick Wheetley had three hits and three RBIs for the Hawks while Major Burger and Tyler Schlosser both added two hits. Garrett Stricker fired a five-hitter.

In today's semifinals in Chaffee, Notre Dame plays Woodland at 3 p.m. and Kelly faces Grandview at 5 p.m.

Class 1A, District 2

ORAN, Mo. -- The favored teams all prevailed in opening-round play, including top-seeded and host Oran (15-4), which received a forfeit from No. 8 Richland (0-7).

On the field, No. 2 Bell City cruised past No. 7 Scott County Central 13-3 in five innings, No. 3 St. Vincent slipped past No. 6 Delta 3-1 and No. 4 Valle downed No. 5 Oak Ridge 19-9 in five innings.

Ben Duncan homered and had three hits for Bell City (10-4), which got two hits from Ty Brown and Zac McIntyre. Dominitrix Johnson was the winner. Scott Central is 1-7.

Dusty Cissell of St. Vincent (4-13) outdueled Lance Kinder of Delta (2-10) as the teams combined for just five hits, two by the winners.

Jeremy Mueller and Tyson Fallert had a pair of doubles as Valle (9-6) banged out 18 hits in cruising past Oak Ridge (5-8).

Today's semifinals feature Oran vs. Valle at 2:30 p.m. and Bell City vs. St. Vincent at 4:30 p.m.

Class 1A, District 3

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Top seeds Leopold and Advance coasted to first-round victories. The No. 1 and host Wildcats blanked No. 8 Zalma 8-0 while the No. 2 Hornets crushed No. 7 Lesterville 27-0 in five innings.

Also in the opening round, No. 3 Bunker beat No. 6 Meadow Heights 10-3 and No. 4 Viburnum routed No. 5 South Iron 19-4 in five innings.

Brandon Bueter pitched a two-hitter for Leopold (11-5). Lucas Horrell paced the Wildcats with two hits.

Advance (4-6) got a combined perfect game from Eric O'Hare and Aaron Cantrell. O'Hare struck out seven in the first three innings. O'Hare also homered and had three hits.

Today's semifinals pit Leopold against Viburnum at 2 p.m. and Advance vs. Bunker at 4 p.m.

Boys' golf

Jackson finished 11th as the Class 4A boys' golf championship wrapped up at the par-72 Silo Ridge Golf and Country Club at Bolivar, Mo. The Indians were in a 10th-place tie after Monday's opening round.

The Indians' score of 662 (332-330) was 43 strokes behind first-place St. Joseph Central.

Kyle Perry was Jackson's top finisher as he tied for 28th with a 160 (82-78). Blake McDowell tied for 67th (167, 82-85), Peyton Sims tied for 70th (168, 82-86), Matt Litzelfelner tied for 77th (169, 86-83) and Eric Fraley tied for 90th (171, 87-84).

Cape Girardeau Central's lone qualifier, Todd Obergoenner, tied for 20th (158, 77-81).

CLASS 2A: Cape Girardeau Notre Dame, at the par-72 Island Green Golf Course in Republic, Mo., improved its first-round position by one place as it finished 11th with a score of 693 (348-345). Pembroke Hill won with 617.

Notre Dame's Tim Buerck tied for 25th (163, 81-82), followed by Paul Unterreiner (tie for 67th, 174, 87-87), Adam Fenwick (tie for 79th, 179, 87-92), Adam Rigdon (tie for 88th, 182, 93-89) and Jordan Kuper (tie for 96th, 186, 99-87).

CLASS 1A: At the par-70 Bill & Payne Stewart Golf Course in Springfield, Mo., defending champion St. Vincent fell off by 15 strokes from its second-place first-day total and wound up third. The Indians' 643 (314-329) was well behind winner Gallatin's 608 and just behind runner-up Springfield Greeenwood's 641.

St. Vincent's Andrew Prost earned all-state honors by placing in the top 15 as he tied for 12th (156, 76-80).

Wes Richardet tied for 20th (159, 79-80), followed by Adam Prost (tie for 23rd, 160, 78-82), Joel Carron (tie for 50th, 168, 81-87) and Scott Prost (tie for 85th, 181, 84-97).

CLASS 3A: Dexter, fourth after the first day, rallied to win the state title at the par-72 Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Mo. The Bearcats finished at 653 (336-317) to slip past runner-up Richmond (656).

Ste. Genevieve's Zach Decker won the individual title (148, 79-69).

Perryville's lone qualifier, Kellen Stark, tied for 120th (187, 97-90).

--From staff reports