DISTRICT SOFTBALL READY TO BE DECIDED

Area high school softball teams are hoping home cooking is just what they need as the district playoffs get under way in earnest today.

All three district tournaments involving Southeast Missouri squads will be held in the area. Cape Girardeau Central is hosting Class 4A, District 1; Perryville is hosting Class 3A, District 1; and Kelly is hosting Class 2A, District 1.

* 4A District: Fox of Arnold is the top seed and overwhelming favorite after completing the regular season with an undefeated record and a No. 1 ranking in the St. Louis area.

Seckman, Arnold's brand-new high school, is seeded second, but third-seeded Cape Central has split two games with Seckman.

The remainder of seeds are: Northwest fourth, Jackson fifth, Mehlville sixth, Oakville seventh, Hillsboro eighth and Poplar Bluff ninth.

Hillsboro beat Poplar Bluff Thursday to get into the main eight-team bracket as four quarterfinal games are set for today.

At Arena Park today, Jackson plays Northwest at 11 a.m. while Cape Central faces Mehlville at 1 p.m. The other quarterfinals have Fox hosting Hillsboro and Oakville hosting Seckman.

The semifinals will be played Monday. If Cape Central and Jackson move on, then the semifinals will be at Arena Park. If two St. Louis-area schools are involved, then they will have the option of playing in their area.

The championship game will be played Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Arena Park.

"Fox has to be the favorite," said Cape Central coach Don Lang. "They haven't lost yet. But you never know what could happen."

Cape Central and Jackson, 14-7 and 14-9, respectively, certainly appear more than capable of putting together several solid games and making a run at the title.

* 3A District: Highly-regarded St. Louis-area schools Lutheran South and Notre Dame are the top two seeds.

DuBourg is seeded third, with Perryville fourth, Affton fifth, Windsor sixth, Herculaneum seventh, Ste. Genevieve eighth, St. John's ninth and Doniphan 10th.

Herculaneum hosts Doniphan and Ste. Genevieve hosts St. John's in games today to determine the main eight-team bracket.

Quarterfinal action will take place Monday, with the higher seed hosting games. Perryville will host Affton at 4:30 p.m.

The rest of the tournament will be played in Perryville. Semifinals are set for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday, with the finals slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

* 2A District: If Kelly's Lady Hawks don't win their own district, it will rank as one of the sports's biggest upsets.

The Lady Hawks have won 12 straight district titles and they finished second in the state last year.

Kelly, with a 13-4 record facing a number of larger schools, is seeded first ahead of Twin Rivers, East Carter County, East Prairie, Greenville and Neelyville.

Two games today will feature Greenville at East Prairie and Neelyville at East Carter.

The semifinals will be at Kelly Monday at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., with the championship game at Kelly set for 4 p.m. Tuesday.