FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: KOLWYCK PUTTING UP ALL-STATE NUMBERS

Not even in his pursuit of 70 had Mark McGwire put together a streak of this magnitude.

Consider what Kelly center fielder Brad Kolwyck's accomplished in a matter of 3-plus games: 10-for-12, five home runs and 14 runs batted in.

His five home runs came in consecutive at-bats.

Eat your heart out, Fernando Tatis.

The only time I had a chance to see him play this season, he went a mortal 1-for-3 with a game-winning single down the right-field line against Chaffee. Ho hum.

Kolwyck, after the Chaffee game, was hitting .549 with eight home runs, 25 RBIs (double the amount of any other Kelly player) and 16 runs scored. His on-base percentage before the Chaffee game was .703 and his slugging percentage was 1.548.

Can you say all-state?

Kolwyck is challenging and has perhaps overtaken Notre Dame shortstop Josh Eftink as the most feared hitter in southeast Missouri. Eftink has six homers.

Since we're talking high school baseball, three teams have emerged as the elite teams in the area this year -- Kelly, Notre Dame and Chaffee -- and they're all from the same Class 2A district. None of the three have more than three losses.

Each has consistently beaten teams twice its class size.

And even though Kelly beat Notre Dame head-to-head and should be granted the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district, I believe Notre Dame is the best team of the three.

Kelly, which plays with impressive team chemistry, has the best three, four and five hitters in the region.

But I feel that Notre Dame has the edge when considering the whole package. The Bulldogs have more depth (four strong starters and it's hard to determine which one is the No. 1) and better hitters from top to bottom. Notre Dame plays a tougher schedule and its team earned run average is less than half of Kelly's respectable 3.60 ERA.

And Notre Dame's defense has been nearly flawless in the several games I've seen this year.

Chaffee, the scrappiest team of the lot, is good enough to beat either Kelly or Notre Dame on its best day. But the Red Devils have neither the fire power nor the consistency of Kelly and Notre Dame.

Chaffee's Tommy Stidham is probably the best table setter on any team south of Perryville. He's always on base and is a hindrance to pitchers. He's the type of guy who can produce a run by himself and that's immeasurable in close games. Take away a couple of foul balls in last Friday's game at Kelly High School and Stidham would've stolen third easily with one out and probably would have scored as the next batter hit a chopper to short.

The only trouble Notre Dame seems to be having is finding players to fill in certain roles. The Bulldogs have two excellent leadoff guys (Nathan Essner and Tommy Wencewicz), but no one who has excelled in the No. 2 spot. Eftink, concreted in the No. 3 hole, has had four or five different guys "protecting" him in the cleanup spot this year.

No one has nailed down that position yet, but John O'Rourke has hit line drives as consistently as any player for Notre Dame this year and looked good hitting fourth on Tuesday against Sikeston. O'Rourke, though, isn't exactly your typical, power-hitting cleanup man.

As for Kelly, it's difficult to accurately judge the Hawks based on seeing them play just once. But I like the way Jim Hulshof pitched last Friday and I like their lineup.

Jamie Essner, Kelly's leadoff hitter, impressed me with with two singles and two runs scored against Chaffee. He was the only player on either team with two hits.

Then you've got Kolwyck, Jason Glastetter (.310, three home runs, 17 runs) and Hulshof (.447, 12 RBI) in the third through fifth spots. Those are three great high school athletes in the heart of the order. They're capable of producing a lot of runs -- and a district championship.

Basically, the district title will go to the team who makes the fewest errors on the field and on the basepaths.

Just because I think Notre Dame has the best team, doesn't mean I think it will necessarily win the district.

Sometimes the best teams don't always win.

Kelly's basketball team proved that when it knocked off Scott City, the second-ranked team in the state, in the district championship just a few weeks ago.

Bob Miller is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.