FORD & SONS DEFEATS FESTUS 8-5

When Cape Ford & Sons American Legion's scheduled opponent Manchester backed out late Sunday night, Festus stepped in and proved to be a rugged replacement for the local squad Monday night at Capaha Field.

But Cape battled back from an early 4-0 deficit to claim an 8-5 win over last year's state champion Legion team. The win improved Ford & Sons to 25-11. Festus fell to 15-6.

Ross Bennett sparked the comeback with a two-run home run in the fourth, and Jeff Michel drove in three runs and had a steal of home to complete the rally.

Michel put Cape on top in the sixth with a two-run single past a diving shortstop to make the score 5-4. Ford & Sons loaded the bases later in the inning and stole another run with some heads up base running.

With two outs, Festus catcher Paul Kohler attempted to pick off Jeff Beasley at first base after a pitch. Beasley got in a run-down between first and second, allowing the runner on third -- Michel -- to break for the plate.

The first baseman's throw was wild to the plate as Michel's steal of home put Cape ahead 6-4.

Ford & Sons manager Ron Michel said the steal of home was not by design.

"We got lucky on that play," said Michel. "But I knew when the first baseman had the ball we had a chance because watching him in warm-ups he had a terrible arm."

Jeff Michel added an insurance run in the seventh with a long fly ball to deep center field, scoring Jeff Lappe from third to make the score 7-4.

Craig Ringwald pitched eight innings for the win, shaking off four runs in the first two innings. Ringwald didn't allow Festus to score again until back-to-back extra base in the eighth that cut the lead to 7-5.

Ringwald scattered 11 hits in his eight innings, striking out seven and walking two. Todd Pennington pitched the ninth inning to nail down the win.

"That's the third good outing for Craig in a row," Ron Michel said. "He battled back after the tough start and really pitched well."

Festus scored a run in the first inning and three more in the second to take an early lead.

Bennett got Cape on the scoreboard in the fourth, taking advantage of a one-out hit by Lappe with a towering two-run home run to right field that closed the score to 4-2. Lappe had three of Cape's 15 hits.

After closing the score to 5-3 in the fifth on a RBI-single by Chris Bradshaw, Five consecutive singles in the sixth put Cape up for good.

Andy Sweet, Bennett, Nathan McGuire, Pennington and Michel all had two hits for Ford & Sons.