Ford & Sons outlasts Jackson

Cape Girardeau and Jackson hooked up for the first American Legion district game of the season for both teams Monday night at Capaha Field in a contest that featured two of the area's top high school pitchers.

With Jeremy Brinkmeyer on the mound for Cape Ford & Sons and Tyler Beussink starting for Jackson, Monday's game had all the makings of a good pitchers duel. It did not work out that way for either starter, with Cape edging Jackson 11-8 in the opener of a doubleheader.

"The kids really battled," Ford & Sons coach David Meyr said. "They tried to come in with the attitude they wanted to win this game, and they did."

Going into the bottom of the third of the opener, both pitchers appeared to be on top of their games. Beussink faced the minimum over his first two innings, and Brinkmeyer allowed just one hit over three innings.

The wheels came off for Beussink in the bottom of the third, as Cape teed off for seven hits and seven runs. Zac Hudson, who led off the inning with a single, had two hits and two RBIs in the inning. Sean Bard also drove in two in the inning.

"My feeling was they hit the baseball," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said. "They did a good job at the plate. I didn't think [Beussink] was throwing bad, they just did a good job of hitting."

With his team ahead 7-0, Brinkmeyer -- who finished with a 0.85 ERA in 57 2/3 innings this season for Notre Dame -- simply lost his control. Brinkmeyer walked five in the top of the fourth. Chad Minson chased Brinkmeyer with a two-run single with two outs in the inning to trim the lead to 7-5.

Blake Essner relieved and retired Jason Meystedt on a long fly ball to end the inning. Essner would soon have his own bout with wildness, as Jackson loaded the bases in the fifth inning with a leadoff double, followed by a walk and a hit batsman. However, Ford & Sons escaped without any damage, as Essner struck out the next three hitters to end the threat. Essner struck out six in 3 1/3 innings to pick up the victory.

"It's tough in a game when the kids have the bases loaded and strike out three times," Lewis said.

Cape came back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to open up a 10-5 lead. Ford & Sons had four hits in the inning, with two doubles and two triples. Bard and Hudson each had RBI triples.

Jackson scored two in the seventh and one in the eighth to close within 10-8, but Cape added a run in the bottom of the eighth and retired Jackson in order in the ninth. Mike Taylor pitched the final two innings for Ford & Sons for the save.

"We were trying to find someone to stop the bleeding and Blake came in there and battled and shut them down, then Mike came in and shut them down," Meyr said.

Beussink allowed 10 runs on 13 hits in six-plus innings. He retired the side in order four times. Austin Morrison was solid in three innings of relief, allowing two hits and one run.

"It was just a pretty good game," Lewis said. "We battled back and kept battling, and they kept tallying runs."

Bard was the offensive star for Cape, finishing with four hits, including a double and a triple and three RBIs. Hudson was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Brinkmeyer also finished with two hits, as Ford & Sons banged out 15 hits.

"I think we were pumped up for this one," Meyr said. "Cross-town rivals, they just came out ready to go. The big thing is we were really being aggressive."