Jackson American Legion baseball team wins Paragould tourney title

The Jackson Senior American Legion baseball team captured the championship at the 7 UP Classic with a 9-4 victory over host Paragould, Ark., on Sunday.

Jackson's offense was led by Chase Simmons, who recorded a solo home run in the second, and Logan Bartels, who connected for a two-run homer in the sixth.

"The kids swung the bats well," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said. "The big thing was we fouled off some tough pitches and were able to cash in. I ran some kids into some outs, but the kids stepped up and even picked me up. I liked the way they were tough outs at the plate."

Jackson never trailed in the contest. It scored two runs in the top of the first on RBI singles by Kendall Fay and Alex Bolen.

Jackson starting pitcher Jared Hathcoat struggled with his command in the bottom of the first. He allowed four baserunners on two walks and two singles, but he managed to minimize the damage. Hathcoat allowed only one Paragould runner to cross the plate in the opening inning.

"Jared did a good job," Lewis said. "The first inning he didn't have it. He settled down on the edges in the second inning but was still missing a spot here and there. By the third inning, he was good."

Jackson scored in the next three innings and Paragould added a run in the third to make it 6-2 after four.

Paragould tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-3. Three of the first four hitters reached safely in the inning, which forced Jackson to go to its bullpen. Joel Koenig recorded the final two outs of the inning on a double play.

"I felt like Hathcoat fatigued a little bit later in the game," Lewis said. "We could have kept going with him but brought Koenig into the game to finish it, and he did a good job getting ground balls to close it out."

Jackson blew open the game in the sixth. It scored its first run on an RBI double by Dylan Koehler then added two runs on Bartels' two-run homer.

Hathcoat collected the win for Jackson. He allowed three runs over 4 1/3 innings. Koenig picked up the save. He surrendered one run over 2 2/3 innings.

Bartels, Koehler and Fay each finished with two RBIs for Jackson.

Cape Girardeau third

The Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons Post 63 Senior American Legion baseball team managed to score in each of its last three innings to collect a come-from-behind 6-4 victory against Dunklin County on Sunday.

"Defensively we did all right," Dunklin County coach Jamie Johnson said. "We just had the one bad inning and it really came back to haunt us. You have to tip your hat. They hit the baseball out of the yard. That's baseball. We got behind on a lot of their hitters today and we cannot do that."

Dunklin County starting pitcher Jamie Middleton held Post 63's offense to two runs over four innings before being lifted in the middle of the fifth inning. Aaron Wendel tallied Cape's first run on an RBI single in the fourth, and Andrew Williams added an RBI single in the fifth.

Dunklin County's Logan Edwards replaced Middleton on the mound with no outs in the fifth.

"Jamie had a fingernail issue and we brought him out," Johnson said. "Logan came in and it just wasn't his day today. Hopefully down the road it will be his day when it counts the most."

Dunklin County maintained a 4-2 lead entering the bottom of the sixth. Cape tallied four runs in the inning. Cody Livesay drove in the first two runs when he connected for Cape's third consecutive hit of the inning -- an RBI double. Jimmy Obermark provided the final blow two batters later when he connected for a two-run homer to give Cape its first lead at 6-4.

"We had established we were hitting the ball well and getting on base every inning," Cape coach Todd Pennington said. "We just couldn't get that big hit. We finally got a couple big hits and put runs on the board in the sixth."

Josh Meyer picked up the complete-game win for Cape. He allowed six hits and struck out four.

"He just came back from vacation," Pennington said about Meyer. "He drove in from Florida to pitch and did a very good job of getting his focus back. The first inning he had to get his feet underneath him and gave up a couple of runs because he wasn't sharp yet. But I'm real proud of him. He came right back focused and did a good job for us."

The teams will meet Saturday for the fourth and fifth times this season when Dunklin County hosts a doubleheader at Senath-Hornersville's high school field. The district opener is slated for 1 p.m. Dunklin County enters with a 4-0 record in district, while Cape stands at 4-1.