JEFFCO CONFERENCE BOASTS PAIR OF STATE CHAMPS IN BASEBALL

This part of the state, and the Jefferson County Conference in particular, was well represented in the state baseball playoffs this past week.

Three teams from the Jefferson County Conference made the final four including 1A state champ St. Vincent, 2A state champ Crystal City and 3A final four team Festus. Also in that same conference is defending state champ Herculaneum.

St. Vincent also proved in its impressive run throughout the playoffs that District 2 is the best the state has to offer.

The Indians had a tougher time in their district than they did in Columbia. St. Vincent outscored its opponents 19-0 at Simmons Field, but only beat Oran 2-0 in the district semifinal and Advance 3-2 for the district championship.

With Notre Dame taking third place in 2A and Cape Central advancing to the quarterfinals, this part of the state showed a widespread improvement over last year.

SMS gets hooks in Central's Fisher

Cape Central's best hitter this past season, Mark Fisher, will be playing baseball at the Division I level.

Though he did not receive a scholarship to play at Southwest Missouri State University, the first baseman/catcher was recruited by the Bears and will have a spot on the team and will be eligible for a scholarship after this year.

Fisher hit .425 and set the school's single-season RBI record with 34 and the single-season walk record with 30.

Conner signs with Lindenwood

Ross Conner, Cape Central's leading scorer in basketball for the past two seasons, has signed a letter of intent to play at NAIA school Lindenwood University in St. Charles.

Conner is a 6-foot-4 forward who averaged 14 points per game last year. As a junior, Conner was named the SEMO Conference Player of the Year.

Another Cape Central basketball player, Eric Wessel, has been invited to walk on at the University of Missouri-Rolla. Wessel, a 6-3 3-point specialist, is going to Rolla on an academic scholarship. He averaged about 11 points per game last year.

Kolwyck signs with MAC

Kelly center fielder Brad Kolwyck recently signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Mineral Area College in Park Hills.

Kolwyck batted .456 this past season with one home run and 15 runs batted in. For his career with the Hawks, Kolwyck batted .421 with 10 home runs and 71 RBIs.

Kolwyck will join his teammate from last year, Jason Glastetter, who also plays for Mineral Area.

Becker headed to Maryville

Beth Becker, a Jackson pitcher, has signed with Maryville University in St. Louis to play softball.

Becker, for her career, threw 10 shutouts and three no-hitters. She finished with a 1.41 earned run average.

She was named all-conference and all-district in 1998 and 1999.

Maryville, an NCAA Division III institution, finished last season at 31-9-1.

DeClue signs with East Central College

Stacey DeClue, a two-year starter for the Jackson Lady Indians, recently signed a letter-of-intent to play softball for East Central College in Union.

The Lady Indians' left fielder the last two seasons, DeClue earned honorable mention as a senior both in the conference and in the district.