KNIGHTS CAPTURE DISTRICT REHEARSAL

Farmington High's baseball team knocked off host Cape Girardeau Central 8-4 Monday afternoon, handing the Tigers only their second defeat in their last 10 games.

But Central won't have to wait long for a rematch.

The seedings for next week's Class 4A, District 1 Tournament were voted on by the coaches Monday evening -- and, as expected, the Tigers and Knights were seeded to meet in the first round.

No. 2 Farmington and No. 3 Central will square off at 5:30 p.m. May 19. Sikeston received the top seed and will host the district. Poplar Bluff is the fourth seed while Jackson is fifth.

"I kind of figured we'd both be seeded to play each other in the district," said Central coach Steve Williams. "I think we're pretty evenly matched, when we play well."

Farmington coach Stan Walden, prior to learning of the district pairings, also figured his Knights would meet Central again.

Walden believes the Knights, who are 15-5 and have won 10 of their last 12 games, might have had a shot at the top seed -- but Saturday's loss to Jackson ended those hopes.

"The Jackson game hurt us," said Walden. "I figure we'll probably play Cape again. But it really doesn't matter because the district looks so wide open. I think everybody has a shot."

Central fell to 13-11 primarily because the Tigers lagged on offense. Central had only five hits -- all of them singles -- and two of those didn't even leave the infield.

"We didn't hit the ball well," Williams said. "We didn't make their pitcher work early."

Farmington hurler Greg Collins, a 14-year-old freshman, overpowered the Tigers in the early going, striking out the side in the first inning and fanning five through three innings.

With Farmington scoring once in the first on Mike Thebeau's rocket home run to right and three times in the second on Thebeau's RBI double and Josh Hoehn's two-run triple, it looked like the Tigers were in for a long day.

But Central pitcher Justin Cook settled down and the Tigers took advantage of Collins' wildness to tie the contest.

Central scored an unearned run in the fourth and tallied three runs in the fifth -- Collins walked four in the frame and allowed two infield singles -- to pull into a 4-4 deadlock.

But Farmington immediately broke the tie in the sixth on Jeff Bowling's RBI single. The Knights iced the victory with three runs in the seventh, two of them unearned.

Farmington had 13 hits, led by Travis Myers with three. Thebeau, Bowling and Ronnie Lashley all had two.

Matt Welker paced Central with two hits.

Cook pitched all seven innings and took the loss. Five of the eight runs he allowed were earned. He fanned three and walked one.

Collins hurled 4 2/3 innings and did not figure into the decision. He fanned six, walked six and allowed four runs and three hits.

Jake Tiefenauer got the final out with the bases loaded in the fifth to keep the game tied and he went on to notch the win, allowing two hits in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

"Our freshman (Collins) pitched well until he ran out of gas. He's going to be a good one," Walden said. "We hit the ball solid early and got some breaks late."

Central will be right back in action today, hosting Notre Dame.