LOCAL BASEBALL TEAMS CARRY HIGH HOPES INTO 1998 SEASON

Several of the area's high school baseball teams have high hopes this season -- and with good reason.

Cape Girardeau Central had a disappointing campaign last season but the Tigers return a host of players who gained valuable experience a year ago.

Notre Dame had a banner season before being upset in the district finals and the Bulldogs also return quite a bit of talent.

Jackson had a solid season and reached the district finals, Scott City put together an impressive record and Kelly had the best season of all, reaching the Class 2A Final Four.

And Chaffee, which struggled last year, is also optimistic about making a major improvement.

It's no wonder, then, that Southeast Missouri figures to once again feature plenty of strong teams.

The local prep baseball season gets under way in the next several days. Following is a look at some of the squads in the immediate area:

Cape Central

A potentially strong and deep pitching staff has coach Steve Williams optimistic that the Tigers can rebound from last year's uncharasterically so-so season that featured a 12-12 record and an upset loss to Jackson in the district semifinals.

"Last year was very disappointing," said Williams. "I thought we would do better than did but we didn't and this year we'll try to make amends.

"We always have high hopes at Central. I feel like we have a lot of guys coming back with experience and we should have a strong pitching staff."

The Tigers will have a roster dominated by upperclassmen with 11 seniors and five juniors among their 17 players.

Williams said as many as nine pitchers could see action for the Tigers, including several who were key hurlers last year.

Senior lefthander Craig Ringwald, one of the area's best prospects, returns for his second season as the Tigers' ace. Ringwald, hampered by poor run support, went just 3-5 as a junior but he had an impressive 2.73 earned-run average while striking out 70 and walking just 13 in 60 innings.

"Craig really pitched well for us last year and we'll be counting on him a lot," Williams said.

Seniors Tatum Kitchen (3-4, 3.97 ERA), Michael Minner (3-1, 2.84 ERA), Ross Bennett (2-3), Jeff Michel (1-0) and Paul Dobbins (1-0) also return after seeing plenty of varsity action last year. Minner and Bennett are, like Ringwald, lefthanders.

Adding even more depth to the pitching staff will be senior Joe McCullough, junior lefty Matt Welker and junior Travis Klipfel. Welker was the JV team's top hurler last season.

Bennett, who plays center field, is the Tigers' top returning hitter with a .395 average and he also set a school record for triples last season with seven.

Senior left fielder Andy Sweet batted .367 as a junior while Kitchen, who plays third base, hit .329 and belted a team-leading five home runs.

Seniors Greg Craft and Chris Bradshaw, who split time at the catcher position last year and also played other spots, batted .328 and .289, respectively.

Ringwald and Dobbins are battling for the first base spot, with junior Mitch Ogles and Klipfel at second and sophomore Richard Harrison and McCullough at shortstop.

Competing for playing time in the outfield are seniors David Hamm and Adam Bertrand and junior Mike Sullivan, along with Welker.

One of the points of emphasis for Williams this year is to improve the Tigers' defense.

"Our defense was atrocious last year," he said. "If we want to win, we'll have to improve on that so we've really been emphasizing it. If we play good defense then I think we'll be fine because I believe we'll be able to hit the ball and our pitching should be solid."

The Tigers open the season Wednesday at Chaffee.

Notre Dame

The Bulldogs have put together back-to-back exceptional seasons, combining for a 42-8 record the last two years, including a 22-4 mark in 1997. Notre Dame has won the SEMO Conference title both season.

Last year was marred somewhat by a loss to Kelly in the district championship game, but Notre Dame -- despite losing several key seniors off that squad -- looks to be strong again.

"I think we should be competitive again this year," said coach Gregg Muench. "We've got two senior pitchers who I think should keep us in most games."

Those senior hurlers are Ryan LeGrand and Keith Hamm, who were both 4-0 last year. LeGrand also had the Bulldogs' best earned-run average, an impressive 0.91.

"They've been very successful on the JV and in summer ball and they also did a good job on the varsity for us last year," said Muench.

LeGrand and Hamm will head up what appears to be a deep mound staff. Other hurlers Muench will be counting on are a trio of sophomores: Brian Obermann, Mark Ostendorf and Tommy Wencewicz. Obermann was 12-2 on the JV last year and also was solid in spot varsity action.

"We should have good pitching depth and with the schedule we play, we really need it," Muench said. "We have some stretches where we play a lot of games in a few days."

Offensively, the leading returning players are two sophomores, shortstop Josh Eftink and Wencewicz, who will play the outfield. Eftink batted .429 with an area-leading nine home runs last year while Wencewicz hit .380 as both had banner freshmen seasons.

LeGrand and Hamm will both play the outfield when not pitching while another senior, Bryan Drury, is at first base.

Sophomore Scott Reinagel returns at catcher after starting about half the games there as a frosh. Among other key players for the Bulldogs are junior infielder Griffan Reutzel and sophomore third baseman Wesley Steele.

"I think we'll be able to hit the ball," said Muench. "A bit key for us will be how solid our defense is."

Notre Dame will play host to Sikeston Tuesday as the season begins.

Jackson

The Indians had a solid first season under coach Sam Sides last year, going 14-11 and reaching the district championship game after an upset of Cape Central in the district semifinals.

Sides is expecting another solid campaign -- as long as his pitchers have their control and the Indians play solid defense.

"If our pitchers throw strikes, we should be fine because I think we'll be able to score some runs and I think we'll be better defensively," he said. "We've got quite a few people back who had good seasons for us last year."

Pitching looms as a question mark for the Indians because they return only one hurler with varsity experience in senior Jason Goben. Others expected to see action on the mound are juniors Chris Kohm, Chris Schlick, Paul Johns and Andy Callis.

"Jason is not overpowering but he's pretty consistent and he had some good games for us last year," Sides said. "We've got to find some pitchers we can count on after him."

Jackson returns several of its top hitters from last year, including standout senior shortstop Travis Stevens, who batted .380 as a junior and is one of the area's premier players.

Also back after solid seasons are senior catcher Justin Gladish, who hit better than .300 and led the squad in stolen bases from his leadoff position; junior outfielder Todd Wessel, who hit better than .300; and senior second baseman Zane McClard, who also was over .300.

Two others, senior outfielders Jared Suedekum and Burt Hahs, also started quite a bit last year.

Newcomers who will help the Indians, most of them having played on the JV last year, in addition to Kohm, Schlick, Johns and Callis, are fellow juniors Ryan Beltz, Ben Turner and Josh Koehler, along with sophomore Tory Meyr.

Jackson opens the campaign Wednesday at Ste. Genevieve.

Scott City

Mike Umfleet, a Scott City assistant the past three seasons, takes over as the Rams' head coach this year. He'll try to help the Rams recover from the loss of six key seniors from a 13-6 team.

"I'm really excited (about being head coach)," said Umfleet. "We lost a lot of key players, so everything is kind of up in the air right now. It'll be a very challenging season, but hopefully we'll just keep getting better and better as the season goes along."

The Rams have suffered a major blow before the season even gets started with the loss of senior center fielder Howie Stubenrauch, who suffered an injury during basketball that will require surgery. A three-year starter, Stubenrauch could miss the entire campaign.

Key returning players for the Rams include senior shortstop Tim Lowery, who hit .320 last season and is also the team's top returning pitcher; and junior first baseman John Wipfler, who batted nearly .400 a year ago.

"We'll be counting on Tim and John a lot," Umfleet said. "Tim has been starting since his freshman year and he's been one of our best pitchers for three years while John led us in hitting last season."

Juniors Lance Amick (center field) and Brandon Amick (infield) both saw plenty of action last year while seniors Travis Burger (outfield) and Pat Johnston (third base) also return.

Umfleet will also be counting on junior Jason Bickings and sophomore Lee Powers, who are contending for the catching position.

Wipfler and Brandon Amick figure to do quite a bit of the pitching when Lowery is not on the mound.

Scott City opens the season Thursday at Portageville.

Chaffee

Coach Bruce Qualls is hopeful of a rebound season after last year's disappointing 5-16 record.

"We had a rough season last year but hopefully we'll be better," said Qualls. "We're still young, with only two seniors. But I think we've got some talent. I think we can contend for conference and district titles, but we've got to have some kids have real good years."

Qualls figures a solid performance this year could really lead to bigger and better things next season.

"We can be good this year, but we're really pushing toward next year because we've got a real good junior class," he said.

The Red Devils return quite a few starters from last season, including senior first baseman Josh Hanlon, senior outfielder David Little, junior catcher Jason Harrell, junior second baseman Dusty Leggett, junior third baseman Matt Graham, junior outfielder Jeremy Vandeven and sophomore shortstop Tommy Stidham.

Qualls will also be counting on the likes of juniors Phillip Blevins, Garrett Senciboy and Denny Graviett; sophomore Ryan Pobst; and freshmen Jeremy Lynn, G.P. Glueck, Matt Stroup and Travis Hanback.

"We've got a real good freshmen class and some of them will have a chance to get playing time," Qualls said.

Hanlon returns as the top pitcher while Stidham, Blevins and Stroup will also see plenty of mound action.

Chaffee plays its first game Wednesday when Cape Central visits.

Kelly

The Hawks enter the new season full of optimism -- and you can't really blame them.

Kelly was the area's surprise team last year, winning a district title after being seeded only third and advancing all the way to the Class 2A Final Four, where the Hawks finished third.

Armed with a host of key players off that 16-10 team, Kelly is expected to be among the area's best teams this year as well as among the best squads in the state. The Hawks have been ranked third in 2A in a preseason coaches poll.

"Excitement is high and that's to be expected," said Kelly coach Mike Scott. "We've got six starters back from last year and, for the first time, I think we'll have a little more depth. We'll have kids coming off the bench that could have probably started on last year's team.

"Last year we knew all along we had a solid team, then we had a couple of key wins late in season, the confidence really picked up and the rest is history. We'll have high goals this year, but we also have to keep things in perspective."

Headlining the returning regulars is senior Denver Stuckey, a first-team all-stater who pitches and plays shortstop. Stuckey, named an honorable-mention prep All-American by College Baseball Magazine, batted .430 and went 6-4 on the mound as a junior.

Other starters back are senior third baseman John Livingston, who hit .385 last year; senior second baseman Ben Klipfel, .330; junior first baseman Jim Hulshof, .300; junior left fielder Jason Glastetter, three homers, 20 RBIs; and sophomore center fielder Brad Kolwyck, .300.

Hulshof also went 4-0 on the mound last year.

Scott will also be counting on the likes of juniors John Welter (who started some at catcher last year) and Vince Elkins; seniors Michael Riley and Nathan Dirnberger, who both ran track last year; and sophomore Jeff Pattengill.

Kelly opens the season Wednesday by hosting Sikeston.