Local digest for Sunday, June 23

AREA

CAPE JR. LEGION TO PLAY FOR TOURNAMENT TITLE TODAY

Cape Girardeau's Jr. American Legion baseball team will play for the championship of its own tournament today.

Cape (18-11) split two pool-play games Saturday but still clinched first place in the National Division. Cape, which went 2-1 in pool play, beat Ballwin 7-3 and lost to Anheuser-Busch 18-4 in five innings.

Against Ballwin, Blake Urhahn pitched a six-hitter, with seven strikeouts. Brandon Cooper had two of Cape's seven hits.

Mitch Craft had two of Cape's six hits against Anheuser-Busch. Sean Bard suffered the loss.

In other games Saturday, Imperial beat Anheuser-Busch 9-8 and Ballwin 3-2; Festus defeated Jackson 7-5 and Sikeston 9-2; Jackson beat Paducah (Ky.) 8-7; and Paducah downed Sikeston 4-1.

Jackson (11-9) captured a thrilling victory from Paducah, scoring four times in the bottom of the seventh inning, the game ending on Tyler Beussink's two-run single. Brandon Gendron pitched a complete game.

Against Festus, Beussink had two hits and two RBIs while Zach Brazer and Travis Niswonger both added two hits. Beussink took the loss.

Cape will play Festus at 2:30 p.m. today at Central High School for the title.

Other games today will pit Sikeston vs. Imperial (noon, at Central) for third place; Jackson vs. Ballwin (2:30 p.m., at Notre Dame High School) for fifth place; and Paducah vs. Anheuser-Busch (noon, at Notre Dame) for seventh place.

Cape Yankees win pair of games at Oran

ORAN, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau Sr. Babe Ruth Yankees swept a doubleheader from Oran on Saturday, winning 8-3 and 7-0.

The star for the Yankees (8-2) was pitcher Jason Meystedt, who struck out 15 and fired a one-hit shutout in the second game. Meystedt also had two hits. Jesse McGregor went 3-for-3 and Kevin Peeler homered.

In the opener, Jared Jenkerson scattered nine hits and fanned seven. Peeler and Andy Ralls both had two hits.

Doyle has no-hitter to lead Cape A's past ScottCity

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Stuart Doyle pitched a five-inning no-hitter as the Cape Girardeau Sr. Babe Ruth A's (8-10) swept a doubleheader from Scott City, winning 8-7 and 16-0.

Doyle, hurling the second game, fanned three and walked three. Casey Cain and Tyler Blackwell both went 3-for-3, with Blackwell getting two triples. Tony Leuckel and Andrew Prater each had two hits.

In the opener, Prater tripled twice while Leuckel and Cory Huskey both had two hits. Chance Franklin pitched three innings of hitless relief for the victory.

Final pairings are set in Jackson tennis meet

JACKSON, Mo. -- After several rounds of play Saturday, today's championship matches have been finalized in the in four divisions of the Jackson Tennis Action Tournament.

In singles, with all matches starting at 10:30 a.m., it will be Autumn Dunivan vs. Jenni DeWitt (women's open); Rob Hale vs. Ken Campbell (men's open); and Tom Blair vs. Jay Roberts (men's A).

The men's open doubles final, set for 12:30 p.m., will pit Ken Campbell and John Davie against Bill Bradley and Lonnie Mobley.

ELSEWHERE

FOOTBALL

Marty Booker set a Bears single-season record by catching 100 passes last season, and now the team has rewarded him with a seven-year, $28 million contract. Booker, a restricted free agent, accumulated 1,071 receiving yards and scored eight touchdowns last season, helping Chicago win the NFC Central and make the playoffs. Booker got a $5.5 million signing bonus and will get a base salary of $1 million this season with another $1 million reporting bonus.

Todd Husak threw two touchdown passes to Dane Looker as the Berlin Thunder defended their World Bowl title with a 26-20 victory over the Rhein Fire at Duesseldorf, Germany. Husak connected with Looker for first-half touchdown scores of 41 and 15 yards. Looker, hoping to break onto the St. Louis Rams' roster, was the game's MVP with 11 catches for 111 yards.

Hockey

The Blue Jackets acquired the No. 1 pick of the NHL draft from the Panthers, and used it to acquire rugged forward Rick Nash. In exchange, the Panthers acquired Columbus' No. 3 pick and the right to swap first-round picks with the Blue Jackets next year. It marks the second time Florida general manager Rick Dudley has traded the No. 1 pick. At Tampa Bay in 1999, he helped swing a deal involving numerous teams.

-- From staff, wire reports