NO CONTEST: CAPE RIPS ZIEGLER 16-1

Wednesday night's American Legion baseball game at Capaha Field was pretty much over only a few minutes after it got started.

Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons hit the struggling visiting squad from Ziegler, Ill., with a 10-run first inning on the way to a 16-1 romp. The contest ended after the top of the seventh inning by way of the 10-run mercy rule.

Ford & Sons improved to 20-17 overall with the non-district victory. Ziegler fell to 2-26.

"It wasn't really much of a game," said Cape manager Ron Michel in understating the obvious. "But we got a lot of guys in and threw a lot of pitchers. That's what I had in mind."

Shane Gibson paced Cape's offense with two home runs -- both in the first inning.

Gibson connected for a two-run shot to left in his first at-bat, then hit a grand slam to left later in the frame. He also added an run-scoring triple to finish with three hits and seven RBIs.

Mitch Ogles, who didn't even start the game, added two hits and three RBIs while Justin McAlister had two hits and two RBIs. Cape finished with 12 hits and also benefited from eight walks and three hit batsmen against five Ziegler pitchers.

Cape used four hurlers who combined on a four-hitter.

Mike Minner started and allowed one hit in two innings. Travis Klipfel gave up the lone run along with two hits in two innings. Matt Welker allowed one hit in two innings while Steve Fowler pitched a hitless seventh.

Ford & Sons sent 14 batters to the plate in the 10-run first that ended the suspense right away. Cape also got one in the second, four in the fourth and one in the sixth. Ziegler scored its lone run in the third.

Now Cape will set its sights on a big weekend that will go a long way toward determining the regular-season District 14 champion.

Ford & Sons plays at Dunklin County Saturday and at Sikeston Sunday. Those three teams are battling for first place in the seven-team district, with the champ earning the top seed for the district tournament that Cape will host beginning July 20.