Oak Ridge hosting tourneys; Johnson in Sports Illustrated

By Jeremy Joffray ~ Southeast Missourian

Oak Ridge High School will be a hotbed for local small school baseball and softball this week.

The Blue Jays will host a baseball and softball tournament, with each tournament opening play on Thursday. Local teams participating in the baseball tournament include St. Vincent, Delta, Woodland, Meadow Heights, Leopold and Oak Ridge.

Scott City, Woodland, Meadow Heights, Oran and Oak Ridge will represent the area in softball.

Johnson goes national

Bell City senior Dominitrix Johnson, this year's Southeast Missourian Player of the Year in basketball, was featured in Monday's edition of Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd section.

Johnson's exploits at the state tournament, including his 40-point performance against St. Elizabeth in the championship game, were described.

Central reschedules pair of rain-delayed events

Central and Farmington will hook up in a golf dual meet on Wednesday at the Cape Girardeau Country Club in a rescheduled event.

The Central at Jackson baseball game that was cancelled will be played at 4 p.m. on May 6.

College notes

Nebraska sophomore Kim Pancoast, a Central graduate, jumped out of the gates with a third-place finish in the 1,500 meter run at Nebraska's opening outdoor track meet, the Jim Clark Shootout on March 27. Pancoast's time of 4:36.95 was tops on her team, and set a new personal record by more than 11 seconds. A week later Pancoast took second in the 5,000 meter run at the Emporia State Relays. Pancoast finished behind teammate Kathryn Handrup in a time of 17:43.43.

Justin Welker, a Central graduate, and Josh Eftink, a Notre Dame graduate, are both seeing limited action for Central Missouri State University, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II. Welker, who came over from Mineral Area College, is hitting .333 in 21 at-bats. Josh Eftink, a transfer from Jefferson College who began his college career at Southeast Missouri State University, is hitting .229 in 35 at-bats. The Mules, the defending Division II national champions, are currently 30-4.