RAIN INTERRUPTS CAPS AT VALMEYER TOURNEY

VALMEYER, Ill. -- The Capahas' drive for the championship of the eight-team Valmeyer Fourth of July Tournament was put on hold Sunday as rain interrupted semifinal play with McDowell leading Waterloo (Ill.) 5-4 in the fifth inning.

The Capahas were batting in the bottom of the fifth when rain suspended play. In a regular season game, McDowell would have been declared the winner, but in tournaments, play is suspended and picked up from the point of interruption.

Waterloo had taken a 2-0 lead in the first, but Darin Kinsolving pulled the Capahas even in the home half with a two-run homer. Phil Warren followed with a blast for a 3-2 McDowell lead.

Waterloo moved ahead 4-3 in the second, but the Capahas retaliated with two runs in the third for a 5-4 lead.

Play will be picked up at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. Valmeyer and Millstadt (Ill.) will follow in the other semifinal.

Cape Riverdogs

GOREVILLE, Ill. -- The Cape Girardeau Riverdogs had their first encounter with wood bats Saturday night and came away with just three hits in a 7-1 loss to Goreville (Ill.), which wielded aluminum.

The Riverdogs, preparing for the all-wood NBC Mid-South Regional this weekend, got hits from Steve Fowler, Shane Gibson and Brandon Talbot.

"It's two different worlds. It's tough," said Riverdogs manager Robin Minner of the wood bats. "You could tell we never used them before."

Goreville broke a 1-1 tie with six runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Chris Reeves suffered the loss for the Riverdogs, who fell to 2-5.

Chaffee Legion

ST. LOUIS -- Medicap Pharmacy Chaffee Legion advanced out of pool play and into the semifinals of the Heine Meine Fourth of July Tournament over the weekend, going 2-0-1.

Chaffee (24-3-1) breezed past Washington 11-1 in six innings Saturday behind the four-hit pitching of Brian Obermann.

On Sunday, Justin Simpher hurled a one-hitter as Chaffee disposed of Brentwood 10-0 in five innings. Simpher struck out five and did not walk a batter.

Simpher and Obermann both connected for two-run home runs in the game.

Chaffee then played Columbia (Mo.) to a 4-4 tie as play was stopped due to a time limit. John O'Rourke and Brad Kolwyck each had two hits for Medicap. Defensively, Chaffee turned four double plays in the game.

Chaffee, which won its pool, will play Sikeston Legion in a semifinal game today.

Cape Legion

BALLWIN, Mo. -- Ford & Sons Cape Legion went 1-2 in pool play over the weekend in the Ballwin Tournament.

After losing 16-6 to Creve Coeur on Friday, Cape Legion (16-14) split a pair of games on Saturday, defeating Evansville (Ind.) 8-7 before falling to Ballwin 11-1.

Garrett Broshuis recorded the win over Evansville while Tommy Wencewicz had two of Cape Legion's nine hits.

Justin Cook suffered the loss against Ballwin.

Cape Sr. Babe Ruth

Jackson's Senior Babe Ruth defeated Sikeston Jr. Legion 5-4 in the championship game of the Fourth of July Tournament Sunday at Capaha Field.

Jason Van de Ven got the win in relief of starter Toby Freeman and Rusty Duncan. With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, Jackson's G.P. Glueck ended the game with a two-out hit.

Both teams finished the tournament, hosted by Cape Senior Babe Ruth, with 4-1 records. Jackson's win avenged a 7-1 loss in pool play.

Jackson advanced to the final with a 7-2 win over Mayfield (Ky.) while Sikeston slipped past Dexter 5-4.

Jackson and Sikeston were both in Pool A with the Cape Yankees (1-2) and Cape White Sox (0-3). Mayfield (2-2) and Dexter (2-2) both emerged from Pool B, which included New Madrid (1-2) and Steele (0-3).

Cape Jr. Legion

SOUTH HAVEN, Miss. -- Wood & Huston Cape Junior Legion stood 2-3 in pool play after the third day of the Mid-South Super Series.

In Sunday's action, Madison (Miss.) defeated Cape 4-0. Wood & Huston managed just three hits in the game. Jason Gibson allowed seven hits and suffered the loss. He struck out one and walked five.

Cape bounced back with a 5-3 victory over the Dixie Stars of Lexington, Ky.

Mark Wittenborn notched the win, allowing five hits in six innings. He struck out one and walked five. Seth Hudson relieved Wittenborn in the seventh with the tying run on board and nobody out and extracted Wood & Huston from the jam by retiring all three batters he faced.

Derek Ruth had a hit and two RBIs while Mitch Craft and Tim Wencewicz each had a double and an RBI.

Wood & Huston (20-25) concludes pool play today with games against East Cobb, Tenn., and Long Island, N.Y.