RESTRUCTURED BIG 8 TOURNEY TRIES AGAIN

Rain may have washed out last weekend's Cape Central Big 8 Tournament, but the baseball tourney will attempt to bounce back starting today with more of a local touch.

Eight teams, all from Southeast Missouri, will battle for the Big 8 title this weekend in what could also be viewed as the championship of Southeast Missouri.

Only Central and Notre Dame were available for action this weekend of the eight original Big 8 teams from last weekend's field. But with the four-team Kelly Hawk Invitational also getting rained out last weekend, the two tournaments combined to eventually field six new teams.

"Obviously, because of the cancellation last week, a number of teams couldn't come back," said Cape Central coach Steve Williams. "This (tournament) kind of turned into a Southeast Missouri championship."

Joining Central and Notre Dame from the Kelly tournament were Kelly, Scott City, Jackson and Perryville. Sikeston and Dexter were added earlier this week to complete the field.

"After getting both (tournaments) rained out last weekend, I think it's great we were able to combine the two tournaments," Kelly coach Mike Scott said. "I think this will be super for baseball in Southeast Missouri."

Williams said with all the local team's involved, this weekend's field should add a lot of excitement to the tournament.

"With the local flavor that it's got, we're going to have some really good crowds this weekend," Williams said. "We have a number of good teams from Southeast Missouri in this tournament and we're excited about that."

Notre Dame (14-3) and Dexter (6-6) will get action started at Capaha Field today at 4 p.m. Central (10-10) and Scott City (10-3) will follow at 6:15 p.m., and Kelly (8-6) and Sikeston (7-6) will complete tonight's action at Capaha with an 8:15 p.m., contest.

Jackson (10-6) and Perryville (10-7) already had a regular-season game scheduled in Perryville today at 4 p.m., so the two teams will just incorporate that game into the tournament.

Tournament action resumes Saturday at 10 a.m., with consolation bracket games played at both Central and Notre Dame High Schools. The consolation championship is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. at Cape Central and Notre Dame will host the seventh-place game at 12:30 p.m.

Semifinal action will begin with a game at 10 a.m. at Capaha Field. The other semifinal will follow at 12:15 p.m.

The Big 8 championship game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. at Capaha Field. The third-place game will be held at Tiger Field starting at 2:30 p.m.

Big 8 Tournament

Today's first-round games

Jackson vs. Perryville, 4 p.m. (at Perryville)

(Games at Capaha Field)

Notre Dame vs. Dexter, 4 p.m.

Central vs. Scott City, 6:15 p.m.

Kelly vs. Sikeston, 8:15 p.m.

Saturday

Consolation championship, 12:15 p.m. (Cape Central)

Seventh-place game, 12:30 p.m. (Notre Dame)

Championship semifinal, 10 a.m. (Capaha Field)

Championship semifinal, 12:15 p.m. (Capaha Field)

Third-place game, 2:30 p.m. (Cape Central)

Championship game, 2:30 p.m. (Capaha Field)