SECTIONAL APPEAL: AREA TEAMS 2 GAMES FROM FINAL FOUR; CAPE CENTRAL TRIES TO CLIMB HILLSBORO TO 4A QUARTERFINALS

Both Cape Central and Hillsboro know a thing or two about adversity.

Cape Central (20-7) started the year off 3-3 before battling back to claim 17 of its next 21 games and win its district championship over state-ranked Sikeston, the top seed, in the 4A, District 1 championship.

Hillsboro (18-10) started the year off 2-5 before winning 16 of its next 21 games and knocking off No. 1 seed Northwest House Springs in the District 2 title game.

Both teams will put their momentum to the test at 4:30 p.m. today at Jefferson College in a 4A sectional game.

The teams have more in common than slow starts and fast finishes.

Both teams can hit the long ball.

Hillsboro has homered 22 times this season, including five each from Joe Fehlker, Mike Monroe and Jim Swofford.

The Hawks have three regulars batting over .400. Fehlker is at .405, Mark Mosley is hitting .425 and Mark Parker is leading the team with a .455 average. Swofford is leading the team in runs batted in with 37, while Fehlker has 31 RBIs.

"They're not bad," said Cape Central coach Steve Williams. "They've got some good hitters and some nice averages and they've got two pitchers who have been pretty good."

The same can be said for Cape Central.

Josh McIntosh leads the team with six home runs, followed by Mark Fisher with four and Zac Fidler and Justin Welker with three apiece. Fisher is the team leader in batting average, hitting .419, while Welker is batting .411. Fisher leads the team with 31 RBIs, followed by McIntosh with 27.

On the mound, Justin Cook will start today for the Tigers.

Cook has put up some gaudy numbers this year, including an 8-2 record and a 1.90 earned run average.

"Justin has had a great year," said Williams. "He had a decent year last year, but he's gone above and beyond the call of duty this season. He had some shoulder problems last summer and was in some pain the whole winter. He worked hard to get himself into shape for the season and he's reaping the benefits of that now."

Williams said he expects to see either Mark Parker or Fehlker pitch for Hillsboro today.

Hillsboro coach Bob Fehlker could not be reached Wednesday.

Parker has thrown the most innings for Hillsboro this year (48.3), but his earned run average of 3.19 is higher than Fehlker's. Parker has fanned 50 while walking just 10 this season.

Fehlker has thrown 40 2/3 innings and has an ERA of 2.41. But he has walked twice as many batters (24) as Parker while striking out 44.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they will not be playing with a full team today. But then again, they haven't been at full strength for quite some time now.

Earlier this month, Central lost its starting shortstop Richard Harrison to a knee injury and he is out for the remainder of the season. Central's backup shortstop T.J. Erlacker has played with an injured shoulder and the team's original starting catcher is no longer with the team.

"Right after the district championship game, I told the guys I couldn't be prouder of them after battling through what they have," said Williams. "For the guys to continue to battle and scrap is a credit to them and our program because that's the kind of players we want to have."

Cape Central has lost seven games this season.

Two of those losses came to state-ranked Sikeston. Another loss came to Notre Dame, the top-ranked team in 2A, another came to Festus, ranked in 3A and yet another came to South Haven, Miss., which has since won a state title in Mississippi.

Hillsboro split games with Festus this season, but lost 17-7 in their last meeting. The Hawks have won six games in a row.

But Williams seems confident.

"I like our chances," he said. "There's no reason not to. There's 16 teams left and I feel we have a good a chance as anybody with the way the kids are playing right now.

"The thing that we're trying to get the kids to understand is that it's just the next game and play like you have all year. But we've been in some big games this year and they're starting to know how to react and play. We just have to continue to do the things we've done."