SELF MAKES PITCH AS AREA'S BEST HURLER

Brent Self doesn't look like a pitcher. Scouts don't congregate at Sikeston High games to watch him heave a baseball. And while some players eye the professional draft, he'll prepare for his freshman season at Three Rivers Community College.

But the best high school pitcher in the area he may be.

In a game that featured perhaps the top teams and pitchers in the area Wednesday, Self controlled a usually lively Cape Girardeau Central offense, while Sikeston did its usual ball-banging against Craig Ringwald and won 8-4 at Tiger Field.

Sikeston, which has averaged more than 10 runs a game this year, improved to 6-1 and 4-0 in the SEMO Conference. Central fell to 12-3 and 4-1.

"It was definitely a big, marquee matchup. And there's no doubt Brent was (the better pitcher) today," said Sikeston coach Kevin Self, Brent's uncle.

"I think he was probably the best pitcher in the area last season, and I think he's probably the best pitcher in the area this year. I'm a little partial, but I think he is."

Self, a right-hander who entered the game with a 0.39 ERA, outperformed Central's ace, the 6-foot-8 left-hander Ringwald. Self allowed just two runs on three hits through six innings before a scare in the seventh.

In all, Self (4-0) permitted six hits and struck out eight. In 25 innings this season, Self has fanned 38 and walked six.

Meanwhile, Ringwald (4-1), who has received a swarm of attention from scouts, was bumped out of the game in the sixth inning after a five-run Sikeston fifth.

"You could tell (Ringwald) didn't have his best stuff," said Central coach Steve Williams. "He was up in the zone all day long. (Self) was just better than the Tigers were today."

Adam Bertrand doubled and got the game's first score on a Ross Bennett single in the Central third. Up 1-0 after breezing through four innings, Ringwald faltered in the fifth.

Ronnie Childers led off with a home run to center field. No. 7 hitter Corey Goetz singled, and Justin Pobst -- an .095 hitter -- singled home Goetz. Matt Shelton reached on a Ringwald error and Self singled in Pobst. Two outs later, Mark Silverthorn doubled home Shelton and Self.

The Bulldogs weren't done. After Central got a run in its fifth, Sikeston loaded the bases in the sixth before Ringwald was relieved by Jeff Michel. Michel allowed a Self sacrifice fly that scored Goetz and made the score 6-2. In 5 1/3 innings, Ringwald allowed nine hits and struck out eight.

Michel struggled in the seventh as Clay Hooper hit a solo homer to left field, his fifth in seven games, and Childers doubled in Silverthorn to put the score at 8-2.

Central got two runs in the seventh. Joe McCollough was hit by a pitch, Bertrand walked and Mitch Ogles singled home McCollough. Bennett then singled to load the bases with one out.

Self got Central No. 3 hitter Tatum Kitchen to fly out, but Chris Bradshaw singled in Bertrand. Self then got Paul Dobbins to ground into a force out at second base to end the game.

The Tigers host Festus on Friday.