SIKESTON REACHES CHAFFEE LEGION FINAL

CHAFFEE -- Sikeston moved into the championship game of the Chaffee American Legion VFW baseball tournament by pounding Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons 11-0 in five innings during Saturday night's winner's bracket final.

Sikeston, the only undefeated squad left in the eight-team, double-elimination event, will play at 2:45 p.m. today in the finals.

Cape will take on either Chaffee or Fenton at 12:30 p.m. today in the loser's bracket final, with the winner then needing to beat Sikeston twice. Chaffee and Fenton were playing late Saturday night as the Southeast Missourian went to press.

Ford & Sons had only three hits against Sikeston, Chris Bradshaw getting two. Joey McCullough was the losing pitcher.

Cape opened the tourney and its season with two wins Friday, beating Fenton 5-1 and Chaffee 13-6.

Travis Klipfel was the winner against Fenton while Shane Gibson had two hits.

Matt Welker got the victory against Chaffee. Gibson led the offense with three hits and four RBIs. Bradshaw, Nathan Essner, Craig Ringwald and Scott Reinagel all had two hits.

"We played real well the first two games. Our pitchers threw strikes, we played good defensively and we had timely hitting," said Cape manager Ron Michel. "Tonight (against Sikeston) was just one of those games."

For Chaffee, Tommy Stidham took the loss against Cape. Lance Amick had three hits while Ben Klipfel added two.

Chaffee began the tournament Friday by nipping Blytheville (Ark.) 2-1. Ryan LeGrand notched the win, allowing just three hits.

After falling to Cape later Friday, Chaffee came back Saturday and hammered Perryville 22-1 in five innings as Josh Hanlon hurled a two-hitter.

Chaffee had 19 hits against Perryville, led by Josh Eftink with three, including two home runs and five RBIs. Jason Glastetter and John Wipfler also homered. LeGrand and John Livingston added three hits apiece while Klipfel, Glastetter, Denver Stuckey and Keith Anderson all had two hits.

Also in the tournament, Cape's SEMO Bank Jr. Legion squad went 1-2.

SEMO Bank beat Perryville 7-6 Friday behind the pitching of Mark Ostendorf. Josh McIntosh had four hits and Ty Fidler added two.

Later Friday, SEMO Bank lost to Sikeston 13-9 despite a home run and two hits from McIntosh.

Then Saturday, SEMO Bank was eliminated by Fenton 5-4. Mark Fisher and Chris Burroughs both had two hits.

Chaffee Jr. Legion sweeps

CHAFFEE -- Chaffee's Jr. Legion squad improved to 4-0 Saturday by sweeping Poplar Bluff 9-4 and 10-7 in eight innings.

G.P. Glueck was the winner in the opener. Tory Meyr had three hits and Perry Rice two.

John O'Rourke got the second-game win. Brian Obermann had three hits while Meyr, Brad Kolwyck, Travis Hanback and Jeremy Lynn all added two.

Chaffee, which had swept Jackson 11-8 and 8-4 Friday night, will play at Ballard County, Ky., today.