ST. VINCENT RESUMES 1A QUEST TODAY

It was a tough district and a tough sectional. But after a fairly easy quarterfinal, Derek Kutz will take the mound today as St. Vincent finds itself in the Class 1A state semifinals.

It's deja' vu all over again.

In an almost exact repeat of last year's amazing state title run, the St. Vincent Indians stand where they were a year ago. The only difference is that they're not the Cinderella team this time. They've traded their glass slippers for a big, red bull's-eye.

St. Vincent (17-11) will take on the Community (Laddonia) Trojans (19-6) at 5 p.m. today for the right to play for the state championship Thursday.

"I'm excited and they're excited and they're going to do their best to bring back another state championship," St. Vincent coach Rick Wibbenmeyer said. "We're looking forward to the possibility of winning back-to-back titles. We expect good things when we get there."

And why shouldn't they?

The Indians, the only 1A team making a return trip to the final four, beat their two opponents at Columbia last year a combined 19-0. Kutz and Tyler Wengert allowed only three hits in the two games and the Indians didn't commit an error while pounding hit after hit.

But Wibbenmeyer isn't expecting such dominance this time.

"I didn't expect that last year and it would be unrealistic to expect it this year," he said. "That bordered on unbelievable.

"I hope we're smart enough to realize that every baseball game is a baseball game. We have 21 outs to get and have to score more runs than they do. That's simplifying it but that's what we've got to do."

As has been the case the last two years, St. Vincent relies on its pitching, good defense and timely hitting to beat teams.

That reminded Community coach Jim Brink of his team.

"I've been reading about them and we sound so much like St. Vincent it's scary," he said. "I think we've got two quality pitchers for the 1A level and we play very good defense. We just don't give up a lot of unearned runs. We don't get a lot of hits; we just seem to get them with people in scoring position."

Community, though, has hit for more power than St. Vincent. Each of the Trojans' nine starters has at least one home run, but none have more than six. Most of them have been legitimate, Brink said, as Community's home field is 350 to center and 300 down the lines.

The pitching appears, statistically, to be dead even. Community will go with junior Scott Schutte. Schutte is 8-3 with a 3.41 earned-run average. Should he run into trouble, the Trojans will look to Matt Cope, who has struck out 81 batters in 49 innings and has a 3.56 ERA.

"When these guys are on, they're as good as anyone around," Brink said.

The Indians will go with Kutz, who pitched the semifinal game last year. Kutz is 9-4 with a 3.25 ERA.

St. Vincent does have a decided advantage in a couple of areas, though.

First, there's the experience and then there's the strength of schedule.

"The thing that scares me is they've got the playoff experience," Brink said. "So far, we've handled it real well, but we've never been to this point. We've been to the quarters before but we always got beat. St. Vincent, being the state champions and all, they may not be as nervous."

As far as the strength of schedule, it's no secret that St. Vincent has taken its lumps going against several 2A and 3A schools throughout the year. The Indians have only four 10-run wins to their credit, while the Trojans have seven.

"Playing those teams helps us because the kids see tough competition and challenging situations throughout the season," Wibbenmeyer said. "You learn from past mistakes and move forward. The good competition will do nothing but help us and give us confidence in the playoffs."

Community has played some larger schools -- including Mexico and Southern Boone, a state-ranked team in Class 2A -- but not as many.

Community knocked off Atlanta 7-6 in the quarterfinals after it beat Sturgeon 11-4 in the sectionals.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know a lot about them," Wibbenmeyer said. "But I do know they were down 6-0 in one of their district games and came back to win. That tells you they have a lot of character."