STATE STAKES: 2A, DISTRICT 2 BASEBALL TEAMS BRACE FOR WILD TOURNEY

Two of the area's best high school baseball teams will not make it out of districts.

That's the reality facing Kelly, Notre Dame and host Chaffee -- the Class 2A, District 2 Tournament's top three seeds -- as they enter postseason play which starts Monday.

"It's like this every year," Kelly coach Mike Scott said. "We've gotten a lot of attention this year primarily because 4A is down. But we're like this every year. It's a good district and it'll be a dogfight for anyone to get out, us included."

The district is so tough that Woodland is the No. 5 seed with a 12-3 record. Woodland's only losses have come to Oran and Advance -- two of the area's Class 1A powers -- and Puxico.

No. 4 Scott City (7-11) is the only team with more than four losses in the top five seeds, but the Rams enter the tournament with confidence after knocking off Kelly last week. If Scott City should beat Woodland in the first round, the Rams would play Kelly again in the tournament semifinal.

"It's a huge win for us," said Scott City coach Mike Umfleet of his win over Kelly. "It gets into the minds of our kids that we can do something. When we play well defensively, we're in every game. We're sitting in a good position because if we can get by Woodland, we'll be playing a team we know we can beat."

"You don't ever want to lose a game and we didn't deserve to win it," said Scott of Kelly's latest contest with Scott City. "But at the same time, we could play them again. Scott City is a team that is much better than the record indicates. It's hard to beat a team like that three times in a row."

East Prairie is the No. 6 seed, followed by Bloomfield at No. 7.

Since there is no eight seed, Kelly gets a first-round bye which is huge considering pitching depth is not the strength of the Hawks.

First-round action begins Monday at 1 p.m. when Scott City takes on Woodland. Notre Dame will take on Bloomfield at 3 and Chaffee will play East Prairie at 5. The semifinals will be played at 3 and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, with the final at 4 on Thursday.

Had the district seeding meeting been held after Kelly's loss to Scott City last week, then Notre Dame (20-3) -- ranked No. 1 in the state --would likely have received the top seed. The Bulldogs' only loss to a district opponent this season was an extra-inning setback to Kelly. Notre Dame defeated Chaffee easily early in the season.

Notre Dame figures to be the most likely team to end Kelly's two-year district title streak.

Of their three losses, the Bulldogs have been beaten by more than one run just once, that coming from a team out of state.

"I think this is the best team that we've had since I've been here," said Notre Dame left fielder Nathan Essner, the only senior who starts. "Every year we've been pretty strong, but coming into the season we all said that this was the year that we wanted to do something. We knew we had a lot of juniors and only two seniors. And they all knew that they would have next year. But they still all said that we're going to do it this year."

A district title seems to be the only goal left unresolved for Notre Dame. The Bulldogs completed a 20-win season and went undefeated in the SEMO Conference.

"I think we're peaking at the right time," said first-year Notre Dame coach Chris Neff. "We're ready to go. We can't wait until Monday. This crew has never been (to state) before and they need to work their way to Columbia. They're on the right track."

Notre Dame, should the games play out like expected, will face Chaffee in a semifinal game.

Two of the area's top power hitters and good friends Brad Kolwyck from Kelly and Notre Dame's Josh Eftink could go head-to-head in the final. Kolwyck and Eftink, both juniors, are second and third, respectively, in the area home-run race. Kolwyck has nine and Eftink has eight.