Summer baseball roundup

Jackson, Cape win Junior zone openers

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson Junior American Legion baseball teams used rallies in the bottom of the seventh inning to win their Zone 4 tournament openers Thursday at Central High School.

Jackson entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing Ste. Genevieve 3-2, but No. 9 hitter Steven Porzelt led off with a single.

Ryan O'Rear's triple over the center fielder's head scored Porzelt to even the score.

Ste. Genevieve decided to load the bases with no outs and pulled an outfielder onto the infield. Cody Harris made Ste. Genevieve pay by roping a two-strike single down the right-field line for the 4-3 win.

Porzelt finished 3 for 3 and earned the win with two-thirds of an inning in relief.

Steven Eddy went the first 6 1/3 innings on the mound for Jackson.

Jackson will face Eureka at 11:30 a.m. today.

Cape Girardeau Plaza Tire defeated Ballwin in the tournament opener after pushing across a run in the bottom of the seventh.

Cape entered the seventh with a 6-5 lead but Ballwin tied it in the top half of the inning.

Thomas Crocetti's one-out single to left-center field scored Logan Henson for the 7-6 win.

Crocetti went all seven innings to earn the win. He struck out five, walked two and allowed six hits.

Henson went 0 for 3 but walked three times and scored three runs. Stephen Brennan went 2 for 4 with a run scored in the win.

Cape then fell to Eureka 14-0 in six innings later in the day.

Nick Essner went 5 1/3 innings and took the loss.

Matthew Hayes and Henson had a hit apiece for Cape (16-18), which will face the winner of Ballwin vs. Ste. Genevieve at 2 p.m. today.

Jackson Freshman Legion grabs win

The Jackson Freshman American Legion baseball team opened the state tournament Thursday in Branson, Mo., with a 19-0 win over Dixon.

Ethan Mirly earned the win with two innings of relief. Kelby Brown went the first two innings.

Casey Graham, Jordan Hadden, Haden Clark, Tyler Slinkard and Dante Vandeven all had two hits in the win.

Clark knocked in four runs.

Jackson will face Ste. Genevieve at 3 p.m. today.

-- From staff reports