THE LATEST LINE: AS EXPECTED, NBC TOURNEY COMES DOWN TO OLD RIVALS

The McDowell Capahas and O.B. Clark of St. Louis will slug it out today at Capaha Field for the championship of the National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional Tournament.

So, did anybody really expect anything different?

Sure, O.B. Clark had to battle out of the loser's bracket. But when the dust had cleared Saturday, the squad had emerged to advance to today's finals against the Capahas.

So the teams who have waged some classic battles over the years will go at it again, with the Capahas needing one victory to win the title and O.B. Clark needing to beat McDowell twice.

It figures to be exciting. Some of the biggest crowds ever to watch the Capahas play were on hand a few years ago when the squads battled fiercely for regional titles. That didn't happen last season, when O.B. Clark did not field a team.

But today, the intense rivalry will be renewed. And area baseball fans should be in for a treat.

* Basketballs were bouncing all around Cape Girardeau early this past week as a 56 teams attended SEMO's high school team camp.

It's not only a good way for the squads -- which came from all over Missouri and from several other states -- to get in numerous games against strong opposition, it also allows SEMO's coaches to get a look at players who they might eventually wish to recruit.

There were several impressive players at the camp, among the best being Derek Winans, who will be a senior at Shawnee (Ill.) High School just across the river.

Winans, a standout 6-foot-2 guard, probably isn't well known to most prep hoop fans in Southeast Missouri but he has drawn considerable attention from Division I recruiters.

The sweet-shooting Winans would definitely look good in a SEMO uniform and word is that the Indians will be recruiting him hard.

Another talented player in the camp who is likely to draw considerable Division I interest is Scott City's Ryan Weatherspoon, who certainly appears to have elevated his game and should be poised for a big senior season. Weatherspoon was listed as 6-6 last year but might have even grown some since then.

* Speaking of prep hoops, Scott City graduate Jon Beck scored eight points last weekend to help lead the White team to a 99-88 win over the Red squad in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association/Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Game in Springfield.

The game featured what was regarded as the state's top 20 graduated players regardless of class.

Also in that contest, two SEMO signees showed well. Tim Scheer of New Haven scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the victorious team while Mike Sutherland of Lutheran North added 11 points for the winners.

* The new International Basketball League -- which is along the lines of the Continental Basketball Association -- will hold its inaugural draft this week and SEMO product Bud Eley figures to have a good chance of being selected.

* Greg Goff, SEMO's baseball pitching coach the past two seasons, was recently named the pitching coach at Kentucky.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian