TIGERS' 2-OUT ATTACK KO'S INDIANS 14-4

Cape Girardeau Central High designated hitter Mark Fisher has come to relish crossing swords with Jackson.

In late March, Fisher had three hits, including the game-tying single, in the Tigers' 9-7 triumph over the Indians.

Fisher bettered that performance Friday by lashing four run-scoring singles in consecutive at-bats as Central routed the Indians 14-4 in six innings.

"I just hit, hit, hit," Fisher said with a broad smile.

As did the Tigers, especially when the pressure mounted. Central scored all but one of its runs with two out and piled up 13 hits against four Jackson pitchers.

"That was amazing," said coach Steve Williams, whose Tigers surged to 13-10 and have won eight of nine.

"That's important. Any time you can get runs it's important, but if you can come up and get a hit with two outs to get runs, it just seems like for some reason that's even more important."

In addition to Fisher's 4-for-5 day, Zac Fidler was 2-for-5 with two doubles and Dusty Barrows was 2-for-4.

"We had plenty of hits and we had hits with men on base," Williams said. "That's all you can ask for. Our kids are starting to understand what we expect, and we're getting better."

With two out and a man on in the third, Central unleashed six successive hits off Jackson starter Chris Schlick. The outburst included RBI doubles by Fidler and Josh McIntosh, an RBI single by Fisher and a two-run single by Matt Welker. The Tigers scored five runs in the inning.

Central led 6-0 in the fourth after another RBI single by Fisher. Jackson's Josh Hopkins smacked a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning.

But the Tigers struck for five runs in the fifth on only two hits. Two Tigers were hit by pitches and two walked as two runs were scored on a Jackson throwing error. Fisher and Barrows had run-scoring singles.

Central tacked on three more runs in the sixth. Fisher came up with yet another RBI single and Bill Posey and Ty Fidler each drew walks that forced runners home, giving the Tigers a 14-2 edge.

Jackson (7-13) scored two in its half of the sixth but couldn't muster a third run to stave off the 10-run rule.

"Our hitting was suspect today and our pitching was a little weak," said Jackson coach Sam Sides. "On a given day we do one phase real good, but we don't seem to be able to get all three phases together."

Welker, Central's starter, went all six innings and permitted six hits.