TIGERS BEATEN BY SELFS 11-6

The Cape Central baseball team had six more games under its belt than Sikeston entering Thursday's game at Tiger Field, but that experience advantage didn't show much as Sikeston downed Central 11-6.

The loss was Central's third in a row, dropping its record below .500 for the first time this year at 4-5. Sikeston, playing in just its third game of the year due to early-season rainouts, improved to 2-1.

As in Central's previous two losses, errors and pitching problems were the undoing of the Tigers. Central was charged with only two errors, but those two happened on the same play costing the Tigers two runs in the fifth inning. The Tigers also made a few mental errors that didn't show up in the scorebook.

"Sikeston didn't make many errors and when they did we didn't make them pay," Central coach Steve Williams said. "When we made errors, they made us pay."

Even more damaging were six wild pitches by Central, supplying five runs for Sikeston. Only four of Sikeston's 11 runs were batted in.

"We bounced a bunch," Williams said of the wild pitches. "We gave up a lot of runs simply because we didn't throw a strike or didn't get a glove on the ball."

Sikeston starter Brent Self (2-0) pitched the first 6 1-3 innings before being relieved by brother Jared Self for the final two outs. Tatum Kitchen (2-2) took the loss for Central.

Kitchen -- a hard-throwing right-hander -- struggled with his control, allowing seven runs in five innings of work. Six of the runs were earned as Kitchen walked eight, hit two batters and threw three wild pitches. He did strike out six.

Trailing 5-3 after five innings, Sikeston scored five runs on four hits to seize control of the game. Kitchen, unable to get an out in the inning, was replaced by Jeff Michel on the mound with the bases loaded and Central trailing 6-5. Michel got out of the inning, but not before two runs scored on two more wild pitches.

Leading 8-5, Brent Self kept the Tigers on the ropes with his best inning of work in the sixth. With just two strikeouts entering the inning, Self struckout the side. Three more runs in the seventh by Sikeston put the game out of reach.

Sikeston coach Kevin Self was thrilled to see his starting pitcher, and nephew, stand up to the dangerous bats of Central.

"Brent got himself in trouble a couple times out there and a lot of times we got him in trouble defensively," said Kevin Self. "But he showed he could handle it when the guys made mistakes behind him."

Central loaded the bases in the seventh, but scored just one run on a strange force out to left field by Adam Bertrand. The Central centerfielder lofted what appeared to be a hit to left, but Sikeston left fielder Mitchell Sharp charged the ball and threw a strike to third to force out a Tiger runner.

Central appeared to have things going their way early in the game as they scored three runs in the third to take a 3-1 lead. A one-out single by Chris Pobst was followed by a double by senior Jeff Beasley and then a triple by Ross Bennett plated two runs. Beasley went 3-for-4.

Bennett scored from third when he stole home on a botched squeeze play. With Bennett racing home, the Central batter missed the bunt. But the catcher also misplayed the ball as it bounced in front of him. Bennett kept coming to the plate and slid around a tag by Sikeston catcher Robbie Sims.

Sikeston scored two runs in the fifth on no hits, but Central got those back in the fifth with two unearned runs to stay on top 5-3 before things went downhill.

Central travels to Poplar bluff today.