TIGERS CRUISE PAST RAMS 12-6

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City coach Mike Umfleet and Cape Central coach Steve Williams could each think of better ways to be heading into district play next week.

Neither coach was totally satisfied with his team's performance Thursday, but Williams' squad played a bit better as the Tigers improved to 18-7 on the year with a 12-6 victory.

Mental and physical mistakes were abundant by both squads. Scott City (8-10) committed four errors and Cape Central committed three.

"We've got to do better if we expect our season to continue past next week," said Williams, whose team is seeded second behind Sikeston in next week's tournament. "We booted some groundballs, we made a few errors and had some miscommunications. That shouldn't be happening this late in the season."

Neither team crushed the ball as only two of the combined 20 hits went for extra bases.

Cape Central left 11 on base and Scott City stranded 10.

Scott City's hurlers walked eight batters and hit three. Cape Central's pitchers walked four batters and hit one.

Cape Central lost three runners on the bases -- one was picked off, one was caught stealing and one was thrown out at third while trying to advance from second to third on a bloop single.

"I'm disappointed because we made some mental mistakes today that we hadn't made in a while," Williams said.

Now, the good news.

Both teams made solid contact and put the ball in play. Central banged out 12 hits and Scott City had eight.

Cape Central practically singled Scott City to death.

Eleven of the Tigers' 12 hits went for one base. T.J. Erlacker led the way with a 3-for-5 performance. He also drove in a run and scored twice. Jay Pierce and Mark Fisher each had two hits and two RBIs.

For Scott City, Jacob Ressel was impressive at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Carl Lange added a 3-for-4 performance.

"The last week or so, Ressel has been hitting the ball real well," said Umfleet. "The kid has unlimited potential. He's a good hitter who has a good idea up there and carries himself well."

Cape Central got out on top with three runs in the top of the first, but Scott City responded with two in the bottom of the first and two in the second to take a 4-3 lead.

But Cape Central got three in the third and four in the fourth to extend its lead to 10-4 and the Tigers cruised from that point.

A day after the Rams gave up five unearned runs to Jackson in a 5-2 loss, miscues once again plagued Scott City as only two of Central's first 10 runs were earned. In all, Cape Central scored four earned runs.

"We get two outs and make and an error then they come back and score two or three runs," said Umfleet. "That's the stuff that drives me nuts."

Perhaps what hurt Scott City more than errors was the walks. Starting pitcher Charlie Lindberg walked five. Jared Schenimann came on in relief and walked three, including two with the bases loaded in the fourth.

"I was pleased with our effort today," Umfleet said. "We were kind of short on pitching, but if those guys throw strikes then we're still in the game. That's what it boils down to. But our effort was there. We came out fired up. But Cape has a great team. You can't make many mistakes against a team like that."

Jay Pierce, Joe Hamilton and Justin Cook all pitched for Cape Central. Lindberg suffered the loss for Scott City.