TIGERS DEVOUR PIRATES

Perryville High right-hander David Riojas was vexed with control problems from the outset. After ushering in the Pirates' game against Cape Girardeau Central Thursday at Tiger Field with nine consecutive balls, Riojas eventually began locating the strike zone.

The Tigers were ready.

Central battered Riojas and reliever Ryan Tweedy for 15 hits in a 14-3 victory that was halted after 4 1/2 innings because of the 10-run rule. The win, which concluded the regular season, pushed Central to 14-12 and dropped Perryville to 6-16.

Central's barrage came on the heels of two losses earlier this week. The Tigers entered the week having won eight of its past nine games but fell 10-1 to Notre Dame and 8-4 to Farmington. Central scratched up five hits in each game.

"We swung the bats a lot better today," said Central coach Steve Williams. "If we could have swung the bats like that the early part of this week, we might have had a chance to win."

Now Williams hopes the slugging Tigers of Thursday, not the weak-hitting Tigers of earlier this week, turn up for Central's next game -- the Class 4A, District 1 opener Wednesday against Farmington.

"With districts coming up next week," Williams said, "we need to be on a good note going in. I think that's what we did today."

Central led 3-0 after scoring two runs in the first inning and one in the second.

Mitch Ogles and Mike Sullivan both walked in the first and scored, Ogles on a Justin Welker groundout and Sullivan on a wild pitch. In the second Dusty Barrows singled and scored on a Sullivan single after moving to third on a wild pitch.

Perryville made the score 3-1 on Tweedy's squeeze bunt in the third, but Central broke the game open in its half of the third with seven runs on eight hits. T.J. Erlacker had a two-RBI single, Sullivan punched a run-scoring triple and Ogles, Mark Fisher and Barrows each had run-scoring singles.

Perryville pulled to within 10-3 with two runs in the fourth, on Matt Tucker's single and a Matt Welker wild pitch. But Central struck again with four runs in the fourth as Fisher and Justin Welker each lashed run-scoring doubles and Sullivan and Bill Posey each had RBI singles.

Trailing 14-3 Perryville needed two runs to avert the mercy rule taking effect, but Welker held the Pirates scoreless after two batters reached with one out.

In five innings Welker limited Perryville to seven hits, struck out two and walked two.

Sullivan was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, Fisher was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Justin Welker and Dusty Barrow each were 2-for-3 with an RBI.