TIGERS MAUL INDIANS 14-0

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau Central High baseball coach Steve Williams declared Tuesday's game against Jackson to be his team's best of the year.

Jackson, on the other hand, played its worst.

Those circumstances resulted in a 14-0 win for the Tigers with the game being stopped after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

The win pushed the Tigers' record even at 10-10 for the first time since a loss at Notre Dame dropped their record to 4-4. Central also moved ahead of Jackson with a 4-3 SEMO Conference mark.

Jackson fell to 10-6 and 3-4 in the conference.

Central pounded nine hits in the win but that was hardly the telling statistic in the game. Jackson committed eight errors, including four in a five-run second inning, that took them right out of the game.

The Tigers, who at times this season have had problems of their own defensively, did not commit an error in the field -- a fact Williams was quick to point out following the game.

"This was the first game all year we didn't make any errors," Williams said with a huge grin on his face. "Because of the fact we had a zero in the `E' column, this was our best game of the year."

Central's Craig Ringwald was the beneficiary of the Tigers' best defensive game, pitching five innings of three-hit ball for the win to even his record at 3-3.

Ringwald, who has been the Tigers' most consistent pitcher this year with an earned-run average of 1.46, also noted the play of his defense behind him.

"Most of the time (the pitchers) have had to pitch around errors, but today the defense came through" said Ringwald. "We made every play we had to and that's basically why we won."

Defense was certainly key in the game.

After a scoreless first inning, Central plated five runs in the second off of Jackson starter Jason Goben. Although he took the loss, Goben (3-2) was hardly to blame as the Jackson infield committed all eight of the Indian errors. Several of the errors were the result of bad throws to first base.

Three Central hits, mixed in with four Jackson errors in the second, helped put Central ahead 5-0. Consecutive hits by Andy Sweet, Greg Craft and Ringwald scored the first two runs for the Tigers and errors by the Indians kept the inning going.

Central scored three more runs in the third inning on two hits and two more Indian errors. Craft opened the inning with a double, then scored on when a smash by Ringwald got past the second baseman to make the score 6-0. Later in the inning, Derek Heitt ripped a bases-loaded single to score David Ham, courtesy running for Ringwald, and Brian Beard to put the Tigers up 8-0.

Six more runs in the fourth off of Jackson reliever Paul Leoni put the game well out of reach. Errors didn't hurt the Indians this inning but walks did.

Leoni walked four batters in the fourth before being relieved and all four of those batters scored. Three of the first four batters Leoni faced walked and after a wild pitch scored Sweet, Hiett came through again with a two-run single to right that made the score 11-0.

Two more hits by the Tigers off of Jackson reliever Avery Kohm -- an RBI-single by Ross Bennett and a two-run double by Tatum Kitchen -- completed the scoring.

With a 14-run lead, the only suspense left to the game was whether or not Ringwald would get a no-hitter, which he held through three innings. But with one out in the fourth, Travis Stevens and Josh Adams hit back-to-back singles to spoil Ringwald's no-hit bid. Justin Gladish added a two-out single in the fifth for the Indians only other hit.

Both teams will return to action Friday in Central's Big 8 Tournament.