Zone 4 winner Eureka had a tie to Cape area

The Eureka Post 177 Senior American Legion baseball team that won the Zone 4 tournament in Jackson over the weekend with a 3-0 record had an interesting local connection.

Eureka received three nine-inning complete-game pitching performances, including one from Brennen Lummus in Friday's 5-3 winners bracket final victory over Festus. The right-hander, who will be a senior at Eureka High School in suburban St. Louis this fall, struck out 10, walked one and allowed five hits.

Lummus is the son of Lee Lummus, a Central High School graduate who is Southeast Missouri State's career leader in pitching wins.

Lee Lummus, who has made his home in the St. Louis area for a number of years -- his parents, Jim and Linda, still live in Cape Girardeau -- posted 28 victories from 1986 through 1989 for the then-Indians, who were Division II at the time.

Lee attended Friday's game to see his son pitch. I covered him during his high school and collegiate years so it was good to catch up on old times.

Meanwhile, the zone tournament ended in disappointment for host Jackson -- although you certainly can't fault the effort or performance of Post 158.

Jackson played extremely well in all phases and had by far its best showing during its third zone appearance.

Post 158 went 3-2 and finished second -- with both losses coming in gut-wrenching fashion.

Jackson, after beating Dunklin County 4-3 in 13 innings during Thursday's zone opener, saw Festus score twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to prevail 5-4 later Thursday.

Post 158 eliminated Dunklin County 14-4 in eight innings Friday, then eliminated Festus 11-6 in Saturday's losers bracket final.

That set up Saturday's championship-round matchup with Eureka as Jackson faced the prospect of needing to beat Post 177 twice.

Jackson nearly forced Sunday's if-necessary title contest as Post 158 led 3-2 entering the bottom of the eighth inning -- only to see Eureka score twice and hand Jackson a 4-3 defeat.

Still, it was a magnificent season for Jackson, which went 41-9 and captured its second straight District 14 tournament crown.

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I wrote prior to the Senior Babe Ruth state tournament at Hillhouse Park in Charleston that the host Charleston Fighting Squirrels, who are coached by Central High School graduate Michael Minner, are loaded with talent generally not seen on area Babe Ruth squads.

So it came as absolutely no surprise to me that the Squirrels romped to the state championship last week, totally decimating the 10-team field as they captured their sixth state title in the last seven years.

Charleston won all five of its tournament games by the 10-run mercy rule, outscoring the opposition by a combined 61-6.

Now the Squirrels, who have a 46-9 record, will set their sights on this week's Midwest Plains Regional in Oscaloosa, Iowa.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Charleston also wins that tournament, although I expect the competition to be much stiffer.

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It came as no surprise last week when the Southeast football team was again picked to finish toward the bottom of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Redhawks were ranked eighth among nine squads in the OVC's official preseason poll voted on by the league's coaches and sports information directors.

It also came as no surprise that Southeast landed no selections on the 27-member preseason all-OVC squad after being hit hard by graduation.

Like I wrote last week, the Redhawks face their share of challenges considering they must replace 23 seniors, many of whom ranked among the team's top players.

But Southeast does return a solid amount of talent, and considering how close many of the OVC games generally area, it doesn't take all that much to jump from the bottom of the league to the top from one year to the next.

So there is definitely hope for Southeast fans during what promises to be an interesting season that begins Aug. 29 at Southeastern Louisiana.

It also came as no surprise that defending OVC champion Eastern Illinois is predicted to repeat.

Last year's title for the Panthers, however, was a major surprise, because they were tabbed eighth in the preseason poll -- one spot removed from the basement -- yet ascended all the way to the top.

It just goes to show you what most coaches believe preseason polls are worth anyway -- not much.

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Here's wishing Dr. Robert Hamblin all the best in his upcoming retirement -- which will officially come Aug. 5 -- after a brilliant 48-year career in the English Department at Southeast.

I got to know the classy Hamblin well through our mutual love of pickup basketball. We spent many a day on the court together at the Southeast Student Recreation Center -- and I've got to say, he was a darn good player.

Hamblin's love of sports also was personified with his exceptional book about Southeast's former basketball coach: "Win or Win: A Season with Ron Shumate." If you haven't read it, you should, because it is really good.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian