Mother Nature douses Cape's hot bats; play to resume today

Only the rain could slow down Cape Girardeau's momentum Friday night in an elimination game against third-seeded Jackson at the District 14 American Legion tournament in Chaffee, Mo.

Cape Ford & Sons, the fourth seed, built an 8-0 lead through four innings when lightning halted play. Soon the downpour began and play was suspended as the infield filled with water.

The teams will resume play today at 5 p.m. with Cape up to bat in the top of the fifth inning. The winner will play top-seeded Dunklin County at 7 p.m. in the loser's bracket final.

"We were playing good ball," Cape coach Dave Meyr said. "The kids were having fun and executing really well. Justin [Myers] was throwing well."

Ford & Sons scored in all four innings, using five Jackson errors to their advantage. Cape leadoff hitter Eric Ennis had already come to the plate four times before play was halted.

With less than 60 pitches through four innings, Myers will be back on the mound for Cape today. Jackson had four hits off the left-hander, with one runner gunned down at the plate in the first.

Dane Balsmann and Ennis each had two RBIs through four innings for Ford & Sons.

"We hope they come out and be loose like they were today," Meyr said. "You hate to end it on something like that when you have it going. We had them down."

Second-seeded Scott County will await the winner of tonight's loser's bracket final in the championship game. The championship has been pushed back to 1 p.m. Sunday, with a 4 p.m. if necessary game also on Sunday.