~ Cape improved to 3-0 in district play behind LaBruyere's effort.

Brad LaBruyere came within an eyelash of pitching his first perfect game.

But he didn't seem all that disappointed in settling for a conventional no-hitter Friday night as the Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons American Legion baseball team mauled host Jackson 17-0.

The opener of the doubleheader, which served as a District 14 contest, was stopped after five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

In the non-district nightcap, Jackson earned the 14-4 victory in six innings.

Jackson's Sam Lincoln swung at the ball during his team's game against Cape Girardeau at Jackson's Legion Field. (AARON EISENHAUER ~aeisenhauer@semissourian.com)

LaBruyere, a recent Central High School graduate who will play for Southeast Missouri State, retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced.

The only blemish was a hard-earned walk by Blake Reiminger to start the bottom of the fourth inning. Reiminger fouled off several pitches before drawing the free pass.

"I don't think I've ever had a perfect game, but it's not really that big a deal," LaBruyere said. "But it would have been better if it had been a seven-inning [no-hitter]."

LaBruyere, who said he had not thrown a no-hitter since getting two during his sophomore season at Central, struck out eight batters. Many went down against his biting curve.

"I went to that a lot. I didn't throw my fastball that much," LaBruyere said.

Cape shortstop Blake Slattery snatched a fly ball during his team's game against Jackson.

With LaBruyere untouchable and Cape banging out 15 hits, it was a good game all the way around for the visitors as they remained perfect in district play.

Cape (14-5, 3-0) has also beaten district rivals Sikeston and Dunklin County, with LaBruyere pitching those games as well.

Ford & Sons has not yet faced Scott County -- the remaining district squad -- as a scheduled contest in Cape was rained out Tuesday night.

Cape will play at Scott County later in the summer, while also having rematches with Jackson, Sikeston and Dunklin County.

"That No. 1 seed is what we're aiming at right now," said Cape coach Dave Meyr, referring to next month's district tournament.

Meyr said he was worried about Friday's contest, since his squad had not played since Saturday.

"I was concerned about the layoff, but I was excited about the way we played," Meyr said. "We hit the ball well and Brad pitched a good game."

Mark Himmelberg and Adam Smithey both had three hits for Cape, while LaBruyere and Blake Slattery added two hits apiece.

Smithey and LaBruyere each drove in three runs. Collin Crane doubled and had two RBIs, while Himmelberg and Zach Plott also doubled.

"We really hit the ball," Himmelberg said.

Isaac Kinnard took the loss for Jackson, which used three pitchers.

"Cape swung the bats early and he [LaBruyere] pitched well," said Jackson coach Mark Lewis, whose team is 9-13 overall and 0-3 in the district. "They have a good team."

Cape scored six first-inning runs on seven hits and that would have probably been more than enough for LaBruyere, although the visitors did not stop there.

Ford & Sons scored two in the second, seven in the fourth and two in the fifth. Seven of the runs over the final four innings were unearned.

"Getting those early runs always helps,"LaBruyere said.

In the second game, Jay Hime earned the win on the mound. Nick D'Amico, Kinnard, Ethan Davenport and Alex Tripp all had multiple hits for Jackson.