Sikeston edges Jackson with hits at a premium

Sikeston outdueled Jackson 3-1 in an American Legion district game that featured just seven hits and lasted 1 hour 40 minutes.

Jason Meystedt suffered the loss for Jackson despite allowing five hits over nine innings. Only one of those hits came in the final six innings.

Jackson managed just two hits against Sikeston's Lance Rhodes, who had a no-hitter through 7 2/3 innings.

Chad Minson broke up the no-hit bid in the eighth and Brandon Gendron had Jackson's only other hit -- a solo home run in the ninth.

"Lance Rhodes pitched a great game, and I'd say Meystedt didn't pitch much worse," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said.

Jackson fell to 18-7 overall and 1-2 in the district. Sikeston improved to 13-8 and 3-2.

"The Meystedt kid, after the second inning, was just as tough as Lance," Sikeston coach Charlie Dye said. "This was really just a well-pitched American Legion baseball game. It was a fun game to watch, especially if you like that kind of baseball."

Cape Legion junior team edges Paducah

The Cape Girardeau American Legion junior team beat Paducah American Legion junior team 4-3 Wednesday night in Cape.

Paducah tied the game in the top of the seventh before committing two consecutive two-out errors in the bottom of the inning to allow the winning run to score.

David Jackson picked up the win on the mound for Cape.

Capahas defeat Tradewater

The Capahas tuned up the NBC Mid-South Regional by pounding defending champion Tradewater, Ky., 10-1 in Kentucky.

Eric Horstman had three hits and scored three runs, while Bryan Kurt added three hits and drove in five runs. Levi Olson also was 3-for-5, Lance Seasor was 2-for-4, and Seth Hudson was 2-for-3.

"It was a good ballgame and we needed one like that," Capahas coach Jess Bolen said.

Bolen used several pitchers in the contest, preserving pitchers for this weekend's tournament. Kyle Perry pitched three hitless innings to open, Chad Bogenpohl followed with a scoreless inning, Horstman pitched a scoreless fifth in his mound debut, Jamie McAlister threw an inning and Josh Parham pitched the final three.

Parham allowed Tradewater's lone run in the seventh to spoil the 10-run attempt but then struck out seven straight to close out the game.

-- From staff reports