DEXTER -- It's been a long struggle, but Cape Girardeau Central High's baseball team has finally climbed above the .500 mark.

The Tigers, who have been surging in recent games, rallied past host Dexter 8-3 Tuesday as they improved their record to 10-9.

"Finally," said Central coach Steve Williams of getting above .500. "We're playing better. We're finally starting to do more things right than wrong."

Central trailed 3-2 after five innings, but the Tigers exploded with a five-run sixth.

Justin Cook was the winning pitcher as he sparkled in relief, allowing two hits in a 2 2/3 scoreless inning. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.

Matt Welker, the starter, gave up five hits and two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

T.J. Erlacker and Mark Fisher each had two of Central's eight hits.

Central's junior varsity prevailed 4-0 behind the pitching of Joe Hamilton. Bob Wunderlich had two doubles. Central's JV is now 9-5.

Poplar Bluff 6, Jackson 5

POPLAR BLUFF -- Jackson has suffered plenty of tough losses this season and one more can be added to the list.

After the Indians tied the contest with a run in the top of the seventh, Poplar Bluff pushed across the game-winning run in the bottom of the frame as Jackson fell to 6-10.

Chris Schlick pitched a complete game and took the loss. He allowed 14 hits.

Jackson had 12 hits, led by Nathan Brown with three. Tory Meyr and Todd Wessel both had two hits.

"We've had a lot of games we could have won if we just make a play," said Jackson coach Sam Sides. "We've lost a lot of close games."

GIRLS SOCCER

Cape Central 3, Notre Dame 0

Central rebounded from its only loss of the season by blanking its city rival.

The Lady Tigers, who were upset by Perryville last week, improved to 14-1-1. Amber Voerg, Jennifer Daume and Kim Aslinger scored goals while Voerg and Amanda Hiler had assists.

"We played well," said Central coach Tom Doyle. "It was good to bounce back after our first loss."

Jackson 3, St. Vincent 1

JACKSON -- Lacie Hodo scored twice as Jackson moved to 12-4-1.

The Lady Indians also got a goal from Julie Wunderlich while Jennifer Horst added an assist.

St. Vincent's goal came from Kindle Ernst.

GOLF

Cape Central 162, Notre Dame 168

Notre Dame's Tim Buerck earned medalist honors but Central prevailed as a team.

The Tigers (9-4) were led by Kent Phillips with a 37. Then came Danny Groesbeck 39, Luke Oliver 42, Jeff Haycraft 44 and Josh Miller 44.

Buerck fired a 1-over-par 36. Other Notre Dame scores were Nick Martin 42, Derek Welter 44 and Lucas Klein 46.

St. Vincent 179, De Soto 195

DE SOTO -- St. Vincent is now 11-1 overall and 9-1 in Jefferson County Conference play.

Scores for the Indians were John Paulus 43, Ben Favier 44, Craig Schumer 45 and Matt Hoch 47.

BOYS TENNIS

Cape Central 9, Charleston 0

Charleston is usually one of the area's top teams, but not this season. The Blue Jays' struggles continued as Central romped.

The Tigers improved to 9-2 and their JV is now 10-0 after an identical 9-0 victory.

Central will visit Sikeston Thursday looking to avenge one of its two defeats.

Singles

Ben Roeger def. Boothe Dugan 8-1

Mick Metzger def. Ivan Hess 10-2

Drew Seib def. Jon Holley 8-3

Nathan Skinner def. Alex Seiler 10-3

Trevor Blattner def. Kim Zhao 8-0

Ed Roeger def. Ryan Moxley 6-1, 6-1

Doubles

Metzger-Blattner def. Dugan-Hess 8-6

B. Roeger-Skinner def. Holley-Zhao 8-0

Seib-E. Roeger def. Seiler-Moxley 8-2

JV winners: (singles) Paul Miller, Andrew Eaton, Andrew Tansil, Morgan Maki, Calvin Maginel, Jeff Prost; (doubles) Miller-Eaton, Paul Hagler-John Frank, Justin Rusk-Matt Dodd

SOFTBALL

Chaffee 14, Dexter 2

CHAFFEE -- The Lady Red Devils scored 13 runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth to end the contest after the top of the fifth.

Chaffee (7-2) had 15 batters reach safely with two outs and sent 17 batters to the plate in the inning.

Jodi Pfefferkorn had two hits and five RBIs, including a three-run triple. Abby Seyer had two hits and two RBIs.

Amy Burnett posted the win for Chaffee, going five innings and allowing two runs and two hits.

TRACK

Kelly sweeps meet

CHAFFEE -- Kelly's boys and girls each won seven events on their way to a sweep of the meet hosted by Chaffee.

Kelly's boys won the five-team boys competition with a 118-point total, easily outdistancing second-place Chaffee (84). East Prairie (55) placed third, followed by Scott City (36) and Oran (24).

On the girls' side, Kelly collected 86 points to win the four-team event. Chaffee (60) finished second, followed by East Prairie (36) and Scott City (35).

Results can be found in Scoreboard on Page 2B.