DUNKLIN CO. LIVES UP TO NO. 1 BILLING

JACKSON -- As the No. 1 seed for the District 14 American Legion Tournament, Dunklin County was expected to capture the title.

And the baseball squad from the Bootheel lived up to its billing, repeating as tourney champion Saturday night with an 11-1 win over Poplar Bluff. The game at the Jackson Legion Field ended in the bottom of the eighth inning by way of the 10-run rule.

Dunklin County, now 37-5, won the tournament without a loss, going 3-0. The team now advances on to zone play in St. Louis.

Fifth-seeded Poplar Bluff (17-18) had survived the loser's bracket -- and sweltering heat -- earlier in the day with a 17-6, seven-inning victory over second-seeded Chaffee Medicap Pharmacy (26-15).

But coming back just a few hours later to take on a talented Dunklin County squad proved too much for the game Poplar Bluff team.

"I'm proud of my guys," said Poplar Bluff manager John Moon. "We didn't play our top game tonight, but we had so many great games in the tournament.

"Dunklin County has a fine team with a lot of very good players. I'll root them on now (in the zone)."

Said Dunklin County manager Jamie Johnson, "The Poplar Bluff kids played hard. They have a lot of heart. We just got some hits and good pitching. Hopefully we'll continue to do that."

Dunklin County led 4-1 before breaking the game open relatively late, scoring three times in the sixth inning and then ending things with a four-run eighth.

Jason Decker led a 15-hit attack with a home run and two singles. Brandon Irons, Cliff Collins, John Binkard, Chris McClain, John Payne and Aaron Gurley all added two hits. Collins and Binkard each drove in a pair of runs.

Binkard pitched all eight innings for the win, allowing five hits, including just one over the final five innings. He struck out seven and walked four.

Starter Chris Reeves took the loss for Poplar Bluff, giving up four runs (three earned) and seven hits in three innings.

Saturday afternoon, Poplar Bluff eliminated Chaffee with a 19-hit attack. Chaffee manager Jeff Graviett said his team was obviously still down following Friday's tough 5-4 loss to Dunklin County in the winner's bracket final.

"Going in, I knew how tough it would be to bounce back," Graviett said. "Some of the kids said they didn't get much sleep last (Friday) night and I didn't either.

"Poplar Bluff is scrappy and they hit the ball on the nose, plus they found some holes. When you're up eight or nine runs, it's a lot less hot in your dugout."

Bob Marler paced Poplar Bluff with four hits while George Allen and Seth Merimann both had three. Merimann homered and had four RBIs while Mark Kiester also homered.

Chaffee had seven hits, two each by Tory Meyr and Lance Amick. Dusty Leggett had two RBIs.

Jamie McAlister, brought up from Poplar Bluff's Junior Legion team for the tournament, had another strong outing. The high school sophomore-to-be pitched all seven innings, allowing three earned runs and seven hits. He fanned five and walked one.

"He had a great tournament for us," said Moon of McAlister, who pitched 7 2-3 innings of no-hit ball against Cape Girardeau during a first-round win.

Chaffee starter Josh Eftink took the loss, allowing eight runs (seven earned) and seven hits in 1 2-3 innings.