DUNKLIN EXTENDS FINALS OF TOURNEY

Dunklin County's Redbirds are proving to be a hard baseball team to knock out during the American Legion Zone Tournament being played in Cape Girardeau.

When the Redbirds lost to Ballwin Friday night during the winner's bracket final of the five-team, double-elimination event, Ballwin was clearly in the driver's seat since the St. Louis squad was the only remaining undefeated club left in the tourney.

But that didn't dampen the Redbirds' spirits. They bounced back Saturday afternoon to eliminate Anheuser-Busch 7-3 in the loser's bracket final, then came back Saturday night to upend Ballwin 9-8 in the finals round.

So by handing Ballwin its first tournament loss, Dunklin County forced one final game to determine the zone champion and a berth in the American Legion State Tournament that will begin Thursday in Columbia.

Dunklin County (36-12) and Ballwin (23-11) will square off at 1 p.m. today at Capaha Field in a winner-take-all contest for the zone title.

"I'm proud of the guys the way they bounced back (Saturday)," said Dunklin County manager Randy Smith. "We play doubleheaders all year, so it really wasn't that big a deal having to play two games (Saturday)."

Landon Kersey gave the Redbirds a big lift against Ballwin by pitching six strong innings for the win. He allowed eight hits and two earned runs (four total). The lefthander struck out six and walked one.

"He's young, only 16, and he did a really good job," Smith said. "I hate to put him in big games like that but we were forced to and he came through."

Tony Kelsey hurled the final three innings and had to survive a huge scare in the bottom of the ninth.

Trailing 9-4, Ballwin used four hits to score four runs. But, with the tying run on first, Kelsey fanned Jacob Abraham.

"It was a heck of a game," said Smith. "I'm glad we scored as much as we did because we needed them all."

Brian Branum and Keith Robertson each had two hits and drove in three runs to pace Dunklin County's eight-hit attack.

Tony Wright had three of Ballwin's 13 hits. Abraham homered for the second time in the tournament, which has seen only three home runs overall.

Dunklin County jumped on Ballwin starter and loser Craig Langan for seven runs over the first four innings. The Redbirds eventually built an 8-1 lead after six innings and then were able to barely hang on.

Earlier in the day, a five-run fifth that featured only one earned run snapped a 1-1 tie and sent the Redbirds past Anheuser-Busch, which finished third.

Josh Blaylock got the win, allowing no earned runs (two total) and eight hits in six innings.

The Redbirds' Jerrad Cude homered.

Looking ahead to today, Smith said, "Ballwin has a very good team. They've given us as much as we've given them."