CAPE FORD & SONS RIPS POPLAR BLUFF IN TWINBILL

Cape Girardeau's Ford & Sons American Legion baseball team is building plenty of momentum as it gears up for some of its tougher district foes of the season.

Ford & Sons won its third straight District 14 doubleheader Wednesday night when Cape hammered Poplar Bluff twice, 9-0 and 6-2, in games played at Capaha Field.

Cape improved to 17-7 overall and 7-1 in District 14 play.

Although Ford & Sons has been on a roll in recent district play, manager Ron Michel knows the true test for his team will be how it fares during six crucial district games in the next week.

Ford & Sons' last three district doubleheader sweeps have come against three teams that are struggling this year: Jackson, Van Buren and Poplar Bluff.

In the next week, Cape will take on three of the district's top teams: Senath (Saturday at home), Sikeston (Monday at home) and Chaffee (Tuesday on the road).

"The competition is going to get a lot tougher for us, no doubt," said Michel. "But I like the way we seem to be coming around right now. Everybody has kind of gotten used to their roles."

Poplar Bluff won last year's District 14 Tournament (after Cape had won the regular-season district title), but very few players are back from that squad. Not surprisingly, then, Poplar Bluff is having a rough season with a 1-13 overall record, including a 1-9 district mark.

"It's been a rough start for us," said Poplar Bluff coach Pat Carda.

Both of Wednesday's games were fairly routine for the home squad as Cape was never seriously threatened, jumping to solid early leads in each contest and breezing. Ford & Sons finished with 20 hits and took advantage of nine Poplar Bluff errors. The visitors had just seven hits.

Ford & Sons had 12 hits in the opener, including a home run, a triple and five doubles. Ross Bennett homered leading off the bottom of the first and finished with three hits. Andy Sweet also had three hits -- all of them doubles -- while Trent Summers and Jeff Michel both added two hits. Bennett and Sweet each drove in two runs.

Jeff Lappe and Nathan McGuire combined on a three-hit shutout. Lappe started and gave up two hits in four innings while striking out five and walking none. McGuire allowed one hit over the final three innings, with five strikeouts and no walks.

Cape had eight hits in the nightcap, Summers leading the way with two more.

Craig Ringwald pitched all seven innings, allowing four hits while fanning 10 and walking two.

Ford & Sons returns to action Friday with a 7 p.m. game at Murphysboro, Ill.