Charleston Kelly in Ste. Genevieve District

STE. GENEVIEVE - The Class 2, District 2 Tournament will get underway tomorrow in Ste. Genevieve.

Charleston (8-7) got the No. 4 seed and will play No. 5 St. Vincent (10-13) at noon.

Top-seeded Kelly (8-10) will play No. 8 Woodland (12-7) at 2:15 p.m. followed by No. 2 Grandview (8-7) versus No. 7 Scott City (1-15) at 4:30 p.m.

Valle (11-9) and Crystal City (6-14) round out the rest of the field.

Kelly got the top seed despite a sub-.500 record. The Hawks played in the brutal SEMO Conference and was battled-tested on a daily basis. They were 4-0 against district foes.

Senior Major Burger leads the team with a .348 average with 14 RBIs. On the mound, he is 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA.

Sophomore catcher Kent Deason hit .277 with 17 RBIs. Senior outfielder Jarod Staggs hit .318 on the season.

Trey Simmons is another hurler with a 1-2 record and a 6.15 ERA.

Charleston is led by A.H. Marshall (.410 average) and Paul Brown (.405). Junior Marcus Dixon is hitting .395 and he is 2-3 with a 3.69 ERA on the year.

The district is considered wide open with no clear favorite. Kelly's undefeated record and inspiring 6-0 win against top-ranked Class 1 Oran made them the top seed.

(at Fox H.S., Arnold, Mo.)

ARNOLD - Cape Central got the top seed in the large school district just south of St. Louis.

The Tigers enter the tournament with a 17-9 record and a 5-0 mark against district opponents. They will play the winner of No. 4 Poplar Bluff (13-10) vs. No. 5 Seckman (11-12).

In the other bracket, No. 3 Farmington (9-11) will play No. 6 Jackson (10-11) in the first round. The winner of that game will take on Fox (12-11).

Jackson is the defending district champion after defeating Farmington in last year's title game.

For Cape Central, the Tigers are led by senior Seth Hudson who has hit .465 with 17 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. On the mound he is 2-1 with two saves.

Second baseman Chris Conrad has hit .423 with 20 RBIs while designated hitter Patrick Slattery has hit .373 with 22 RBIs.

The Tigers' biggest star is lefty pitcher John Thies, who is 6-3 with a 2.38 ERA. He has 81 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings. He threw a no-hitter against New Madrid County Central and he struck out a season-high 14 batters against Notre Dame.

Poplar Bluff is led by Chris Smith at the plate with a .397 average, 17 RBIs and 10 doubles. On the mound he is the staff ace with a 5-2 record and a 1.80 ERA.

Zack Robinson has hit .382 for the season.

Tyler Profilet leads the Jackson offense with a .409 average and 17 RBIs.

Catcher Trevor Thompson provides power for the Indians with a .354 average, three home runs and 24 RBIs.

Austin McDowell has hit .362 and he is 3-4 with a 2.80 ERA. Sophomore Jason Meystedt has hit .333 on the year while going 2-1 with a 6.55 ERA on the mound.