Sikeston All-Stars ousted from WS

RUSSELVILLE, Ark. -- The Sikeston All-Stars, the Midwest Plains Regional champion, was eliminated from the 10-year-old Cal Ripken World Series by Lynden, Wash., on Sunday.

Lynden's Zach Vis tossed a one-hitter in shutting out Sikeston 3-0, the All-

Stars' second straight loss in the double-elimination tournament.

Sikeston pitcher Cord Sheehy turned in a strong outing, including some stellar individual defensive plays, while scattering 10 hits.

But the Pacific Northwest Regional champions bunched together four hits to score all of its runs in the bottom of the fourth frame.

WICHITA, Kan. -- The Roy Lee All-Stars, a 13-and-under boys basketball team from Southeast Missouri, finished fourth in the 56-team Mid-America Youth Basketball Tournament in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday.

The All-Stars, featuring players from Charleston, New Madrid, Cape Girardeau and Scott County, entered Sunday's semifinals of the national tourney with a perfect 6-0 record, having swept three opponents on Friday and three more on Saturday.

In Saturday's action, the All-Stars defeated the Arkansas Blue Bombers 65

-41, the Springfield (Mo.) Jazz 53-48 and the Colorado Hawks 51-45.

In the semifinal, the All-Stars were beaten 58-43 by the Austin (Tex.) Wreckers, then dropped the third-place game 53-49 to the Arkansas Lions.

FARMINGTON -- The Farmington Firebirds closed out the season with five straight wins over the Sikeston Bootheel Bombers.

After defeating the Bombers twice at Sikeston, Farmington clinched the Kitty League pennant with a doubleheader sweep of the Bombers at home on Friday. The Bombers lost 4-0 and 9-3.

The pitching-thin Bombers, playing their eighth game in seven days, then fell 7-1 to the Firebirds on Saturday in the season finale.

WICHITA, Kan. -- Despite two well-played games, the Plaza Tire Capahas of Cape Girardeau were eliminated from the National Baseball Congress World Series on Saturday.

The Capahas (24-8) suffered a 4-3 loss to the Maxim (Calif.) Yankees in a must-win situation.

On Monday, the Capahas dropped their opener 4-1 to the Wichita (Kan.) Gators.

Capaha manager Jess Bolen praised his team's pitching but lamented the lack of hitting. They managed just 12 hits in 18 tournament innings.

Matt Stroup, former Chaffee High School standout, took the loss in Saturday's contest. Stroup gave up four hits with four strikeouts and six walks in 6 1/3 innings.