Quest for title

High school baseball teams begin trek for district crown

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- For most of the area's baseball team a years worth of blood, sweat and tears will all come down to the weekend as district play opens up around the state.

Tiny mistakes that might go unnoticed during the regular season will suddenly be amplified as each game potentially could be your last.

One team that will have a slight advantage as they enter the postseason will be the Sikeston Bulldogs, who earned a first-round bye along with Notre Dame in the Class 4, District 1 tournament.

Sikeston will player the winner of Saturday's Kennett/Fredericktown matchup this Monday at 6 p.m. Top-seed Notre Dame will host the entire tournament.

"I feel confident," Sikeston head coach Alan Scheeter said of his team entering the tournament. "Our pitching will be good and rested and we have a first round bye.

"We should be set with the amount of pitching that we have. It's just a matter of if we bring our bats or not and if we're able to catch it and throw it."

One other game of note in the district is the Dexter Bearcats, who open the tournament Saturday against Perryville at 1 p.m.

Over in Class 3, District 1 the New Madrid County Eagles will hope history repaeats itself when they open their tournament at Malden against Caruthersville Saturday at 2 p.m. In their season opening game, the Eagles routed the Tigers 18-0 in five innings of play.

"We're set up for districts," NMCC head coach Joseph McClarty said. "We're the third seed, but you can't overlook Caruthersville. We have to go out and play.

"The guys are excited and we're hoping to make some noise in the district."

The biggest collection of local talent will lie in the Class 3, District 2 tournament where Kelly, East Prairie, Charleston and Scott City will all vie for the title.

Scott City is the best positioned of the group as they earned a first round bye, along with Clearwater. Charleston and Woodland will open up the tournament Saturday at 11 a.m. with East Prairie and Kelly facing off directly after at 2 p.m.

The winner of Kelly/East Prairie will move to play Scott City Monday at 4 p.m. All games are being played in Charleston at Hillhouse Park.

Other districts of note include Class 1, District 2 where Scott Central will play Advance Saturday at noon, which follows Richland against Oak Ridge at 10 a.m. Top-seeded Oran will play the winner of the Advance/ Scott Central Monday at 2 p.m.

All games will be played at Oran High School.

As the top seed, Risco earned the only first round bye in the Class 1, District 1 tournament, which is being played at Cooter High School. They'll play the winner of Gideon/Delta Monday at 2 p.m.

In Class 2, District 3, tournament host and top-seed Chaffee will play the winner of Saxony Lutheran/Greenville Monday at 2 p.m.

As the second seed in the Class 2, District 1 Tournament, Portageville will play the winner of Campbell/Hayti on Monday at 6 p.m. at South Pemiscot High School.