Festus is loaded with talent. Looked at their record and they have 3 losses I think? The st. Louis teams will bring talent and Jackson looks like their playin well. Its always a competitive zone. Festus has won the last 3 so its theirs to lose again. It will be interesting to see if Festus throws their best against against Cape (winkelman I assume) or saves him for the nightcap. I would bet on the latter.

I will add I think the Zone Tournament is the best baseball tournament in southeast Missouri at any level the entire year.

I remain surprised larger crowds do not gather to watch it.

The tournament is in a rain delay right now. They still hope to restart play later tonight.

No more play tonight. Four games now scheduled for Friday starting at noon. I'll update more later.

I went through Capaha Park a little bit ago, and the score was 7-4 but I do not know who was winning, sorry! I think the Visitors had 7 but I don't know who the Visitors are in the game?

My message from Marty said the final was 7-3 Festus. Either way, Festus moves on in the winner's bracket.

Creve Coeur leads Jackson 2-0 heading to the bottom of the third inning.

Cody Heisserer on the mound for Jackson.

Creve Coeur leads 2-0 after five innings. Jackson is the home team.

Who is pitching for Creve Coeur?

5-0 Creve Coeur going to bottom of the six. Keith Coulson pitching for Creve Coeur.

Jackson catcher Chase Simmons leaves the game after running into a dugout wall. Not really sure what he hurt, but he had some trouble walkin off the field.

Things don't look good for Jackson. Any thoughts legion baseball fans?

Jackson is dead in the water. 6 runs is too much to overcome against a team with the pitching of Creve Coeur and dropping to the loser's bracket this early in the tournament makes coming back next to impossible. Note: I didn't say totally impossible. This tournament should come down to Creve Coeur and Festus.

Creve Coeur won 6-0. Coulson pitched a complete-game three-hitter and had 11 strikeouts. All the rain has cleared out of Cape now.

Cape and Jackson are playing an elimination game now. Cape just scored a run on a balk in the top of the second but a double play with the bases loaded ended the half-inning. Headed to the bottom of the second.

Did Festus throw Winkleman? That's huge for upcoming opponents of Festus.

Winkleman did not pitch.

Very interesting choice. Festus elects to save Winkelman.

I've been told Festus run-ruled Ballwin a couple times this season. Trust the source bu obviously I wasn't at those games or familiar with either team's schedule.

One has to wonder if Festus will roll the dice twice Saturday and try to save Winkelman for the first championship game Sunday.

Who pitched the first game for Cape Girardeau today? Who is pitching now? Who would Cape have left for Saturday considering they also had a pitcher throw multiple innings Thursday?

Jackson gets a run in the bottom of the third. 4-1 Cape.

Rachel, Festus beat Ballwin 11-1 and 10-1 this season according to stltoday. I expected Festus to fall to someone in this tournament, but Ballwin was the last team I expected to beat them.

The talent level in American Legion baseball is so high any team can beat any team.

Cape extends its lead to 5-1 in the top of the fourth.

Anyone know enough about Creve Couer to know how its pitching stacks up moving forward?

Cape leads 5-4 heading to the fifth.

This one could go extra innings.

Bolen scores on a wild pitch. 6-5 Jackson. Two outs.

Same pitchers still pitching?

7-5 heading to bottom of sixth.

9-5 Jackson. Cape coming up in top of seventh.

Cape coming back, pulled to within 9-8 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

Now that's what I call baseball.

Andrew Williams entering the game. Jackson has scored a run to go up 10-8. There are runners on second and third with one out.

Alex Bolen just did some impressive dancing in the Jackson dugout. I notice the important things.

13-8 heading to the eighth.

Just watched what was likely Andrew Willimas' final AB with his dad Steve as his coach. Steve was of course also Andrew's coach at Cape Central. Been a pleasure to watch him play.

13-8 headed to bottom of eighth.

Jackson wins 13-8. Cape is eliminated.

Creve Coeur beat Ballwin 15-5 in winners bracket final. Festus eliminated Jackson 4-0. Winkelman three-hitter, 10 K, 2 W, only allowed two runners after third inning. Festus playing Ballwin right now in losers bracket final for right to meet Creve Coeur Sunday.

Final game just ended at 12:55 a.m. after about four hours. Ballwin rallies to beat Festus 13-11 in an incredible losers bracket final. Ballwin scores six runs in top of ninth inning after trailing 11-7 to begin the frame. Ballwin and Creve Coeur play at 2 p.m. Sunday in championship round. Ballwin needs to beat Creve Coeur twice.

One has to wonder how much pitching Ballwin will have left for the championship showdown after so many games.

Any thoughts St. Louis fans?

1. Ding dong the witch is dead!

2. No Ballwin has absolutely no way of beating Creve Coeur. But thanks for toppling the evil empire on your way out.

3. 1 pitcher could still win atleast one game for an underdog in the playoffs and one reliable closer would help ensure this as well. Leave it the way it is, you got enough high school coaches whining that it needs to be double elimination starting with districts, let's not add more issues to the problem.

4. Also worth noting, only the Senior Legion playoffs are 9 innings. Freshman and Juniors still only play 7 inning games in postseason play. So yeah, not an elite class if only the Seniors do it.

It is too easy for an ace hurler to pitch his team to the Class 1 state championship under the current playoff system.

Raining now in Cape....

Showstopper

There is no reason a double-elimination system would make the high school playoffs last longer.

A double-elimination district tournament could still be played in one week.

You could then have a double-elimination regional with the winners of the four districts from each region of the state and a double-elimination final four.

Here is what such a format would look like for a sectional / quarterfinal round:

Day 1:

Game 1: District 1 Winner vs. District 2 Winner

Game 2: District 3 Winner vs. District 4 Winner

Day 2:

Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser

Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Day 3:

Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5

Game 7: Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 6 (If-Necessary)

Two possible concerns about this system:

1. Could MSHSAA make enough at the gate by adding the extra day to pay for the cost of four additional games? The current playoff system only requires paying umpires for two sectional games and one quarterfinal game.

2. Another potential concern is would there be a shortage of good umpires available if you had double-elimination tournaments in all classes being played on the same days in the sectional / quarterfinal round.

One possibility could be letting the final "two" teams play best two-of-three, instead of starting the double-elimination earlier. This would be similar to the College World Series.

Glad I stayed home and watched the Olympics.

With all the college fields in the St. Louis area this shouldn't be a problem.

Showstopper

I am unsure if the entire district tournament should be double-elimination.

However, I strongly believe a single-elimination playoff system for high school baseball remains inappropriate.

The reality is you would need three dry days in seven to 10 days to implement a double-elimination system for the sectional / quarterfinal round. You currently need two dry days to implement the current system.

It is hard to fathom one additional dry day would not be available in most calendar years.

In the current system . . . the No. 4 or No. 5 starter on a high school team may never see the mound in the state playoffs after starting approximately eight games in the regular season.

Showstopper

Are you OK with it because it would be easier?

Get your semoball.com account today and join the debate if you do not have an account.

I strongly welcome multiple viewpoints and opposition or agreement to my above proposal.

No i'm for keeping things the way they are because the system works. You usually need 3 good starting pitchers plus a solid bullpen to get out of a competitive district. From there you have the 8 best teams in the State in the playoffs. No reason to go with a gimmicky double elimination format, best way to go about it is single elimination one team's best against the other team's best. Double elmination in the State Playoffs will drag water games down and drag the tournament on. Under the current format, American Legion managers lose some of there players for anywhere from 3 to 5 games during those players runs in the State Playoffs. If the high school playoffs go double elimination the amount of time those players will miss in the Legion season will become significantly longer. And if there are players that are on a junior or even freshman legion team, they'll miss far more games since the junior and freshman seasons tend to start a little earlier.

Showstopper

I was not a fan of MSHSAA's decision to allow so many football teams in the playoffs.

However, that is not why I believe the baseball playoffs should have a double-elimination format.

Baseball is a different sport than football and basketball.

The NCAA has a double-elimination format in baseball. The double-elimination format does not exist in basketball or football.

The state volleyball playoffs go to pool play at the state final four even though the district and sectional/quarterfinal rounds have not been switched to pool play yet.

I would not be in favor of double-elimination during district play. One of the main reasons is weather; rain sometimes puts a strain on finishing the district tourn. in time for the teams to prepare for the sectional. It seldom takes 3 top starters to prevail in the district tourney, because more often than not, the first game for the higher seeds is a mis-match. I would still prefer just letting the final two teams play a best of three.

Showstopper

I do not think a double-elimination playoff system would require extending the high school season longer.

Some states actually elect to play its high school season in the summer, however.

can we all get along?!? lol as a player in high school i like the district the way it is, and state playoffs.. it makes u want to win badely.. knowing that if u lose ur out and that makes u give 100% on the field!!

I am in shock that Creve couer won this zone, I saw them play in a tournament the last weekend of July and I know Jackson and at least Festus were better than Creve Couer

With all the possible alternatives (as stated, I'd go for a best of three with the final two teams), no system can guarantee the best team winning. Even in 7-game series, often the best team doesn't win the MLB World Series. A great example is our own Cardinals last year, and a number of other teams throughout the years.