Bearcats ready to do battle in rugged district tourney

With one of the deepest slates in the state -- including two of the top three teams in Class 3 -- one can make a great case that the Class 3, District 1 Tournament at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau might just be the best district in the state top to bottom.

"It's definitely wide open this year," Dexter coach Brian Becker said. "Anyone from the (No. 1) seed to the (No. 8) seed can put a run together and win this thing. There are a lot teams that have been battle-tested. It's going to be a very tough tournament to win."

One of the best examples of the tournament's depth might be at the end of Saturday's first round, when Becker's Bearcats -- the tourney's fourth seed -- take on No. 5 Perryville, the defending district runner-up from 2011.

JERRY JARRELL photo - Alex Cliff and the Dexter Bearcats will have a rugged road to winning the Class 3, District 1 title. First-round opponent Perryville was district runner-up in 2011 while Notre Dame and Kennett are state-ranked.

"They had (Kennett) beat (in the district finals last year) until (Adam) Grantham hit a game-winner against them," said Becker. "They only had two seniors on that team last year. ... I figure they'd get higher seed than they got, but we've got to face them first round. They're going to be a tough team to handle. They're a good team and a good ballclub."

Kennett is the tourney's second seed and currently ranked third in Class 3, while top-seeded Notre Dame -- a potential semifinal opponent for Dexter -- is the No. 1 team in the state.

The 'Cats may have to beat both of them to win a district title.

Both those teams have great histories," Becker said. "They've got some premier players on their teams -- the Heisserer kid from Notre Dame and Kennett has Grantham, (Logan Dollins and (Daniel Lockhert, who is) a premier player. ... Anytime you have two of the top three ranked teams in your district, you know its going to be an uphill battle to win it."

That said, Becker believes his crew can get it done.

"Right now, I think we've got a little bit of confidence coming into the tournament," said Becker. "We haven't faced Perryville this year and we know they're going to to be a good team. But our kids are swinging the bats well right now and our pitching's been solid all year. I'm hoping that we'll come in with some confidence and play well."