This will get it going ... the best baseball conference in the state from top to bottom is the Gateway Conference South Division. Not one team is below .500. Combined, the teams have a 51-16 record. Two teams have only one loss.

Check out these records: Fort Zumwalt South (9-1), Troy (8-1), Fort Zumwalt West (9-2), Francis Howell North (8-3), Francis Howell (7-4), Francis Howell Central (5-3), and Holt (5-3). League competition will soften some of these records, but who can match them from top to bottom? We'll keep looking around. Send your ideas to bryan@prepcasts.com.

In games between equally matched teams, one big inning can determine the outcome. The strong teams capitalize to the max on these opportunities to score several times.

For example, Plattsburg (4-0) remained unblemished as they plated all four runs in an inning in their 4-3 win over East Buchanan. Likewise, Chillicothe scored four runs in the third inning to raise their mark to 7-1 with a 6-5 win over Higginsville. Jacob Rockhold led the way offensively with two hits and two RBIs.

GOOSE EGG GAMES OF THE WEEK

The Maryville Spoofhounds led the way with a sharp 1-0 whitewash over Cameron. Out hit 4-2, Maryville scored the lone run of the game in the third inning.

Another goose egg game saw the SLUH Junior Billikens edge DeSmet 3-2 in Metro Catholic Conference play. The Junior Bills bunched all three of their runs together in one inning to grab the win.

Troy shutout St. Charles West 4-0 earlier in the week. Kyle Frantz hurled the four-hit shutout with four strikeouts.

BEST RALLY GAME OF THE WEEK

The Parkway North Vikings and the Webster Groves Statesmen seesawed back and forth in the early going. It was 4-0 Webster Groves after two innings and 8-6 North after four innings. After six innings, the Statesmen had a 12-9 advantage. Exploding wildly in the seventh, the Vikings crossed the plate eight times to walk off with a 17-13 win. Culver Plant of North was the star of the game, going 3-for-5 with 8 RBIs, a double and a home run. Whew ... a week of hitting in one day!

There were several other football-like scores this week.

At the top of the list was the Fort Zumwalt West game with Washington. Zumwalt West won by 13 points, 25-12. The Jaguars banged out 20 hits, and 13 different players recorded hits in this contest. The Jags raised their record to 9-2 with the win.

Another wild one was the game between the Northwest Lions and the Lindbergh Flyers. The Lions bested the Flyers 16-15 in 10 innings. A grand total of 41 hits rang around the ballpark during the game. Two players from each team had four hits -- Northwest's Lucas Fortner and Ryan Wilkenson and Lindbergh's Bryan Livingston and Joe Francis. The winning pitcher for the Lions gave up eight runs in four innings.

Lindbergh wasn't through hitting the ball all over the field or through with extra-inning games for the week. They beat Eureka 12-11 earlier in the week. Logan Parsons, the starting pitcher, led the way with three hits for the Flyers. Richie Rhodes had three hits and three stolen bases to lead the Wildcats in this eight-inning affair.

TEAMS THAT ARE RED HOT

The CBC Cadets(7-1), who have won six straight, including an impressive win over Howell North; Parkway South (5-0), who knocked off Kirkwood and were rained out against CBC on Thursday; Highland (4-1) after their 5-0 shutout victory against Wesclin (7-2); and Edwardsville (6-0), who hasn't been held under 10 runs in any of their games this year. Their latest win was a sound 10-3 victory over Vianney.

Prepcasts.com has a terrific schedule this week. Check our home page ... it's loaded with good games.