The annual Southern Stampede high school cross country race is the latest event to be canceled due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.
Bryan Schiding, Missouri Southern’s Director of Cross Country and Track and Field, on Tuesday informed high school coaches and administrators via email of the school’s decision to call off the Stampede, which was scheduled for Sept. 19 at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
Even if fans were not allowed at the event, there were more than 1,000 high school runners signed up to race on the MSSU campus, causing concerns related to social distancing.
Last week the University of Kansas called off its annual Rim Rock Farm High School Classic, a huge prep cross country meet scheduled for Sept. 26, also due to uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — A seven-run second inning propelled Carthage to a decisive 12-2 victory over Seneca in non-conference softball action on Tuesday at Fair Acres Sports Complex.
Carthage improved to 1-1, while Seneca fell to 0-1.
The Tigers, who suffered a 2-1 loss to McDonald County last Friday in their opener, got the bats going right away.
The Tigers plated two runs in the first, as Landry Cochran doubled, Katie Crowe singled and then Jensyn Elder and Natalie Rodriguez both delivered sacrifice flies.
In the seven-run second inning, Mary Grace Richmond hit a two-run double, Cochran launched a three-run homer, Rodriguez later delivered an RBI double before Elder drove in another run with a ground out, making it 9-0.
The Indians scored two runs on three hits in the fourth. Hunter Beard and Bailey Lannon both had RBI singles.
In the bottom half, Rodriguez hit an RBI single and then Makayla Jennings added a two-run single for a 10-run advantage.
Seneca failed to score in the fifth, and the game ended early due to the run-rule.
Elder was the winning pitcher. She allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out two in three scoreless innings. Kate Potter tossed the final two innings. Sierra Lannon took the loss for Seneca.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Carthage and Seneca will both return to action at the Paige Neal/Christina Freeman softball tourney on Friday at the Joplin Athletic Complex.
Carthage meets Monett at 4, while Seneca takes on Nevada, also at 4.
In other scheduled games on Friday, Carthage takes on Joplin at 5:45 and Carl Junction at 7:30. Seneca meets Webb City at 5:45 and Neosho at 7:30. The tourney wraps up on Saturday.
REPUBLIC, Mo. — The Neosho High School girls tennis team ran into a solid Republic squad on Tuesday. The Tigers topped the Wildcats 9-0.
In singles play, Republic’s Elsie Crawford beat Michelle Lindsay 8-2, Jasmine Howard defeated Emily Lemus 8-0 and Abigail McCord topped Angelica Vynyas 8-0.
Sedalia Shumaker defeated Claudia Martensen 8-1, Morgan Lewis beat Mariana Anaya 8-0 and Anna Davidson defeated Jasmine Martinez 8-1.
In doubles play, Crawford-Howard beat Lindsay-Lemus 8-0, while McCord-Shumaker topped Vynyas-Martensen 8-0 and Lauren Ueligger-Wrigley Cook beat Anaya-Martinez 8-0.
Neosho (0-2) is at Willard on Thursday.
In a girls tennis dual that featured a number of close matches, Webb City edged Joplin 5-4 on Tuesday night at Millennium Family Fitness. The Eagles also suffered a one-point loss on Monday. On the other hand, it was Webb City’s second straight win, as the Cardinals beat College Heights 8-1 on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Eagles won two of three doubles matches.
At No. 1 doubles, Joplin’s Emma Watts and Kennedy Schwartz defeated Rachel Drum and Kirsalyn Hood 9-8 (7-4 tie-breaker), while Jensen Vowels and Lauren Laird edged Webb City’s Kinzlea Smith and Danecca Heffren 8-6 at No. 2. The Cardinals won the No. 3 doubles match, as Taylor Yockey and Shelby Ensminger beat Cloey Blank and Patience Adams 8-6.
Drum beat Watts 8-4 at No. 1 singles, while Smith defeated Schwartz 8-3 at No. 2. Joplin’s Vowels nipped Hood 9-8 (7-5) at No. 3 singles, while Laird beat Heffren 8-5 at No. 4.
Yockey defeated Blank 8-4 at No. 5 and Ensminger edged Adams 8-6 at No. 6.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Joplin travels to Branson on Thursday, while Webb City is at Ozark.
ROGERS, Ark.—The Joplin Eagles were shorthanded for their 2020 debut on the volleyball court.
With a couple of key performers out of the lineup, the Eagles suffered a 25-19, 25-15, 25-18 setback at Rogers Heritage on Tuesday night.
Joplin played without Aubrey Ritter and Mya Johnson, Eagles coach Staci Saunders said.
Addison Saunders handed out 12 assists, recorded six service points, four digs and three kills to lead the Eagles (0-1). Angelina Schramm compiled eight digs, six service points and four kills.
Also for the Eagles, Allie Lawrence and Kacy Coss slammed five kills apiece. Kaylie Anderson had a team-high 18 digs and two blocks, while Lawrence had six digs.
Baileigh Riley contributed seven assists and six digs, while Logan Bruggeman had three blocks.
Joplin hosts Cassville at 7 on Thursday.
McDonald County built a 5-1 advantage and staved off a Joplin rally to defeat the Eagles 5-4 on Tuesday at the Joplin High School Athletic Complex.
It wasn’t exactly the way Joplin coach Manny Flores wanted the Eagles’ season opener to turn out, but with such a young squad, he was very pleased with the fight his team put up against a quality program.
“It’s like I tell them, just because we are young doesn’t mean we can’t come out and win,” Flores said. “It’s about learning from these experiences. This was the first game, so a lot of nerves were kicking in early. I thought we did a nice job later in the game of settling in and getting comfortable.”
“We did a good job of not trying to do too much (at the plate),” Flores added about the overall offensive approach in the game. “If we keep that same approach when we get runners on base, I think we will be just fine. We controlled what we could, put the ball in play and put pressure on them.”
Joplin senior Reece Schroer catches a popup during the Eagles’ season opener against McDonald County on Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
After a scoreless first, McDonald County took a 2-0 lead with single tallies in the top of the second and third innings — with Neveah Dodson picking up a sacrifice fly in the second and Katelynn Townsend singling home a run in the third. Joplin cut the lead in half when Kirsten McMillen reached on a bunt single to bring home Abby McGinnis, who doubled to left to lead off the frame, making the score 2-1.
The Mustangs crossed home three times in the top of the fourth, with Dodson driving in a run with a double to right-center before an infield hit by Deorica Zamora pushed home the second run. Mariana Salas brought the final run of the inning home with a double down the third-base line to make the score 5-1.
Once again, Joplin rallied in the bottom half of the inning, with Reece Schroer singling to right-center, scoring Ryleigh Surridge to trim the Mustangs’ advantage to 5-2. McGinnis followed with an RBI groundout to bring the Eagles within two of the lead.
“That is a senior coming up in a spot that gave us a boost and got us back in the game,” Flores said of Schroer’s single. “You could see it gave energy to the girls, and it was a nice sigh of relief for us. Someone came through in the clutch, and I expect that to continue to happen as the year progresses.”
Bailey Ledford used a bunt single to lead off the bottom of the fifth for Joplin before coming around to score on a wild pitch to make the score 5-4. The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs but were unable to push home the tying run. It looked as if Joplin might take the lead when Schroer squared a ball up with two outs in the frame, only for it to be caught on the warning track just shy of the wall.
“In a situation like that, it’s just getting the girls to understand you don’t need to do too much right there,” Flores said. “If you put the ball in play, you put some pressure on the defense and see what happens.”
Alexa Hopkins earned the win in the circle for McDonald County after allowing four runs on six hits, seven strikeouts and one walk in four innings. Madeline McCall pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
Madisyn Tracy started and took the loss for Joplin. She allowed four runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. Brittany Shryock allowed one unearned run on 3 2/3 innings of relief. She allowed two hits and walked two.
“I thought our pitchers did an awesome job today,” Flores said. “They threw strikes and commanded the strike zone. They did an excellent job of pitching to (McDonald County) and making them put the ball in play. I thought our (defense) behind them made plays today, and I thought that was absolutely incredible.”
Joplin’s Brittany Shryock delivers a pitch to home in relief against McDonald County on Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Ledford, Schroer, McGinnins, McMillen, Elisabeth Snider and Tatum Stogsdill all recorded hits for Joplin. Ledford, Stogsdill, McGinnis and Surridge accounted for all of the runs scored, while Schroer, McGinnis and McMillen all tallied RBI.
UP NEXT
Joplin travels to Cassville for a 4:30 p.m. matchup on Thursday.
