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Day: March 31, 2021

COLLEGE SIGNINGS: Webb City Cardinals make college decisions official 

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Three Webb City High School seniors made their college decisions official on Wednesday afternoon inside the Cardinal Dome. 

Eli Goddard signed to play baseball at Missouri Southern, while Danecca Heffren and Rachael Drum signed to play tennis at Evangel University.

Goddard noted Southern just felt right. 

“When I went on my visit I felt real comfortable there,” Goddard said. “The coaching staff made me feel at home. I loved the campus. I fell in love with baseball at a young age, so I’ve always wanted to play at the next level. I’m glad I’m able to do that. This means a lot to me.” 

Goddard will join classmates Treghan Parker and Cole Gayman at MSSU, where they’ll play for Bryce Darnell.

“It will be fun to keep playing with them,” Goddard said. 

Goddard, who is the starting catcher who also pitches for Flave Darnell’s Cardinals, will focus on pitching at the next level. 

“I just want to keep getting better,” said Goddard, who was also a key performer for Webb City’s football team.  

Heffren and Drum both said they’re pleased they’ll be able to continue to compete in the sport they’ve grown to love.

“I fell in love with this sport,” Heffren said. “It started out as something to do for fun. As I kept playing through the years, I grew to love it a lot. Now I have a passion for it.” 

“I’ve only been playing tennis for about two years and I’ve worked really hard to be able to do this,” Drum said. “It’s a big accomplishment. I’m super excited.”  

Evangel’s close proximity played a factor for both athletes. 

“I really fell in love with Evangel,” Heffren said. “It’s far enough, but still close to home.”

“It’s super close to home,” Drum added. “It’s perfect.”

 

Webb City seniors Rachael Drum, Eli Goddard and Danecca Heffren are pictured with their families during Wednesday’s signing ceremony inside the Cardinal Dome. Photo by Jason Peake.

 

PREP SPORTS: MSHSAA releases district assignments for golf, soccer, tennis, track, softball

Posted on by Jason Peake

Below are district assignments of local interest for boys golf, girls soccer, boys tennis, track and field and spring softball. 

 

BOYS GOLF 

CLASS 5 DISTRICT 3: Joplin and Carthage are among the 15 teams in this district. Schifferdecker Golf Course is the host site. 

CLASS 4 DISTRICT 4: Carl Junction and Webb City are among the 15 teams in this district. 

CLASS 4 DISTRICT 3: Neosho, McDonald County and Monett are in this district. 

CLASS 3 DISTRICT 3: Seneca, Cassville, Aurora and Nevada are among the 15 teams in this district. 

CLASS 1 DISTRICT 2: College Heights, McAuley Catholic, Thomas Jefferson and Diamond are among the 20 teams in this district.

 

GIRLS SOCCER

CLASS 4 DISTRICT 11: Joplin, Carthage, Nixa, Republic. 

CLASS 3 DISTRICT 12: Carl Junction, McDonald County, Neosho, Webb City. 

CLASS 1 DISTRICT 6: McAuley Catholic, Fair Grove, Greenwood, Mountain View-Liberty, New Covenant. 

 

BOYS TENNIS

CLASS 3 DISTRICT 6: Joplin, Carthage, Lee’s Summit, Lee’s Summit North, Lee’s Summit West, Raymore-Peculiar.

CLASS 2 DISTRICT 7: Carl Junction, Webb City, Neosho, Thomas Jefferson, Belton, Grandview.

 

TRACK & FIELD

CLASS 5 DISTRICT 6: Joplin, Carthage, Neosho, Belton, Branson, Nixa, Ozark, Raymore-Peculiar, Republic. Nixa is the host site. 

CLASS 4 DISTRICT 6: Carl Junction, Webb City, McDonald County, Monett, Bolivar, Hillcrest, Logan-Rogersville, Nevada, Willard. Carl Junction is the host site.

CLASS 3 DISTRICT 6: Aurora, Cassville, Clever, East Newton, El Dorado Springs, Hollister, Lamar, Mount Vernon, Reeds Spring, Seneca, Springfield Catholic. Lamar is the host. 

CLASS 2 DISTRICT 6: Diamond and Sarcoxie are among the schools competing. Reeds Spring High School is the host. 

CLASS 1 DISTRICT 6: College Heights, Thomas Jefferson, McAuley Catholic, Golden City and Jasper are among the 17 teams competing. Reeds Spring High School is the host. 

 

SPRING SOFTBALL

CLASS 2 DISTRICT 6: College Heights, Ash Grove, El Dorado Springs, Lamar, Mount Vernon, Sarcoxie, Stockton. 

CLASS 2 DISTRICT 5: Diamond, Clever, East Newton, Marionville, Pierce City, Southwest, Spokane. 

CLASS 1 DISTRICT 5: Billings, Exeter, Golden City, Lockwood, Miller, Purdy, Verona, Wheaton.

CLASS 1 DISTRICT 6: Jasper, Hume, Lakeland, Liberal, Miami, Northeast Vernon County, Osceola, Rich Hill. 

PREP BASEBALL: Class, district assignments released

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

The Missouri State High School Activities Association has released class and district assignments for prep baseball teams.

 

CLASS 6 DISTRICT 6: Joplin, Carthage, Springfield Central, Kickapoo, Lebanon, Nixa, Ozark, Republic. 

 

CLASS 5 DISTRICT 6: Carl Junction, Neosho, Webb City, Branson, Glendale, McDonald County, Parkview, West Plains.

 

CLASS 4 DISTRICT 11: Aurora, Cassville, Monett, Hollister, Reeds Spring.

 

CLASS 4 DISTRICT 12: Seneca, East Newton, Nevada, Lamar, Mount Vernon. 

 

CLASS 2 DISTRICT 8: College Heights, Diamond, Ash Grove, Jasper, Marion C. Early, Miller. 

 

CLASS 1 DISTRICT 6: McAuley Catholic, Bronaugh, Hume, Liberal, Lockwood, Sheldon.

PREP ROUNDUP: Highlights from Tuesday’s area softball, baseball, golf, tennis and soccer action

Posted on by Jason Peake

Highlights from Tuesday’s area softball, baseball, golf, tennis and soccer action:

 

SOFTBALL: College Heights rides six-run inning to win over Exeter

The College Heights Christian softball team stayed undefeated and began Ozark 7 Conference play on a high note with a 7-0 win over Exeter on Tuesday at the Joplin Athletic Complex.

The Cougars improved to 4-0. 

Freshman pitcher Maddy Colin struck out 12 batters and scattered five hits in the complete-game shutout.

The game was scoreless when College Heights erupted for six runs in the fifth inning. 

Addie Lawrence singled and later scored on an error. Lauren Ukena bunted and Exeter threw it away, allowing Sarah Painter to score. 

After Jayli Johnson singled, Kloee Williamson hit a two-run double to left. Later, Avery Good and Aaliyah Perez both drove in runs with base hits, giving the Cougars a 6-0 lead.

College Heights, which features athletes from McAuley, added a run in the sixth when Painter singled and later scored on Williamson’s RBI single.  

Williamson went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Painter and Good contributed two hits apiece. 

College Heights hosts Verona on Thursday. 

 

BASEBALL: McDonald County earns win over Carthage 

ANDERSON, Mo. — With some late-game heroics, McDonald County defeated Carthage 5-4 on Tuesday in prep baseball action. 

The Mustangs improved to 5-3, while the Tigers fell to 1-4.

Cross Dowd went 5 2/3 innings on the mound for the Mustangs. He allowed three earned runs and struck out six. Rylee Boyd went the final 1 1/3, striking out two.

Cole Martin and Ethan Lett both went 2-for-3 for Kevin Burgi’s Mustangs. Martin scored twice, while Isaac Behm drove in two runs.

Carthage was limited to four hits, one apiece by Logan Carmickle, Grant Collier, Rylee Barker and Sylas Browning. Kaden Kralicek and Browning had one RBI apiece for the Tigers. 

Zach Geter and Will McCombs pitched three innings apiece for Carthage. Geter gave up four runs and struck out two. McCombs allowed one run and fanned three. 

The game was tied at four when the Mustangs took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dowd walked and stole second. He went to third on Behm’s grounder and scored on Lett’s RBI single to center. 

Carthage is at Nevada on Thursday, while McDonald County hosts Joplin on Saturday. 

 

BASEBALL: Carl Junction suffers loss at Aurora

AURORA, Mo. — Carl Junction suffered a 6-5 setback at Aurora.

The Bulldogs plated four runs in the sixth to tie the game, but the Houn’ Dawgs received a go-ahead RBI double from Jaesik Friggle in the bottom half that ended up the game-winner.

Carson Johnson and Noah Southern had two hits apiece for the Bulldogs. Drew Beyer and Kyler Perry drove in one run apiece. 

Dylan Eck went five innings and allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out nine. Perry went one inning and gave up one run on two hits. 

Aurora’s Trey Mulholland pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out four. Aaron Fisher and Kelton Brown pitched in relief. 

Brown kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the seventh. 

Hayze Hoffman went 3-for-3 with two RBIs for the Houn’ Dawgs (6-0), while Friggle had two hits and scored twice. 

Carl Junction, now 5-2, hosts Frontenac at 4:30 on Thursday. 

 

GOLF: Joplin takes first at Carthage

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Joplin boys golf team took first place for the second straight day after finishing with a team score of 153 at the Carthage Golf Course on Tuesday. 

Carl Junction took second place with 170 points, while Webb City finished two strokes back with a 172. Carthage shot a 177 as a team.

Playing the par-35 front nine holes, Joplin finished with the top four individual scores. Harry Satterlee and Hobbs Campbell each finished with a 37 to lead all golfers, while Wyatt Satterlee finished two strokes back in third place with a 79. Ethan Sage tied with Carl Junction’s Noah Williams for fourth place after both scored a 40.

Cooper Wyrick shot a 41 for the Bulldogs, while Jacob Teeter carded a 44. Zach Wrensch finished the day with a 45.

Braxten Cahoon led Webb City with a 41, Keegon Dill shot a 42. Carson Frazier finished with a 44, while Cody Frazier shot a 45.

Carthage’s Quinn Brewer, Grant Fagg and Brandon Gacke all carded 44s, while Britt Coy shot a 45.

 

GOLF: Thomas Jefferson wins triangular, McAuley takes second

Thomas Jefferson’s Owen D’Amour captured medalist honors and led the Cavaliers to a first place team finish at Tuesday’s prep golf triangular at Schifferdecker Golf Course.

Thomas Jefferson finished with a team score of 190, while McAuley Catholic had a 198 and New Covenant turned in a 203.

Thomas Jefferson’s D’Amour shot a 43 and was two strokes better than McAuley’s Evan D’Amour, who carded a 45 to take the runner-up spot. McAuley’s Joe Lupicki tied for third place with a 47. 

Also for Thomas Jefferson, Jake Jarrett shot a 48, Luke Miller carded 49 and Jack Tyrrell shot a 50 to round out the team score. Also for the Cavaliers, Tony Touma shot a 55 and Caden Myers had a 58. 

In addition to D’Amour and Lupicki, McAuley’s Rocco Bazzano carded 51 and teammate Cade Englert shot a 55. 

Also for the Warriors, Thomas Black shot 56 and Jeffrey Horinek carded 57. 

 

TENNIS: Neosho drops opener to Monett

MONETT, Mo. — The Neosho High School boys tennis team suffered a 9-0 loss to Monett on Tuesday in the team’s 2021 opener. 

In singles play, Neosho’s Landon Austin lost to Dylan Lynch 8-5, Christian Williams lost to Ethan Kutz 8-3, Melvin Lopez fell to Angel Salas 8-5, Brandt Gonzales fell to Ben Hoyt 8-2, Ryno Lee lost to Heisman Welch 8-2 and Blaze McKay suffered an 8-2 loss to Jackson Young.

In doubles action, Monett’s Lynch-Holt defeated Austin-Williams 8-4, Kutz-Salas beat Lopez-Gonzales 8-2 and Welch-Young defeated Lee-McKay 8-3.

Neosho hosts Mount Vernon on Thursday. 

 

TENNIS: Thomas Jefferson defeats New Covenant

Thomas Jefferson boys tennis started the season off with a win after defeating New Covenant Academy 9-0 on Tuesday.

In singles action, Ian Ding defeated Brody Bennett 8-2, while Noah Hamlett earned an 8-2 win over Kaden Moore. 

Tyler Brouhard defeated Elijah Davis 8-2 and Christopher Wheelen was victorious over Aiden Henderson 8-3. Prithvi Nagarajan defeated Hogan Nieman 8-1, and Lala Qian was perfect against Van Riessen, 8-0.

In doubles, Hamlett and Brouhard defeated Bennett and Moore 8-6, while Ding and Nagarajan beat Davis and Henderson, 8-4. Wheelen and Qian rounded out the win with an 8-0 victory over Nieman and Van Riessen.

 

SOCCER: Area teams earn wins

In Tuesday’s girls soccer action, McAuley Catholic defeated Mountain View-Liberty 8-1, Webb City beat Cassville 8-0, Carthage defeated Pittsburg 10-0 and Carl Junction beat Hillcrest 4-0.

PREP BASEBALL: Neosho earns first win after official opening of the new Roy B. Shaver Field

Posted on by Lucas Davis

NEOSHO, Mo. — Neosho baseball’s first victory of the 2021 season will no doubt be a memorable one.

Not only did the Wildcats get their first mark in the win column after jumping out early and adding on throughout in a 10-4 win over St. Mary’s Colgan, but it was also the official opening of the new Roy B. Shaver Field. Before the game while standing on the fully-turfed field, former superintendent Dr. Roy Shaver, former Neosho coaches Charles Goade (first Neosho baseball coach) and Joe Fowler (coach of 1992 state Final 4 team) as well members of the teams from 1976 (first Neosho team), 1981 (state Final 4 appearance) and 1992 (state Final 4 appearance) were recognized along with several others by Neosho School District Superintendent Jim Cummins for their integral role in helping build the Neosho baseball program over its existence.

“It was great,” Neosho coach Danny Powers said. “So many people have worked so hard to get the Neosho baseball program up and running. Anytime you can bring some of those guys back, and the kids can see them and how much baseball meant to them, I think they have a better appreciation for why they are out here doing the things they do.”

After the ceremony, Neosho (1-7) escaped a pair of early jams before reaching the scoreboard for a run in the bottom of the second. Two runs in the third and a five-run fourth staked the Wildcats to an 8-0 lead. Colgan broke through four four runs in the top of the fifth to trim the lead in half, but Neosho added insurance in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings to help seal the win.

ON THE BUMP

Lane Yost earned the win after blanking the Panthers over four innings, allowing five hits, walking six and striking out four. He stranded nine runners on base.

“Lane is a good competitor, and we know that,” Powers said. “He walked too many, but he did a good job of not letting it get to him. He competes well and doesn’t back down from a challenge. He pitched himself out of some tough situations.”

Wyatt Shadwick allowed four runs on three hits and two walks without recording an out, and Karson Thomas pitched three scoreless innings of relief on two hits, a walk and a strikeout.

Lucas McKain started and took the loss after allowing one run in 1 1/3 innings. Carl Jacquinot allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings, while Janko Kalan allowed five runs in 1/3 of an inning. Caleb Hamilton, Gianna Piccini and Kannon Keller combined to allow one run over 2 2/3 innings.

GAME SCRIPT

Colgan threatened in each of the first two innings only to see Yost get out of both threatening situations without allowing a run. The Panthers left runners on first and second in the first inning before Yost got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second after recording a strikeout and inducing a fielder’s choice groundout.

Neosho’s Ryan Cargile led off the bottom of the second with a double down to left-center field before moving to third on a passed ball. After Wyatt Keplar was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and third, Eli Zar dropped down a squeeze bunt to score Cargile and give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead through two complete frames.

“There have only been two games where we weren’t trailing after the first inning,” Powers said. “We wanted to focus on making sure we got that first run across. I have confidence Eli can hit, but we saw how they were lining up, and with first and third, we like to do that safety squeeze. He put it in a perfect spot.”

Neosho struck for two more runs in the last of the third inning. A leadoff walk to River Brill followed by Chase Flynn getting hit by a pitch put the first two batters on base. Yost helped his own cause in the next at-bat with an RBI double down the line to left to make the score 3-0. Cargile followed with an RBI groundout to push the lead to four runs.

Colgan loaded the bases again in the top of the fourth inning, but once again, Yost was able to get out of trouble after striking out McKain swinging on a 3-2 pitch.

“That was huge because we have been in a lot of those situations this year and they didn’t go our way,” Powers said. “That has been our main problem. … To be in that situation and to get a break is a big confidence builder. It swung the momentum in our favor.”

The Wildcats came up with a big inning offensively to push the lead to a touchdown and two-point conversion, scoring five runs on five hits and three walks to push the lead to 8-0. 

“It was a big confidence builder for our team,” Powers said of the big fourth inning. “We may not have the power we’ve had in the past, but we have a lot of guys who can put the ball in play. I think we’ve done that for most of the season, but today, we hit them where they weren’t. … To have the confidence to go up there and score runs, we need to keep stringing hits together.”

Brill got the scoring started with a bases-loaded, two-run single up the middle to make the score 5-0. Cargile added a two-run double later in the inning, his second two-bagger of the game. Zar drew a bases-loaded walk to wrap the scoring in the inning.

Colgan finally broke through in the top of the fifth, and the Panthers did it in a big way—crossing home four times on three hits and two walks to cut the lead in half, 8-4. After Keller and Hamilton walked to lead off the inning, Kaden Vogel brought home the first run with a single to left before Cooper Simmons followed with an RBI single through the left side. Colin Hite singled home Vogel with a line drive to center and was the fifth straight Panther to reach base.

Thomas entered the game in relief and surrendered a sac fly to Blaise Dawson to make the score 8-4 and got the remaining two outs without allowing another run to score.

Neosho came up with some insurance in the fifth and sixth innings. The Wildcats scored a run in the bottom of the fifth when Cargile reached first on an infield hit to short, scoring Brill, who singled earlier in the inning. Neosho added another run in the bottom of the sixth when Keplar, who led off the frame with a hit-by-pitch, scored on an RBI double to deep right-center field by Jose Ortega.

Thomas worked a 1-2-3 sixth and induced a 6-4-3 double play in the seventh to end the game.

“He does a great job locating and forces guys to swing the bat,” Powers said of Thomas’ outing in relief. “He has done it all year, even against tough opponents. I am really happy for him because we didn’t know how much time (on the mound) he would get. … He throws strikes, competes and his composure is really good.”

AT THE PLATE

Cargile finished with a perfect day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a team-high three RBI and a run scored. Yost was also perfect with a 3-for-3 game, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Brill had two hits, two RBI and scored a team-high three runs. Zar had two hits, two RBI and scored a run. Ortega went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Hite had two hits and drove in a run to lead Colgan. Vogel had a hit, scored a run and drove in one. Dawson also had a hit and an RBI.

UP NEXT

Neosho hosts Joplin at 4:30 on April 1.

PREP BASEBALL: Webb City improves to 5-0 with run-rule win over Monett; Mitchell tosses one-hitter

Posted on by Jason Peake

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Noah Mitchell didn’t allow a baserunner after the first inning and the Webb City Cardinals pushed across multiple runs in four of five frames en route to a convincing 10-0 run-rule victory over Monett on Tuesday at Chuck Barnes Field.

The Cardinals kept their record unblemished, improving to 5-0.

“That was a really good win,” Cardinals coach Flave Darnell said. “I was a little fearful with the way the wind is that it might be a tough day to get runs. We kept the ball down and we had really good approaches in the box. That was really good to see. And I was very happy with our defense. That was the cleanest game we’ve played. And it’s a lot easier to play defense when your guy is throwing strikes. That’s a credit to Noah.”

A senior right-hander, Mitchell limited the Cubs to two baserunners, both in the first inning, as Estin McBroom singled and Tanner Wright reached on Webb City’s lone error. 

“All my pitches worked, I was able to get them to roll over and get a lot of ground balls and I trust my defense to make plays,” Mitchell said. “The defense performed well behind me.” 

Mitchell threw just 42 pitches, with 33 strikes. He tossed a first-pitch strike to 16 of 17 batters and got nine groundouts to go with three strikeouts and two flyouts on the way to his five-inning one-hitter.

“He threw his breaking ball well for a strike,” Darnell said. “His fastball command was better this go-around than last Monday. He was locating his pitches.”

As Darnell alluded to, Mitchell bounced back nicely after he surrendered six earned runs on eight hits in three innings last week against Republic. 

“I felt good. I had more confidence today than I did the other day,” Mitchell said. “I was able to control the 0-2 pitch and place it where I wanted it. It was a good day for me.” 

“It was good to see Noah come back and continue to throw strikes,” Darnell said. “I thought his location was a lot better and his off-speed was a lot better today. And we picked the ball up on defense. That was really good to see.” 

Webb City scored its 10 runs on 12 hits. Each of Webb CIty’s starters recorded at least one hit. Devrin Weathers, Treghan Parker and Shane Noel had two hits apiece, while Matt Woodmansee drove in two runs.  

McBroom took the loss. He allowed five earned runs in three innings. Daniel Geiss pitched the final two frames for the Cubs (2-4).

 

Webb City’s Noah Mitchell tossed a one-hitter against Monett on Tuesday. Photo by Jason Peake.

GAME RECAP

The Cardinals scored twice in the bottom of first, as Weathers and Parker both singled, with Weathers charging home on an error. 

Noel singled, stole second and third and then came home on Cole Gayman’s RBI single to center. 

The hosts added two runs in the second. 

Jeremiah Leaming walked and later scored on a Monett error and Eric Fitch singled and scored on Woodmansee’s RBI groundout. 

Webb City added four runs in the third to blow the game open. 

Eli Goddard walked and Leaming singled. Aiden Brock drove in pinch runner Gavin Stowell with a line drive to right. 

Fitch moved the runners over with a sac bunt before Leaming scored on a passed ball. Parker contributed a run-scoring groundout and Weathers later scored on a passed ball, giving the Cardinals an 8-0 advantage.

After failing to score in the fourth, Webb City ended the game by plating two runs in the fifth. 

Weathers and Parker both singled to get things started. Woodmansee and Noel followed with run-scoring singles to end the game in walk-off fashion.

 

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Cardinals are at Springfield Catholic on Thursday. 

Webb City will also play two games apiece on Friday and Saturday at Glendale.

 

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