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Day: April 27, 2022

BOYS TENNIS ROUNDUP: Webb City upends Neosho; Thomas Jefferson suffers first dual loss

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

WEBB CITY 9, NEOSHO 0

NEOSHO, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals earned a clean sweep over the Neosho Wildcats on Tuesday in a Central Ozark Conference boys tennis dual.

In singles matches, Jacob McDonald defeated Christian Williams 8-2, Christian Alberts beat Ryno Lee 8-0 and Trevor Peterson topped Chandler Weber 8-2.

Felipe Perez defeated Neosho’s Peyton Williams 8-2, while Tristan Lynch beat Jacob Leibham 8-3 and Jacob Russell edged Wes Williams 8-6.

In doubles, McDonald-Alberts defeated Christian Williams-Leibham 8-1, Peterson-Russell beat Lee-Peyton Williams 8-4 and Perez-Lynch topped Weber-Wes Williams 8-2.

 

SPRINGFIELD CENTRAL 6, THOMAS JEFFERSON 3

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers suffered their first dual setback of the season on Tuesday, falling 6-3 to Springfield Central at the Cooper Tennis Complex

Class 2 Thomas Jefferson is now 9-1, while Class 3 Central is now 12-3.

In doubles, Central’s Josh Kim-Pranav Mandava defeated TJ’s Ian Ding and Tyler Brouhard 8-2, while Raghav Bansal-Ian Rogers beat Prithvi Nagarajan and Lala Qian 8-4.

At No. 3 doubles, TJ’s Devan Murali and Hari Nagarajan beat Ethan Gravely-Wooyoung Park 8-5.

In singles action, Kim defeated Ding 8-2, Bansal beat Prithvi Nagarajan 8-3, Mandava defeated Brouhard 8-3 and Rogers topped Qian 8-3.

Thomas Jefferson’s Murali beat Gravely 8-2 and Hari Nagarajan defeated Cole Brodeur 8-3.

The Cavaliers will compete at the Monett Tournament on Wednesday.

BOYS GOLF: Carthage tops Thomas Jefferson in match play contest

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers hosted a nine-hole match with the Carthage Tigers on Tuesday at Twin Hills Golf & Country Club. 

In a match play format, each team fielded six players, creating six available points in the team scoring.

Carthage won the match 5-1.

Carthage’s Owen Derryberry won his match with Thomas Jefferson’s Jake Jarrett 5 and 3.

Carthage’s Brit Coy won his match with Luke Miller 4 and 3, while Carthage’s Max Templeman won his match with TJ’s Caden Myers 4 and 2.

Ben Nicholas won his match with Thomas Jefferson’s Tony Touma 5 and 4, while Carthage’s Colson Brust won his match with Jack Tyrrell 1 up on the last hole.

Thomas Jefferson’s Beck McKinney won his match with Ben Rogers 5 and 3.

BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Carthage, McAuley and McDonald County all earn wins on Tuesday

Posted on by Lucas Davis

CARTHAGE 4, NEOSHO 1

NEOSHO, Mo. — Carthage used early offense to build a 4-1 lead after two innings and held that pace on the way to a Central Ozark Conference win over Neosho on Tuesday at Roy B. Shaver Field. 

The Tigers (7-14, 2-4 COC) used a single, a Neosho error and a walk to load the bases with one out in the top of the first before Clay Kinder singled a pair of two-out runs home two batters later on a line drive to right field for a 2-0 lead. Kanen Vogt and Nate Norbury singled to reach base in the second before a two-out error on a fly ball by the Wildcats (11-11, 0-6 COC) allowed both runners to score to push the lead to 4-0.

Carter Baslee brought home Neosho’s lone run of the game on a fielder’s choice in the bottom half of the fourth. 

Bradyn Tate earned the win for Carthage after allowing one unearned run on three hits, a walk and three strikeouts in six innings. Kaden Arr earned the save after allowing one hit and striking out two in a scoreless seventh inning.

Kael Smith took the loss for Neosho after allowing four unearned runs on seven hits, two strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. River Brill pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief and allowed a hit, walked one and struck out one.

Braxdon Tate and Sylas Browning each had two hits for Carthage. Kinder had a hit and two RBI, while Vogt and Norbury each had a hit and scored a run. 

Carter Fenske doubled and had two hits to lead Neosho, while Reece Miller and Eli Zar also picked up hits for the Wildcats.

 

MCAULEY 6, EXETER 5

McAuley trailed 2-0 early before scoring two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to earn a come-from-behind win over Exeter on Tuesday.

Rocco Bazzano-Joseph started and took a no-decision after allowing four runs on seven hits, two walks and three strikeouts in five innings. Kable Reichardt earned the win in relief after allowing one earned run on one hit, a walk and three strikeouts in two innings.

Trailing 2-0, the Warriors (6-3) plated two two-out runs in the fourth inning to tie the game. McAuley scored on an error with two away to cut the lead in half before Chase Gardner brought home the tying run with an RBI single through the left side. 

Exeter had back to back run-scoring singles from Jimmy Filipe and Corey Hilburn to take back the lead in the top of the fifth, but McAuley tied it back up in the bottom half with a run scoring on a balk and a passed ball.

The Warriors took the lead for good in the sixth when Bradley Wagner broke the tie with a one-out single to left to plate Reichardt. Wagner later scored on a passed ball for insurance.

Reichardt had two hits and scored two runs, while Wagner had a hit, scored a run and drove in one. Gardner had a hit and an RBI, while Joe Staton, Bazzano-Joseph and Kendall Jones all had a hit and all scored a run. Kevin Tran also registered one of McAuley’s eight hits in the win. 

 

MCDONALD COUNTY 7, SENECA 2

SENECA, Mo. — Class 5 No. 6 McDonald County hung up crooked numbers on the scoreboard in three of the first four innings on the way to a win over Seneca on Tuesday.

The Mustangs (17-5) plated three runs in the first inning before pushing across two runs in the third and the fourth innings to build an insurmountable lead over the Indians (5-15) in the win.

Cross Dowd earned the win after allowing two runs on five hits, eight strikeouts and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. Destyn Dowd struck out one over 2 2/3 scoreless relief innings.

Grant Houchin took the loss after allowing seven runs, four earned, on eight hits, four walks and a strikeout. Tanner Nesvold allowed one hit and walked one in a scoreless inning of relief.

Cross Dowd had a two-run double to right in the first inning to give McDonald County the lead, with Colton Ruddick adding an RBI single up the middle later in the inning. Tucker Walters picked up an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the third, while Ruddick drove in another run with a groundout. Cole Martin singled to left for an RBI in the bottom of the fourth and a second run came home on an error to wrap McDonald County’s scoring.

The Indians got on the scoreboard with a two-run single from Hagen Ginger in the top of the fifth.

Martin had three hits and an RBI to lead McDonald County, while Cross Dowd had two hits, two RBI and scored twice. Ruddick had two hits and two RBI.

Ginger had two hits and two RBI, while Kaden Clouse and Kade Johnson each had a hit and scored a run for Seneca.

BOYS TENNIS: Joplin tops Carl Junction for first dual win

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

The Joplin Eagles recorded their first dual win of the spring by beating Carl Junction 6-3 on Tuesday in a Central Ozark Conference boys tennis matchup at the Joplin Athletic Complex courts. 

“The guys played well and were excited to get their first win of the season,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump told SoMo Sports. “Having Joe (Graham) return to play made a huge difference for the team’s morale and lifted the team’s overall performance.”

At No. 1 doubles, Carl Junction’s Blaine Wilkerson and Dan Hodson edged Adam Badr and Josiah Hazlewood 8-6.

“Adam and Josiah continue to improve as a doubles team,” Stump said. “Even though they are new to tennis, they are playing at No. 1 and show the potential we have for future years. They are communicating, hitting some nice serves, and continuing to develop their ground strokes.”

Joplin won the other two doubles matches.

At No. 2 doubles, Joplin’s Joseph Graham and Aidan Kester defeated Ben Morey and William Russel 9-7.

“This is the first time Joseph and Aidan have played together as a doubles team, and they played well,” Stump commented. “I saw some good serves from both guys. I really liked how they came from behind in this match. They were focused and played a sound match.”

Joplin’s Michael Mancipe and Hunter Merkley earned an 8-1 win over Jayden Wolf and Cameron Ball at No. 3 doubles.

“With the No. 2 doubles change, Michael and Hunter were able to move down to No. 3 doubles based on team ranks,” Stump noted. “At this level, they both stepped up their game and played their best match of the season.”

The Eagles won four of the six singles matches to secure the dual win.

At No. 1 singles, CJ’s Wilkerson beat Graham 8-3.

“This was Joseph’s first match since April 13,” Stump said. “He isn’t quite at 100 percent strength, but the team was happy to have him back. His presence as our top player lifts the group and allows them to play at their potential.”

Joplin’s Badr defeated Hodson 8-4 at No. 2 singles. 

“Adam played quite a few good points in his match,” Stump said. “When he focuses on his technique, he can hit his serves and groundstrokes consistently.”

At No. 3 singles, Mancipe defeated Carl Junction’s Morey 8-4.

“Michael had another consistent match,” Stump said. “He doesn’t make many errors and keeps the point alive longer than anyone else on the team.”

Carl Junction’s Russel defeated Hazlewood 8-3 at No. 4 singles. 

“Josiah is getting his serves in more consistently and becoming a better overall player,” Stump noted. “We will continue to work on footwork for groundstrokes so that he can get in a better position to return the ball.”

Merkley beat Wolf 8-3 at No. 5 singles. 

“This was Hunter’s first varsity win in singles,” Stump said. “He has shown a lot of growth since last year and is hitting his serves in much more consistently.”

At No. 6 singles, Joplin’s Kester beat Ball 8-1. 

“This was also Aidan’s first varsity singles win in a dual,” Stump said. “To win this match, he minimized the unforced errors that had been holding him back.”

 

The Joplin High School boys tennis team defeated Carl Junction 6-3 on Tuesday at the Joplin Athletic Complex. Courtesy photo.

BASEBALL: Joplin erases early deficit in COC win over Ozark

Posted on by Lucas Davis

Joplin scored a pair of two-out runs in the third inning to erase a one-run deficit and added insurance in three straight innings while riding a complete-game win from Justin McReynolds on the bump to beat Central Ozark Conference and district foe Ozark 5-2 on Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex.

“They scored that first early run but we were able to come back and score two to take the lead immediately after that,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “That is always a big part of a game. You could tell early, while we have been in a little bit of a funk offensively, that we were trying to find our rhythm. We found it in the middle innings and scored every inning after the first two runs to extend the lead. It was just a good job all the way around the field.”

The Eagles (10-10) evened their overall record with the win, while moving to 5-1 in conference play. The Tigers fell to 14-7 and 3-3 in conference standings.

ON THE MOUND

McReynolds earned the victory after allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits, two walks and eight strikeouts in seven innings for the Eagles.

“Our starting pitching over the course of the last four or five games has been really, really good,” said Wolf. “Justin added to that today.”

Devyn Wright took the loss after allowing 5 runs, 4 earned, on 12 hits and six strikeouts in six innings of work for the Tigers.

GAME ACTION

The first three Tigers reached base in the top of the second following back to back infield hits and a 13-pitch walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, Rhett Hayward brought home a run with a groundout to make the score 1-0.

Joplin used two-out magic in the third inning to take the lead. The Eagles tied the game when Ethan Guilford singled to center field with runners on the corners to plate Bodee Carlson, who singled with one out in the inning. McReynolds was called out in the next at-bat on a bang, bang  play at first base only for the call to be overturned on the field to a safe call, allowing the go-ahead run to score and give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.

“That was a huge play for us to be able to get that second run and take the lead with it,” Wolf said. “A 2-1 lead is a lot better than a 1-1 tie. That was an important play for us.”

The Eagles added to the lead with an unearned insurance run in the last of the fourth inning when Carlson reached on an error on a fly ball to right field that allowed Tyler Duley to score to make the score 3-1. Duley was running for Tyler Schumann, who reached on a dropped third strike with one out in the frame.

Kyler Stokes led off the fifth inning with a single through the left side before stealing second base to get into scoring position for Joplin. In the next at-bat, Guilford pulled a ball down the third-base line for an RBI double to push the lead to 4-1.

Joplin made it four straight innings with runs touching home in the bottom of the fifth inning when Stokes singled sharply up the middle with two runners on and two outs to score Carlson, hiking the lead to 5-1.

“I think when we finally saw some balls find some turf, I think we started to loosen up a little bit,” Wolf said of the offensive production. “We went through a couple of games, and credit to who we were playing, where we had trouble scoring runs. We were a little tentative. Once we got those two runs, I thought we loosened up and had some good at-bats.”

Ozark scored a run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Sutton Hanks to trim the lead to three.

IN THE BOX

Guilford doubled on the way to three hits and two RBI, while Stokes had three hits, scored a run and drove in one. Carlson had two hits and scored twice, while Byler Reither had two hits and scored a run.
Brody Baumann had a hit and scored a run, while Hanks had a hit and drove in one for Ozark.

ON DECK

Joplin is back in action for the third straight day when the Eagles hit the road for a conference and district game at Republic on Wednesday. The game was moved up a day because of the threat of weather. Joplin closes the week of action out with two games on Saturday at the JHS Athletic Complex—Class 5 No. 8 Smithville at 10 a.m. before a 3 p.m. non-conference matchup against Carthage at 3 p.m.

“The great thing is you get to feel good about this one because you beat a really good team,” Wolf said. “But we are right back at the ballpark tomorrow to play again. What else would you rather be doing? Especially on a day like this. We are just trying to take that good energy to Republic tomorrow. They are very good and it’s another big game for us.”

BASEBALL: Webb City earns run-rule win over Carl Junction

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Two big innings propelled Webb City to a 17-2 run-rule win over Carl Junction on Tuesday in a Central Ozark Conference contest at Chuck Barnes Field.

In a clash with district implications, Webb City plated seven runs in the first inning and eight in the third before a two-run fourth ended the game early. 

“It was a good win,” Cardinals coach Flave Darnell said. “It was nice to see us swing the bats well today because we’ve kind of been struggling offensively.”

Webb City improved to 11-12 overall and 4-2 in the COC, while Carl Junction slipped to 6-12 and 1-4 in conference action. 

The hosts scored their 17 runs on 16 hits and also took advantage of six Carl Junction errors. Eight Webb City players recorded a hit and five had multi-hit games. 

“We were aggressive on fastballs,” Coach Darnell said of the team’s key to success at the plate. “We talked about hitting fastballs early in the count. We didn’t allow him to get to his breaking ball because we know Shane (Diskin) is a good pitcher. It was nice to see us be aggressive early in counts.”

Cy Darnell, Kenley Hood and William Hayes had three hits apiece for the Cardinals, while Eric Fitch and Aidan Brock added two hits apiece. Hayes drove in four runs, while Fitch, Hood, Jeremiah Leaming and Brock had two RBI apiece.

Senior right-hander Cooper Crouch was the winning pitcher. A Crowder College signee, Crouch allowed one hit and four walks in four frames. He did not allow an earned run and struck out seven. 

“Cooper settled in and started throwing more strikes later in the game,” Coach Darnell said. “He’s hard to hit when he’s in the zone.”

Carl Junction’s Diskin took the loss after giving up seven runs, one earned, on five hits in one inning. Lucas Vanlanduit allowed four earned runs and Hunter Cantrell gave up two earned runs. 

Dalton Mills had CJ’s lone hit. 

The Cardinals pushed across seven runs in the bottom of the first. Fitch reached on an error and Cy Darnell singled to right before Hood delivered a run-scoring single into left. After Cade Wilson was plunked, Brock smacked an RBI single into left. 

Next, Hood scored from third on a passed ball before Wilson came home on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead. 

Hayes followed with a two-run triple to left and Fitch contributed a run-scoring double to left for a seven-run cushion. 

Carl Junction scored two runs in the second without recording a hit. After an error and two walks, Bentley Rowden was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. A second run came home on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Arlen Wakefield. 

Webb City blew the game open with eight runs on six hits and two errors in the third. The Cardinals batted around for the second time in the contest. Fitch, Cy Darnell, Hood, Leaming and Kaylor Darnell all drove in runs with base hits. 

Leaming and Brock drove in runs in the fourth for the 15-run advantage.  

 

COACH DARNELL RECOGNIZED

Coach Darnell was recognized after the game for recently recording his 300th coaching win.

“That was great,” Darnell said. “I had an awesome experience at CJ and it’s been great here at Webb. I’ve built a lot of great relationships.” 

 

WHAT’S NEXT?

Webb City hosts Class 6 No. 2 Nixa at 4:30 on Wednesday. 

“Nixa’s good,” Darnell said. “We’ll have to compete in the zone, hit fastballs and not really worry about who we’re playing.”

Carl Junction is scheduled to host Ozark on Wednesday. 

The games were moved from Thursday to Wednesday due to the weather forecast. 

 

FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)

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