SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Joplin was among the 17 teams competing at the Springfield Invitational on Wednesday at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
Joplin’s duo of Alex Carson and Bonnie Smith finished seventh out of 34 doubles teams to lead the Eagles at the invite.
Carson-Smith lost to Willard (8-4), beat Parkview (6-0), defeated Kickapoo (6-3) and then lost to Central (6-4).
Joplin’s other doubles team of Jensen Vowels and Mya Ndedi Ntepe went 1-1, beating Willard 8-5 and falling to Glendale 8-4.
In singles action, Joplin’s Emma Watts went 0-2, falling to Glendale (8-4) and Springfield Catholic (7-5).
Joplin’s Brynn Driver went 1-2 in singles action. Driver lost to Willard (8-1), beat Parkview (7-6) and lost to West Plains 6-3.
Glendale’s Chloe Stenger was the singles champion, with Kickapoo’s Brynley Brotherton the runner-up.
Capital City’s Sarah Wilde finished third and Springfield Catholic’s Lila Griesemer was fourth. Catholic’s Caroline Nelson finished fifth and Rogersville’s Caitlyn Archer was sixth.
Springfield Central’s Elana Hadi and Brett Boney were the champions of the doubles bracket, with Glendale’s Lucy Huang-Olivia Edwards finishing second.
Bolivar’s Reagan Hunt and Sophia Vestak finished third in doubles, while Catholic’s Hannah Lee-Britney Ung placed fourth. Central’s Annie German-Alex Li and Catholic’s Julia Lee-Rylee Starnes were the fifth and sixth place doubles teams.
ANDERSON, Mo. — McDonald County rallied in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 4-3 walk-off win over Carthage on Wednesday in a non-conference softball contest.
The game was deadlocked when McDonald County’s Amanda Pacheco stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Pacheco delivered the game-ending single, with Jacie Frencken scoring the winning run.
The Mustangs improved to 10-4, while the Tigers fell to 10-9.
Nevaeh Dodson was the winning pitcher. She struck out 10, scattered eight hits and gave up three runs.
Carthage’s Ashlynn Jackson took the loss, but she only allowed three earned runs.
Frencken went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored for the Mustangs.
Aven Willis went 3-for-3 for the Tigers, while Alexis Smith had two hits and two RBI.
After the Tigers plated a run in the top of the first inning on Smith’s RBI single, McDonald County’s Frencken hit a two-run home run in the bottom half.
Frencken hit an RBI single in the second inning to give the Mustangs a 3-1 lead.
In the third, Carthage’s Landry Cochran singled and later scored on Smith’s RBI single into left, cutting her team’s deficit to 3-2.
The score held up until the top of the seventh, when Carthage tied it up on Jenna Calhoon’s run-scoring double.
The Mustangs rallied with one out in the bottom half, as Frencken singled, Katelynn Townsend was hit by a pitch and Natalie Gillming singled to load the bases for Pacheco, who gave Mac County a walk-off victory with her clutch hit.
Carthage hosts Willard on Thursday. McDonald County hosts Cassville on Thursday.
NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats and the Carthage Tigers played a match Tuesday night at historic Bob Anderson Stadium befitting of their rivalry.
Neosho’s Christian Hernandez clears the ball during the Wildcats’ win over Carthage on Tuesday night. Photo by Israel Perez.
Thrilling runs for the ball and ultimately the goal, tough defensive plays, stellar saves by both teams’ goalkeepers, and two beyond enthusiastic fan bases cheering their squads on for the full 80 minutes of soccer.
Neosho erased a 2-1 deficit with two second-half goals, including the game winner by senior Juan Perez late in regulation, and reserve senior goalie Bailey Motley preserved a hard-fought 3-2 Neosho victory with his fists.
“Boy, he came in, not a ton of experience playing goalie,” Neosho coach Steve Schnackenberg said. “He just put his head down and took care of business. Three great saves, those punches at the end. Outstanding.
“He’s a senior. He played on the field for us last couple years, and we were just searching for a goalie. He wanted to give it a shot. He’s in that backup role. Jonathan (Tribbey) went down and (Motley) stepped up.”
At the 14-minute, 9-second mark of the first half, in the midst of a mad scene at the net, Carthage took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Silas Laytham, Neosho’s starting goalie Jonathan Tribbey went down in a heap and eventually walked off the field with a little help, and Carthage went a man down with a red card given to Edson Lopez.
Carthage’s Anderson Reyes passes the ball during the Tigers’ loss to Neosho late Tuesday night. Photo by Israel Perez.
This play had a major impact on the remainder of the match.
“Very disappointing result,” Carthage coach Jacob Osborne said. “It was not a deserved result. We played great, especially being down a man for a good chunk of the game undeservedly. We outshot them 26-16. We out-possessed them.
“Leaving the field tonight, I felt like we should have won, but we did make mistakes and we missed opportunities that we should have put away and we had defensive breakdowns that gave them opportunities, as well.
Neosho’s Arturo Lopez pushes the ball up field during the Wildcats’ win over Carthage late Tuesday night. Photo by Israel Perez.
“Neosho did a good job of taking advantage of those mistakes we made on both sides of the ball, and they finished with a 3-2 win. It’s one of those that will be a little bit bitter leaving, because I don’t feel like it was deserved for what the kids put into the night. Sometimes, that’s soccer, though.”
Carthage went into halftime with a 2-1 lead on an Eric Garcia goal with an assist from Neyzer Ramos. Ramos assisted on both Carthage goals.
Christian Ornelas scored Neosho’s lone goal in the first 40 minutes.
The score remained 2-1 until Fabiani Ohajaca tied it up with 18:03 remaining in regulation.
Neosho improved to 3-0 overall and Central Ozark Conference entering Thursday’s match against Big 8 school Aurora at Bob Anderson.
“Two teams that can play good defense and know what they’re doing back there,” Schnackenberg said. “We talked about it all week. Just finding those chances and putting them away. Pretty much all the chances we had, we put away.
Carthage’s Henry Gramajo evades a defender during the Tigers’ loss to Neosho late Tuesday night. Photo by Israel Perez.
“Our defenders, they play hard every minute. They hardly come off the field, and they still gut it out. You can’t say enough for them.”
Carthage fell to 5-2 overall and 2-1 COC entering Thursday’s home match against Springfield Central.
Tuesday night marked the latest chapter in the Carthage and Neosho soccer rivalry.
“Carthage and Neosho, it’s a good rivalry,” Schnackenberg said. “We battle hard every year. They got us last year. We got them the year before that. We go back-and-forth. It’s always a good game to be at, and I suggest everybody comes every time we play Carthage.”
