The McAuley Catholic boys cross country team continues to make positive strides.
That was the assessment of Warriors coach Andy Youngworth after his squad competed at the Lamar Invitational on Tuesday at the Lamar Country Club.
“We have been without our top two runners the last couple of meets and it was good to have Phillip Motazedi back,” Youngworth said. “We ran at Rim Rock Farm at KU last Saturday, so we used this meet to try to pack up as long as possible and pull our younger runners through the meet. I was extremely pleased with our efforts and our goal was achieved…less than a minute from our No. 1 runner to our No. 5 runner.”
On Tuesday, McAuley freshman Trae Veer finished 42nd with a time of 19:29, while senior Joe Staton took 44th in 19:30.
Also competing for the Warriors were Phillip Motazedi (48th), Alex Bohachick (57th), Drew Zeb (58th), Connor Taffner (65th), Kable Reichardt (88th), Cliff Nolan (96th) and Grant Horinek (97th).
“Freshmen Alex Bohachick and Connor Taffner had their best races as high school runners and gained a lot of confidence,” Youngworth noted. “Freshman Trae Veer continues to impress.”
There were 133 runners in the boys race, with 18 full squads. McAuley finished ninth in the team standings.
The Warriors were once again without Michael Parrigon, who has been the team’s No. 1 runner this fall.
Youngworth noted he’s been pleased with the progress the team has made thus far.
“Our kids have done a great job dealing with not having our top two runners competing and have shown maturity in how they have handled the adversity,” Youngworth said. “Our seniors, Phillip Motazedi, Joe Staton, Drew Zeb and Kable Reichardt, continue to show great leadership and improved efforts over last year.”
In Tuesday’s girls race, McAuley’s Kendall Ramsey finished ninth with a time of 22:19.
“Kendall Ramsey ran a great race, running a course best,” Youngworth said. “She was in the top five towards the end but just couldn’t hold off her competitors.”
Also competing for the McAuley girls were Marbellie Villanueva (65th), Samantha Perrin (75th) and Miriam Kramer (86th).
“Due to conflicts, we have not been able to run a girls team yet,” Youngworth said. “Marbellie ran her second race of the year and continues to show improvements. Sam Perrin rebounded from a tough meet at East Newton and handled the heat.”
There were 97 runners in the girls race, with 12 full teams.
After competing at both Rim Rock Farm and Lamar in a matter of four days, the Warriors will next compete at the Cassville Invitational next Tuesday, Oct. 4. McAuley will compete at the Clever Invitational on Oct. 13 before the Ozark 7 Conference Meet arrives on Oct. 21.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Webb City hit the road and earned a 25-19, 25-9 and 25-18 win over Webb City in Central Ozark Conference action on Tuesday.
With the win, Webb City earns its 20th victory of the season and improves to 20-2-1, 3— 0 COC.
Aubree Lassiter and Brenda Lawrence each had 13 kills to lead the Cardinals, with Lawrence adding six digs and Lassiter finishing with five digs, two blocks and four aces. Jaeli Rutledge had seven kills, four blocks and six digs. Kyah Sanborn had a team-high 32 assists to go along with eight digs and two dills. Sophia Crane had 14 digs and Kate Brownfield, who also had three kills and a block, had 10 digs to lead Webb City defensively.
Webb City hosts Nixa on Thursday.
CARL JUNCTION SWEEPS NEOSHO
NEOSHO, Mo. — Carl Junction earned a Central Ozark Conference win after sweeping Neosho 25-20, 25-15 and 25-21 on Tuesday.
Carl Junction improves to 12-7-1 with the win.
Destiney Buerge had 13 kills and nine digs to lead the Bulldogs, while Kylie Scott finished with nine kills and eight digs. Aubreigh Fowler had seven kills and three blocks, while Lo Jones added 37 assists, six aces and two blocks.
The Bulldogs host Republic on Thursday.
THOMAS JEFFERSON DEFEATS EVERTON
Thomas Jefferson hosted Everton and earned a 25-11, 25-13 and 25-7 on Tuesday.
Mary Nguyen had 13 assists, two digs, two kills and two aces, while Nico Carlson finished with 13 kills, three rigs, three assists and an ace. Gabbi Hiebert had nine kills and six assists, with Lannah Grigg adding four kills, three digs, an ace and an assist. Macie Shifferd had five kills, four aces and three assists, with Alexis Stamps added six aces to along with two digs and two kills.
Thomas Jefferson hosts College Heights on Thursday.
MCAULEY DEFEATS WHEATON IN FIVE SETS
McAuley earned a 25-18, 13-25, 25-23, 22-25 and 15-12 win over Wheaton in Ozark 7 action on Tuesday.
“Wheaton was a really good passing team, so we struggled to get the ball down,” McAuley coach Sarah Nangle said. “We also had to adjust our defense because they tipped a lot.”
The win improves McAuley to a 17-10-2 record.
Kloee Williamson and Lily Black each had 12 kills and eight assists for the Warriors. JoJo Wheeler finished with 15 digs, while Jadyn LaFerla had five blocks.
McAuley is at Verona on Thursday.
SENECA DEFEATS CASSVILLE
CASSVILLE, Mo. — Seneca found little resistance in a 25-16, 25-16 and 25-8 win over Cassville on Tuesday.
With the win, the Indians improve to 10-5-1, 2-0 in conference play.
Brylee Sage had 27 assists and four digs for Seneca, while Parker Long added 11 kills, six digs and three aces. Jera Jameson had 12 kills and a block, while Braxton Raulston added six kills. Ella Graham had eight digs and Tatum White chipped in three aces.
Seneca hosts Nevada on Thursday.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS FALLS TO EAST NEWTON IN FIVE SETS
College Heights took the first two sets before East Newton rallies with the final three in a 22-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23 and 15-13 win over the Cougars on Tuesday.
College Heights falls to 15-5-1 on the season.
Maddy Colin had 43 assists and six aces for CHC, while Lauren Ukena had 25 kills and 25 digs. Lindsay Griesemer added 12 kills, 20 digs and 15 service points, seven of which were aces. Ava Masena finished with a team-high 40 digs.
College Heights is at Thomas Jefferson on Thursday.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — Luciano Reyes recorded the game-winning goal in the 78th minute to lift the Joplin Eagles to a 4-3 victory over Webb City on Tuesday night in boys soccer action at Cardinal Stadium.
Joplin received early goals from Azziel Palma and Reyes to take a 2-0 lead. Palma scored in the third minute, while Reyes recorded a goal in the eighth minute, with Adam Montanez assisting.
Webb City’s Alex Flores scored in the 27th minute and teammate Luis Gallardo recorded the game-tying goal in the 31st minute, with Joe Wermuth getting the assist.
Flores’ second goal, which came in the 33rd minute, gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
Joplin’s Palma recorded an equalizer in the 45th minute, with the assist going to Ely Montanez.
Reyes scored the go-ahead goal with just two minutes remaining in regulation, with Luis Alvarado assisting on the play.
Joplin’s Andrew Jordan made five saves, while Webb City’s Connor Black was credited with eight saves.
The Eagles had eight corner kicks, while the Cardinals had one.
Joplin (9-4) hosts Carthage on Oct. 4. Webb City is at the Willard Fall Classic this weekend.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Carthage Tigers scored two goals within the first 6 minutes, 17 seconds of their Central Ozark Conference match against Carl Junction on Tuesday at David Haffner Stadium.
Carthage dominated in both overall possession and overall shots, but the goals did not start coming in bulk for the Tigers until late in the second half.
Carthage scored four goals in over five minutes and the Tigers’ eighth goal punctuated an 8-0 victory over the Bulldogs with 4:45 remaining.
Carthage’s Danilo Lopez is pictured during Tuesday’s match with Carl Junction. All photos by Israel Perez.
“It was 3-0 when we hit our fifth post,” Carthage coach Jacob Osborne said. “We had more post hits than goals at that point.
“Finally, instead of blasting it into the back of the net, they got their head up and just picked corners, which is what we’ve been talking about. It’s hard to get through sometimes, they think that the blasts, the hard-hit goals, the highlight goals, are the ones they want. Just put it in the back of the net, that’s what we’ve been focusing on in practice.
“They had one shot and we had 41. It took us a while to get there.”
Carthage possessed the ball for 73 percent of the match Tuesday night.
Seven different Carthage players scored goals during the 8-0 win: Aldo Sanchez netted two goals and Welle Welle, George Laytham, Henry Hernandez, Eric Garcia, Silas Laytham, and Jorge Lopez scored one each.
Carthage improved to 9-2 overall and 4-1 COC, and the Tigers bring four straight wins into their match on Friday against Capital City in the Kickapoo Shootout.
The Tigers are entering the portion of their schedule where the matches are going to significantly increase their strength of schedule.
“We have a very difficult stretch coming up,” Osborne said. “We’re excited for it. Friday and Saturday, we play at Kickapoo, and we play Capital City on Friday and Lee’s Summit West on Saturday. That’s a new district opponent for us, and they’re always one of the top teams in the state. That will be a tough matchup.
“Next week will be another tough week. Tuesday, we play Joplin. Thursday, we play Kickapoo and then Friday and Saturday, we’re going up to Kansas City to play St. Michael’s and Ladue from St. Louis.
“We’re sitting pretty good, but I’m ready to play some games where we’re going to be pushed more because so far this year we haven’t been pushed much. We’re going to get those games now. We’re going to take some bumps with it, but hopefully it makes us stronger and gets us ready for districts.”
Carl Junction, 4-9 overall and 1-4 COC, plays next Friday and Saturday in the Laker Shootout in Camdenton with matches against Hannibal on Friday to close out September and Camdenton and Hillsboro on Saturday to open in October.
Carl Junction’s Gavin Cowger controls the ball during Tuesday’s match with Carthage.
Carthage’s Anderson Reyes is pictured during Tuesday’s match with Carl Junction at David Haffner Stadium. Photo by Israel Perez.
Carthage’s Silas Laytham is pictured during Tuesday’s match with Carl Junction.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Carthage Tigers rallied from a 6-2 deficit with five runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth for an 8-6 win over their Central Ozark Conference rival Carl Junction on Tuesday in the Fair Acres Sports Complex.
“Monday night (against Nevada), we came out early in the first inning and scored four,” Carthage coach Stephanie Ray said. “Tonight, we did start a little slow and once we got finally got it going and even though we only scored two in that inning (third), they were solid hits. We started scoring and hitting the ball hard. We even hit some shots they made good plays on, especially their center fielder (Ryleigh Palmer), and we could have scored more runs.”
After two relatively quiet innings, Carthage started the ball rolling in the third against Carl Junction freshman pitcher Kylie Spencer with a pair of runs on four hits.
Carl Junction extended the lead to 6-2 in the next half-inning, highlighted by Sammie Sims’ two-run single.
Lexa Youngblood hustled for a double in the fifth and then the Tigers did their scoreboard damage all with two outs. Ashlynn Jackson hit an RBI single, Shelby Hegwer a RBI double, Addison Wallace a RBI single, and Jenna Calhoon a RBI single.
Hegwer’s RBI single in the sixth provided more than enough insurance for the sophomore Wallace, who earned the win behind 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief after starter Jackson departed in the Carl Junction fourth.
Jackson and Calhoon each led Carthage with three hits, Hegwer and Ashlyn Brust each added two, and Youngblood, Alexis Smith, Brooklynn Dolon-Main and Wallace rounded out Carthage’s 14-hit attack with one each.
Hegwer, Jackson, and Youngblood each doubled and Hegwer and Wallace each drove in two runs, while Jackson scored two runs.
Wallace allowed two hits and struck out seven and walked none.
Carthage honored seniors Landry Cochran, Jackson and Avery Smith in a Senior Night ceremony after the win.
“Landry’s been a four-year starter,” Ray said. “She has definitely been key in our outfield for the last four years. She’s a great leader.
“Ashlynn, in the last couple years, has got her opportunity some in the outfield, some on the mound, and this year she was able to go out and own that role. She’s been our starting pitcher every day. She’s been huge out there, kept us in a lot of ballgames, and gave us a lot of opportunities.
“Avery’s been a player, she came on as a sophomore and she’s been on the team the last three years. She’s been that role player, and a super great kid for us.”
Carthage, 14-12 overall and 3-4 COC, returns home Thursday for a contest against conference and district foe Republic.
Sims sparked Carl Junction with three hits and three RBI Tuesday and Hannah Cantrell added three hits and two runs scored, while Maddie Olds had two hits and two RBI.
Sims, Cantrell, and Olds each stole two bases.
The Bulldogs hurt themselves with four errors, three of which allowed Carthage runners to reach, but freshman center fielder Palmer made a catch to deny Carthage more damage.
Carl Junction, 7-11 overall and 1-6 COC, returns home on Thursday for a conference game against Ozark.
OZARK, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals were unable to hand Ozark its first conference loss.
Ozark improved to 17-7 overall and 7-0 in the Central Ozark Conference with a 9-0 win over Webb City on Tuesday.
Webb City slipped to 12-13 overall and 4-3 in conference action.
Ozark took advantage of three Webb City errors to score two runs in the third inning.
The Tigers added a single tally in the fourth on Natalie Morgan’s RBI single into left.
A two-run single by Brooklyn Hasler and an RBI single off the bat of Kelsie Batey made it 6-0 in the fifth.
The Tigers pushed across three more runs in the sixth for a nine-run cushion.
Ozark’s Jordyn Foley was the winning pitcher. She allowed just three hits and struck out 13 in the complete-game victory.
Offensively, the Cardinals were limited to a triple by Liz Rhuems and singles from Jensyn Pickett and Kenzie Wynn.
Laney Taylor was charged with the loss. However, she allowed no earned runs in four innings while scattering four hits. Karsyn Cahoon gave up four earned runs on seven hits in two innings.
Neosho took advantage of several Joplin miscues to build an early lead and added on insurance in four of the last five innings while holding off the Eagles for a 9-8 win in Central Ozark Conference action on Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
Neosho catch McKaylie Forrest drives in a run during the Wildcats’ win over Joplin on Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Joplin (20-8, 4-3 COC) committed three errors in the first inning that led to four Neosho runs crossing the plate. The Wildcats (18-4, 5-2 COC) ultimately built an 8-0 lead midway through the fifth inning before the Eagles answered with five runs in the last of the fifth frame and three more runs in the sixth to cut the deficit to one run. Joplin got the tying run on base in the seventh before the Wildcats closed the door on the win.
“This was a big win,” Neosho coach Catie Cummins said. “We knew this was going to be a tough game. I was really pleased with scoring early and often. We kind of relish being the visiting team because we like to score first. We get a little bit of a cushion and it makes the game feel a lot more in control. It felt like we lost control there for a second, but we never actually lost the lead. … Our hitters, that was the best bunting I’ve ever seen from a team that I’ve coached. That was the difference in the game.”
“You can’t give up those runs in the first inning, obviously,” Joplin coach Brenden Schneider said. “The errors hurt us. I think we had five or six today. That is tough to deal with. Even with that, we were still in a position to win at the end. That is a credit to this group because they have no quit and refuse to go away. These girls do such a good job of just finding a way.”
IN THE CIRCLE
Olivia Emery earned the win and the save for Neosho after starting and allowing four runs, three earned, over 5 1/3 innings on nine hits, a walk and four strikeouts before leaving and re-entering to get the final three outs in the seventh inning.
“Olivia did a good job,” Cummins said. “She doesn’t pitch like a freshman. She pitches like a veteran. She doesn’t let a whole lot flap her.”
Jill McDaniel took the loss for Joplin after allowing nine runs, four earned, on nine hits, four walks and nine strikeouts over seven innings of work.
GAME ACTION
Joplin’s Bailey Ledford beats out a single as Neosho’s Maelynn Garrett stretches for the ball in the Wildcats’ win over the Eagles on Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Neosho started fast, pushing across four runs in the top of the first inning to take control of the contest. Autumn Kinnaird led off the inning with a single before coming around to score on a throwing error two batters later for the first run of the inning. Two more runs came home on errors by the Eagles before a fourth run scored on a wild pitch.
“It sets the tone,” Cummins said of the four-run first inning. “And that is what we want to do. Set the tone early, let (the other team) know we are here, we are going to score runs and do it often. We did that today.”
Neosho added insurance to the lead with an RBI groundout from McKaylie Forrest in the third inning before Beclynn Garrett added a two-out RBI single through the left side in the fourth inning to give the Wildcats a 6-0 advantage.
The Wildcats made it three straight innings with a run touching the plate as in the fifth inning. Carleigh Kinnaird reached on a dropped third strike before Forrest bunted and reached when the throw from third sailed up the right field line, allowing Kinnaird to score in the process. Grace Johnson added an RBI on a sac bunt later in the frame to make the score to 8-0.
Neosho’s Beclynn Garrett throws to first base to record an out in the Wildcats’ win over Joplin on Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
“When we score like that, everybody has confidence at the plate and they all think they are going to get on base no matter what I ask them to do,” Cummins said. “That translated. If you score runs in five innings, you should win that game.”
Joplin got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Bailey Ledford hit a ball down the left field line that got into the corner with a runner on for a two-run inside-the-park home run. Abby Lowery followed with an old-fashioned long ball, ripping a line drive over the wall in center field for a solo home run to cut the lead to five, 8-3. A fourth run came home in the bottom of the fifth on a wild pitch before a sac fly from Kirsten McMillen with one out trimmed the Eagles’ deficit to 8-5.
“The amount of momentum that swung in that inning was huge,” Schneider said of his team’s ability to climb back from an eight-run deficit. “All this team needs is a little spark and they can build a really big fire. … That is a credit to our dugout as well because they are always active and involved in the game. They pick each other up perfectly and you couldn’t ask for a better group.”
Joplin’s Jill McDaniel loads to throw to first after fielding a bunt in the Eagles’ loss to Neosho on Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Neosho got a run back in the top of the sixth, scoring in the fourth straight inning, when Forrest singled to center with a runner in scoring position for a 9-5 lead.
“That was the storyline of the game for us,” Schneider said. “We just weren’t able to get it done on the defensive side. We were making errors and giving up runs, or they were making it happen—however you want to say it.”
Lowery came through again for the Eagles in the bottom of the sixth inning, lining a double to left-center to drive home a pair of runs to cut the lead to 9-7. A third run came home on a ground ball off the bat of Riley Kelly to trim the lead to one.
“Abby has been a heck of a player for us all year,” Schneider said. “She is a heck of a kid and does a great job. I think a big reason for that is that she has fun and she is a very smart hitter. She communicates and asks good questions. That is what you want to see from a sophomore center fielder. We are very blessed that we get to have her for two more years, and she is going to have a fantastic career if she continues to progress the way she is.”
AT THE PLATE
Beclynn Garrett led Neosho with three hits, two runs scored and an RBI, while Forrest had a hit, two RBI and scored a run. Carleigh Kinnaird and Grace Johnson also recorded hits and scored a run each.
Ledford, Lowery and Jadyn Pankow each had two hits for Joplin. Lowery, who doubled and homered, led the team with three RBI and scored twice, while Ledford, who also homered, had two runs scored and drove in two. Kelly also had a hit, scored a run and finished with an RBI.
