OFC softball heats up

Something exciting seems to happen every time an Ozark Foothills Conference softball team hits the field this season. There hasn't been that one team that has stood out over the course of the young season, which should make the stretch run to districts that much more exciting.

At Twin Rivers, Carlee Vancil has led the charge with solid pitching, including a 25-strikeout, no-hit performance that opened the conference season at East Carter.

Lady Royals head coach Rob Brown has also seen his young hitters' bats turn around as of late. Twin Rivers boasts just two seniors on this year's team.

"They've done a much better job hitting the ball," Brown said last week. "We're young we just gotta keep steadily improving."

The Doniphan bats have been alive and they have also gotten great pitching out of Mary Beth Cosgrove. Erin Pennington had a solid game this past Tuesday against Greenville as she went 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI.

After a shaky start defensively, Neelyville's gloves have come around as of late for first-year coach Liz Ponder. Pitcher Hannah McDaniel had had some strong outings including 15-strikeout effort earlier in the season against Doniphan.

"Defensively, they've really stepped up," Ponder said last week. "They're also hitting the ball much better."

The Lady Tigers practiced on their timing a week ago on a pitching machine cranked up to 70 mph.

"Our hitting went up and we've been watching the ball a lot better," Ponder added.

Naylor has been chugging along with great pitching from Chelsea Lane and hitting from Mariah Goodrum, Courtney Sullivan and Holly Deckard. The Lady Eagles will more than likely be on the road the rest of the season due to damage to their home field.

East Carter has had a plethora of offensive success with plenty of Lady Redbird bats contributing in the lineup as of late like Nicole Neidenberg, Courtney Newman, Tiffany Baker, Laura Nance and Molly Freeze amongst others.

Clearwater won its first game of the season this past Tuesday with a 12-run inning over Van Buren. Lydia Wymore had five RBIs in the win.

Greenville, under first-year head coach Bob Montgomery has had some solid play out of hitters Danielle Stovall and Myrissa Limanen. Leah Hillis has picked up most of the action on the rubber for the Lady Bears this season.

It should be interesting to see what develops over the next couple weeks of play leading up to districts. There are still plenty of great match ups to be played, but anything can happen come October.

Top performances of the week:

Josh Thompson/Dustin Calvert, Poplar Bluff soccer. Both players looked like offensive wizards in the second half win against Kennett this past Monday. Calvert assisted on both Thompson goals.

Logan Morris, Clearwater baseball. Morris overmatched Twin Rivers in a 10-0 win with a hard fast ball and good command on his curve ball. Morris struck out 10 batters.

Stephanie Jennings, Twin Rivers volleyball. The junior outside hitter was a dynamo at the net against Greenville Tuesday night as she had 11 kills in a 2-1 edging of the Lady Bears.

Lydia Wymore, Clearwater softball. In a thrilling come-from-behind 15-14 win for the Lady Tigers over Van Buren, Wymore had five RBIs.

Games to watch for:

Thursday Sept. 18, Neelyville at Doniphan softball. The Donnettes and Lady Tigers are both off to solid starts this season. Donnettes will enter Thursday with a 1-2 record on the week after a tough loss to a solid Kennett team Tuesday. Doniphan beat Greenville Monday, 8-6. The Lady Tigers upended East Carter Monday, 17-6.

Friday Sept. 19, Poplar Bluff at Dexter football. After a couple rough outings for the Mules, Poplar Bluff will look to turn around its fortunes and snap its two-game losing streak at Dexter. The Bearcats are winless on the season. But have had two tough losses

Monday Sept. 22, Clearwater at Neelyville baseball. Neelyville head coach Justin Dobbins goes against his former team against a Clearwater team he took state quarterfinals this spring.

Tuesday Sept. 23, Poplar Bluff at Sikeston soccer. The Mules defeated Sikeston, 3-1, on the last day of the Notre Dame Tournament in early September. This will be the first of two matches left on the season for the two squads.

Rob Tate's prep notebook runs every Thursday in the DAR and on his blog at darnews.com. Contact him at rtate@darnews.com or 785-1414 for any story ideas, performances of the week or tidbits about area prep athletes.