Community Sports

You can’t plan events in life to a great degree. You can have dreams and hopes, but how the story unfolds is often unknown in the beginning.

Editor’s Note: This is part one in a two-part series about local businessman and world-record holding boat racer, Slug Hefner There are many words or phrases that could be used to describe Slug Hefner. Some could even say he’s got a screw loose for wanting to defy physics...

Neelyville native Joshua Miller continued to represent his country recently as the archer competed in the 2023 Pan American Field Championships in Iguana, Argentina. It was a grueling competition with varying conditions and high temps but when the dust settled, Miller finished with a bronze medal in the men’s lowbow division...

For 40 years, Cindy Gannon has played a massive role within the sports landscape of Cape Girardeau. However, after doing some soul searching, the longtime coach and administrator, initially with Southeast Missouri State, and most recently the Cape Catfish, is stepping aside to “get to know me again.”

Everyone was on their feet in respects to Kyle Kurtz as the local legend made his final walk to the cage. The Jackson native was supposed to go out with a bang and retain his middle weight title belt at Cage of Honor 90 on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the AC Base Arena. Instead he went out with a whimper, tapping out to Tavae Lewis after being caught with a rear-naked choke hold...

Jackson native Kyle "The Hurtz" Kurtz fought professionally since 2015. He's compiled a winning record of 12-10 and has been to Bellator and back, but when he enters the cage as the main event in Cage of Honor 90 on Saturday, Nov. 4, in the AC Base Arena, he will do so for the last time as a fighter...

ELLISINORE – Tons of smiles and laughter took over Brodie Gargac Memorial Field on Friday. The Ellsinore Family Career Community Leadership of America (FCCLA) organization hosted its inaugural Star Ball game. The event welcomed anyone with special physical or mental disabilities to participate in a fun game of baseball...

East Carter welcomes a new platform for baseball where everyone can get in on the action. The Ellsinore Family Career Community Leadership of America (FCCLA) organization will host their first-ever Star Ball game on Friday at the Brodie Gargac Memorial Field...

A local legend is being honored for his distinguished career with American Legion Baseball Post 63. John ‘Doc’ Yallaly is set to be inducted into the American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame. A celebration of Doc’s induction is scheduled from 12:30-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, at American Legion Post 63 in Cape Girardeau...

There are a couple of those pretty much every sporting event needs. Number one it needs athletes. It needs people performing the sport. The other is officials and while they don’t always get the recognition they deserve, sports across the country wouldn’t be possible without them...

The legacy of Poplar Bluff wrestling looks for growth through the youth as a local program prepares to groom future wrestling athletes. Registration for the Poplar Bluff boys and girls wrestling program is underway and is scheduled to kick off next Monday...

The Babe Ruth World Series officially returns to Cape Girardeau. An agreement was reached between Babe Ruth Baseball and the Charleston Fighting Squirrels, who will host the event again. The announcement was made public on Sunday, October 1, but the desire from the organization to have Cape Girardeau host 2024 has been there since agreeing to host in 2023...

America is in the midst of football season right now, but a few months ago, the numbers showed that baseball weighed heavy on their minds, particularly throughout the Midwest.

The Missouri State Bears football team made a quick stop in Poplar Bluff to get in a few more reps before college football on Saturday. On the way to compete in their second game of the season against the UT Martin Skyhawks in Tennessee, the Bears visited Poplar Bluff High School for one more practice walk-through at Mules Stadium.

One local basketball standout and former college All-American will forever be immortalized in the world of college basketball. Tyler Hansbrough, a 2005 Poplar Bluff High School graduate who led the Mules to a Class 5 state title before advancing to the University of North Carolina, where he became a three-time All-American, will take his rightful place in the College Basketball Hall of Fame for the class of 2023.

The Kennett Bowling Lanes will be the site of a six-game sweeper on Sunday, Sept. 17. Bowlers will check in at 8:30 a.m., with the action to follow one hour later. The entry fee is $65, with a $20 deposit. There are still openings to compete in the event. However, the tournament is capped at 50 participants...

The prestigious Kennett Hall of Fame grew by four new members during a special ceremony at halftime of the Indians game versus Hayti on Friday, Aug. 25. Current Kennett assistant boys basketball coach John Patton and chain gang crew Mike Rhew, Jim Warrington and the late Robert Pulliam Sr. all were enshrined...

Fresh off a two-man scramble in August, Kennett Country Club will conduct a three-man scramble tournament on Sept. 9-10. Tee times are set for 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. both days. The fee is $150 per player without a cart, or $175 with a cart. The cost includes golf, dinner, Mulligans and Skins...

GOLF At Kennett Country Club Two-Man Scramble Aug. 19-20 Results Championship Flight Tournament 1t, Akers/Bolles, 120; 1t, C. Beacham/J. Beacham, 120; 3, B. Carr/Schmidt, 123 Calcutta 1t, B. Carr/Schmidt; 1t, C. Beacham/J. Beacham; 3t, C. Wallace/D. Wallace; 3t, Akers/Bolles...

SIKESTON — The annual Cotton Ramble is set for Saturday, Sept. 9 throughout Sikeston and Stoddard County. This is a bike ride featuring three courses of varying lengths: 14, 28 and 65 miles. Registration is set for 8 a.m., with the bike ride starting at 9...

CAMPBELL — The Missouri Peach Fair committee has released the winners from Saturday’s Second Annual Cornhole Tournament in downtown. Jacob Garner and Spencer Garner were the overall winners. Devin Donnel and Chris Carpenter placed second and Aiden Robertson and Camden Donnel were third...

RECTOR, Ark. — The traditional Rector Labor Day Weekend 5K run/walk will take place at 8 a.m., on Saturday, Sept. 2. The run, which is open to walkers or runners of any age, will begin and end at Rector High School. Day-of registration begins at 6:30 a.m...

Asia Pacific took third place in the Babe Ruth World Series but the tournament was theirs from the start. The Capaha crowd was enamored with how the team from Taiwan lined their gloves in a strait line during warmups, bowed their heads towards the home plate umpire before each at-bat, and most of all, carried themselves with a youthful enthusiasm that even extended to the other team...

Once the Tropics secured a 3-2 win to take the title, evert player from the other teams quickly joined in their celebration on the mound.

The Kiwanis Soccer Club of Kennett will be conducting season registration from Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 22-24. Registration will occur at First United Methodist Church (300 College Ave.) from 5:30-7 p.m. all three evenings. The registration fee is $40 per player...

The Alabama Rawdogs defeated Canada 7-2 in the Babe Ruth World Series quarterfinal on Friday at Capaha Field. Alabama began the game hot by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning, Ethan Santos scored on a line drive single by Fuller Musgrove and Jake Devalk scored off a sacrifice fly from Quincy Walters. Rawdogs manager Tony Hendrix said he was happy with how much energy the team played with despite being down players...

In what was a tightly contested game, the Southeast Tropics prevailed with a 3-1 win over Connecticut in the quarterfinals of the Babe Ruth World Series. The Tropics handed the ball to Dalton Forck who kept his team in the game by tossing a complete game allowing just one run while striking out three in the win...

The Alabama Rawdogs, the defending Babe Ruth World Series champions, topped the National pool and enter Friday’s bracket portion of the tournament as one of the two top seeds. It’s a team that is hard to root against. They play with immense enthusiasm, the dugout has chants for every situation, and they celebrate everything and everyone...

Washington pitcher Brooks Pinski stood aside the pitcher's mound before the Farmers' Babe Ruth World Series game against the Alabama Rawdogs on Thursday, August 17. He was watching his grandfather, Terry Clem — who taught him the game of baseball since he was four years old — throw out the first pitch, waiting to hug him in front of the Capaha crowd...

Early on it appeared we were in for a pitchers duel between Asia Pacific and Indiana. That thought quickly disappeared as the Asia Pacific offense came alive to knock off Indiana 10-0 on Friday at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau. Asia Pacific jumped out to the lead in the bottom of the third inning after Cheng-En Cai singled home a pair of runs to make it 2-0...

Charleston Fighting Squirrels pitcher Lawson Graff waited all week for his turn to take the mound in the Babe Ruth World Series. By then, the Squirrels were the last team to be eliminated from bracket contention, and the outcome of Thursday’s game against Asia Pacific was inconsequential. Coach Michael Minner’s one directive to the Scott City senior was to light up the radar gun...

The Delano Dirtbags of California dominated Pennsylvania 10-1 on Thursday at Cape Central High School to exit Pool A on top with a 4-0 record. The Dirtbags will now enter bracket play as the tournament’s top seed after beating Connecticut on Monday, Asia Pacific on Tuesday and the Squirrels on Wednesday...

A local trap shooter uses many years of experience to achieve high honors at the national championship. Madison Cash of the SEMO Youth Shooters trap team competed at World Shooting Complex in Sparta, IL, for the 2023 Grand National Youth Trapshooting Championships, where she shot her personal best.

It’s been a journey for many teams to get to this point of the Babe Ruth World Series. For Canada, their journey has been a long one both on the field and off the field. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, the team arrived in Cape Girardeau unsure of what to expect...

As he cut through a sizzling ribeye steak at Jeremiah’s Fine Dining and Spirits in downtown Sikeston on Tuesday evening, young Sikeston resident Noah Mason proudly wore his Southeast Missouri Fellowship of Christian Athletes hat for all to see. Call it “Divine marketing,” if you will...

The Delano Dirtbags of California continued their unbeaten streak in the pool portion of the Babe Ruth World Series with a 3-2 win over the Charleston Fighting Squirrels on Wednesday in Capaha Field. The game was a pitchers' duel between Peyton Hodges of the Fighting Squirrels and Nolan Keene, both of whom took home player of the game honors. ...

Before the start of every inning, Fighting Squirrels pitcher Peyton Hodges crouches by the pitcher's mound to pray. "It's just a few words to myself to clear my head, stay calm," Hodges said. "I started that junior year, had success with it, and ever since then, it's just one of my routines."...

After a disappointing start to the Babe Ruth World Series on Monday, the Southeast Tropics responded on Tuesday with a win over Australia and perhaps Wednesday was their best performance of the week as they downed China 10-5 at Capaha Field. The Tropics wasted little time getting the bats going as Trey Benthal singled home a pair of runs in the top of the first to make it 2-0...

CAMPBELL — The Missouri Peach Fair will conduct its second annual Cornhole tournament this coming Saturday. Bags will fly at noon in downtown on Ash Street. Registration is set for 11 a.m., with a fee of $40. Teams may use the Scoreholio service. Cash prizes are $250 for first place, $150 for second and $100 for third...

After each game in the Babe Ruth World Series, the two teams shake hands with each other and line up for the players of the game. The Aussie Drop Bears added a wrinkle to that tradition by handing out gift bags to their opponents containing the Australian flag and a sample packet of Vegemite, a food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives that is famous in Australia...

When Neelyville native Josh Miller was growing up on a farm, his dream was the same of several kids in attendance at Tuesday’s Poplar Bluff 4-H meeting. Miller wanted to be an athlete. Growing up on a farm, he said he always had a basketball in his hand. But about six years ago, Miller picked up something else and it’s rarely left his hand since...

The Hoosiers State is being represented in the Babe Ruth World Series by Highland, a small town of around 23,000 and part of the Chicago metropolitan area. While most teams in this tournament are travel teams comprised of players from numerous communities in a given area, this Indiana team is just made up of 17 players from Highland High School, one homeschooled kid, and the high school coach is the skipper...

For fans of the Southeast Tropics, much of Tuesday morning was spent anxiously waiting. After dropping Monday’s pool play opener to the Alabama Rawdogs, the Tropics needed to respond in Tuesday’s matchup with the Aussie Drop Bears. And respond they did, Kolton Payne cruised on the mound as the Tropics knocked off the Drop Bears 12-0 in five innings...

Ray Chang enters the 16-18U Babe Ruth World Series as the manager of MLB China 18U, but the Kansas City native is in familiar territory. “For the players, it’s definitely a little bit of a culture shock,” Chang said. “A lot of these guys, this is their first time being to the States. I’m just from one state over in Kansas City but for a lot of these guys, it’s the first time.”...

CAMPBELL — Young runners were the tops at the Peach Fuzz 5K, which was conducted this past Saturday. Skies were cloudy, with runners completing the course before thunderstorms and heavy rain struck Dunklin County. Rhett Foster, an 11-year-old from Campbell, placed first in a time of 21:32...

Early struggles proved to be costly as the Southeast Tropics fell 7-3 to the Alabama Rawdogs on Monday in the opening game of pool play in the Babe Ruth World Series. Despite the loss, the Tropics showed signs of life late as they tacked on all three runs in the top of the seventh...

After being the sports editor of the Daily American Republic for a few months now, I’ve learned a few things. One of those things being about the legendary Gene Bess. Bess will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame tonight in Springfield, Massachusetts...

The Babe Ruth World Series is quickly approaching Cape Girardeau. Both the Southeast Tropics and Charleston Fighting Squirrels are in the tournament as the host teams. Two rosters filled with local talent will take on the top 16-18U teams in the country including Canada, China, Aruba, Australia, and Taiwan...

Kennett Country Club will be the site for a two-man scramble tournament slated for Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19-20. The club said there are still openings if your team would like to enter. The cost is $150 per player without a cart, and $175 with one. The entry fee covers golf, dinner, Mulligans and Skins...

The Babe Ruth World Series is quickly approaching Cape Girardeau. It is potentially the biggest sporting event this town has ever seen, even bigger than the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament. Even bigger than that? Impossible! Both the Southeast Tropics and Charleston Fighting Squirrels are in the tournament as the host teams. Two rosters filled with local talent will take on the top 16-18U teams in the country including Canada, China, Aruba, Australia, and Taiwan...