Community Sports

The Cape Catfish fell one game shy of winning the 2019 Prospect League championship earlier this week, as they fell to Chillicothe in the final series 2-1 Tuesday at Capaha Field. However, the first-year club was certainly a dominant winner Friday when the Prospect League handed out its annual postseason awards.

Emotions were riding high following the Cape Catfish falling to Chillicothe in Game 3 of the Prospect League Championship Series Tuesday at Capaha Field including those of manager Steve Larkin. “It’s over for now,” Larkin said. “It hurts right now. But after a week, I’ll be ready to be back in that dugout.”

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Tuesday was a night to remember for former Sikeston Bulldog Trey Smith. Playing for the Chillicothe Paints in the Prospect League, his team squared off with the Cape Catfish at Capaha Field in Game 3 of the Prospect League championship series...

For the thousands of baseball fans that sauntered into Capaha Field this summer to catch a Cape Catfish game (and maybe a foul ball, as well), the specialness of this team existing was in its providing a fun, family-friendly and cost-effective activity for all in southeast Missouri to enjoy without driving a long distance or spending a small fortune.

Case Englehart of Jackson shot a 15-over-par 85 on the second day of the 119th U.S. Amateur on Tuesday in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and fell short of the match-play portion of the tournament. Englehart, a recent graduate of Jackson High School where he helped the Indians to the MSHSAA Class 4 state golf championship in May, had entered the second round in 102nd place among the field of 312 golfers after shooting a 3-over-par 73 on Monday at the more famous Pinehurst No. 2 course...

SIKESTON – With Saturday night bringing a close to this year’s Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo the leader board comes into full view and contestants can finally see where they fall on the money list. In bareback riding, Jake Brown 92-point ride Saturday night comfortably paced the field, earning him $5,153 for the top spot...

If the Cape Catfish don’t win the 2019 Prospect League championship, they will have no one to blame but themselves. That is because the first-year club has a lot going for it in tonight’s winner-take-all title game.

Case Englehart never let playing for an MSHSAA state championship unnerve him. Nor did he allow playing in a sudden-death playoff with a pair of college athletes to qualify for the U.S. Amateur get to him either. So for the recent Jackson High School graduate to have opened the U.S. Amateur on Monday at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in North Carolina with a strong front nine wasn't surprising to those that have watched Englehart develop his game...

SIKESTON – Only one contestant made it the full eight-seconds in bull riding at Friday night’s Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. Cole Melancon’s ride of 84 not only won the night but also left him firmly in the standings for money. Being the only rider to post a score, Melancon stood in third place with only one night left in this year’s rodeo...

The Cape Catfish made a trip to Ohio trip a sweet homecoming for manager Steve Larkin. Curtis Washington Jr. and Ellison Hanna II each homered while Austin Williams' solid outing on the mound helped propel the Catfish Saturday to a 6-3 victory over Chillicothe in the opening game of the Prospect League Championship Series at V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Coming into the season, the Cape Catfish were looking to get their fins wet as one of three new teams in the Prospect League. Fast forward two and a half months, and they're a whisker away from a championship. Having posted the best record among the 12 teams in the league, the Catfish head into the best-of-three Prospect League Championship Series against a team they are not too familiar...

Cape Catfish manager Steve Larkin has been around baseball practically his entire life. He twice (1992, 1993) played in the NCAA College World Series as a member of the Texas Longhorns. He was drafted in the 10th round by the Texas Rangers in 1994. His brother is none other than former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, a Hall of Fame inductee...

Curtis Washington Jr. and his teammates all were breathing a sigh of relief when his eighth-inning home run cleared the left-field wall Thursday at Capaha Field. With his family present, Washington's spark, as well as a great pitching performance from Bryan McNeely, helped the Catfish to a 5-2 win over DuPage in the West Division Championship Game...

Two Cape Catfish players received honors from Prospect League media Thursday for their performances on the field. The Catfish, who won the West Division and have compiled a Prospect League-record 44 wins in their inaugural season, had pitcher Bryan McNeely and outfielder Andrew Stone named the 2019 Prospect(US) Pitcher and Player of the Year, respectively. ...

SIKESTON – Bullfighting once again closed out the Thursday edition of the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. In a close competition, Dekevis Jordan bested four other competitors with a score of 83 to win the night. Jordan earned that score off of a 60-second round where both the fighter and the bull are worth a possible 50 points based on their performance...

Three Rivers College assistant baseball coach Tyler Smith encouraged his second baseman, Zane Wallace, to consider playing in the Prospect League this summer if he wanted an experience similar to the daily grind of playing professional baseball.

After a season of accolades, record-tying wins and many firsts, it's win or go home for the Cape Catfish. The league's best team during the regular season hopes the winning trend continues today when it hosts DuPage in a winner-take-all Prospect League West Division Playoff Game at Capaha Field. The first pitch is at 6:30 p.m...

KENNETT, Mo. - The final numbers are in and the money raised has reached five figures for a second straight year at the Kennett Athletics Booster Club Four-Person Golf Scramble. The final net proceeds raised at the 2019 event that took place July 26 at Kennett Country Club are $11,800. The amount is a few thousand shy of the all-time high $15,016 that was collected last year...

With the opportunity to make history, the Cape Catfish stumbled a bit but left no doubt in the end as they split a doubleheader 2-5 and 12-3 at Normal, Illinois, on Monday in front of 708 fans at The Crib. Cape entered the night needing one win to tie the Prospect League record for most wins in a season (43), which was set by Terre Haute in 2008. With the split, the Catfish (43-17) matched that total and can surpass it with a win in Thursday's Divisional Playoff game...

No one knew exactly what to expect when the Cape Catfish leadership organized a team to field for the 2019 Prospect League season.

The Cape Catfish led by as many as four runs early against the Terre Haute REX Sunday at Capaha Field. However, the visitors with four unanswered runs to hand Cape a 7-6 defeat in front of 898 fans to close out its home portion of the regular season.

The Cape Catfish rank second in the Prospect League this season in home runs behind the most prolific power-hitting team in league history (the Quincy Gems), which have amassed 100 home runs this season. However, the Catfish also rank second in total bases in hits, so they are just as capable of beating a team methodically, as opposed to just one swing.

A year ago, the Kokomo (Ind.) Jackrabbits battled their way to the Prospect League Championship Series before falling in two games to The REX out of Terre Haute (Ind.).

SIKESTON — A top-heavy list of professional bull riding’s biggest names comes to the 67th Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo in Sikeston, starting Wednesday evening. Headlined by world champion Sage Kimzey, General Co-Chairman Travis Deere said that he is looking forward to what this lineup has to offer...

The Cape Catfish clinched the Prospect League West Division title Thursday night in emphatic fashion, posting a pair of shutouts in a sweep of Hannibal at Capaha Field. Catfish pitcher Bryan McNeely threw a five-hit shutout in the opener, which Cape won 3-0. Cam Stewart and Julian Pedrouzo then combined for a one-hitter in a 10-0 win in the nightcap...

After clinching a playoff birth in their last game, the Cape Catfish were hoping to inch closer to a division title. However, a six-run inning for Quincy on Thursday prevented any advancement on that front as Cape fell 12-8 at Capaha Field. The loss snapped a five-game win streak...

In their inaugural season, the Cape Catfish became the first team in the Prospect League to clinch a playoff spot. A dual effort by Julian Pedrouza coupled with a vital two-run fifth inning was enough to turn Tuesday's slow start into a 2-0 win over the Hannibal Hoots in the first game of a doubleheader at Capaha Field...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Kennett Swim Team took home second place at the Southeast Missouri Swim Conference Championships Saturday at Cape Central Municipal Pool in Cape Girardeau. Kennett recorded a second-place team score of 5,079. Defending champion River City Aquatics of Cape Giradeau repeated as conference champs with a first-place team score of 6,419. ...

SIKESTON — Athletic programs are never alone when it comes to supporting. For Sikeston High School, the Booster Club helps in a variety of different ways to make sure that each program has the necessities they need once their season comes around. “The booster club provides for high school sports programs, in addition to the clubs and activities on the high school campus,” Sikeston athletic director Andy McGill said. ...

The Cape Catfish hadn’t been back to Capaha Field in 16 days. If Sunday’s rout of Quincy was any indication, the club will never want to leave home again.

After losing for the first time in almost two weeks Friday, the Cape Catfish needed just a day to rebound. Brady Cottom had four hits to lead the way as Cape defeated Springfield 11-9 in seven innings on Saturday at Robin Roberts field.

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. – Tyler Martin spent a lot of time Friday night staring off into the nighttime sky and beating himself up. The Jackson Legion Post 158 pitcher would saunter into the bullpen while his teammates hit and try to compose himself and get ready for the next inning.

Sarah Bell of Jackson won The Prairie Invitational at The National Golf Club of Kansas City in Parkville, Missouri, shooting a 1-under-par 71 in the final round Wednesday to win by two shots over Sera Tadokoro. Bell, who will be a junior at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had back-to-back two birdies on the back nine to move ahead of Tadokoro, the second-round leader, to finish with a 7-over, three-day total of 223...

The Cape Catfish were on the wrong end of a game for the first time in two weeks. A two-run DuPage seventh inning broke a tie and sent Cape to a 4-2 loss Friday in Lisle, Illinois. The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Catfish (33-14) as they were stymied by on offense, mustering only two hits in the game...

The Tokyo Olympics are a little over a year away. Three local siblings are hoping to provide "shock value" as junior olympians for future games in the next 10 to 15 years. Cape Girardeau's JaShawn Sterling and his younger sisters Emilei and McKinlei of club team Cleats of Fire have qualified for the 2019 AAU Junior Olympic Games In Greensboro, North Carolina, and have their sights set on winning gold...

Ste. Genevieve, Mo. – Jackson American Legion Post 158 baseball coach Mark Lewis has two decades of coaching summer baseball under his belt and six more springs of working with the Saxony Lutheran program. All of that experience has helped him develop an intuition on how to handle his pitchers.

The Cape Catfish started the last one-third its season the same way it ended the first two-thirds: winning. Andrew Stone led off the game with a home run, and a combined solid pitching effort helped the Catfish blank the Normal CornBelters 6-0 Thursday at the Corn Crib in Normal, Illinois...

The Cape Catfish boast a league-leading 32-13 record as they begin the last one-third of their inaugural season today against the Normal CornBelters in Normal, Illinois. Some of the Cape players already have familiarized themselves with Corn Crib baseball field in the first half of the season and by competing in the Prospect League all-star festivities...

The first half of the season is complete for the Cape Catfish, and the first-year Prospect League team is looking to keep its foot on the pedal in the second half.

So far, things have fallen into place for the Cape Catfish. They sit atop the Prospect League with a 31-13 record, the Catfish have stolen the most bases with 105 leading up to this week’s all-star break and one of the top players in the league has been instrumental in leadership.

Jackson rode the momentum of a pair of early no-hitters in its own District 14 Senior Legion Baseball Tournament and ultimately won the event Sunday with a third consecutive dominating performance.

The Cape Catfish only have one hitter performing in tonight’s Prospect League Home Run Derby and it isn’t Ellison Hanna II, which doesn’t necessarily sit well with the Indiana State outfielder. After Catfish hitter Andrew Stone was selected to participate in the event tonight at The Corn Crib in Normal, Illinois (7 p.m.), Hanna II felt he and teammate Dalton Doyle were slighted.

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Just a few hours removed from defeating the defending Senior Babe Ruth World Series champion Charleston Fighting Squirrels, the Southeast Tropics found themselves only 21 outs away from advancing to the World Series themselves. To get there, the Tropics faced the Buckley Bombers, from Colorado...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — In the final game of pool play, the Charleston Fighting Squirrels used a pair of three-run innings to squeak by Parsons (Kansas) in American Division play of the Senior Babe Ruth Midwest Plains Regional. The away team on the scoreboard, Charleston led off the game with momentum in its 7-5 victory...

CHARLESTON, Mo. - Malden graduate Tye Miller enjoys being the table setter at the top of the Southeast Tropics batting order. “I’m always confident if I can get on base in the first inning the big boys are going to bring me in,” Miller said of batting leadoff...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — It was deja vu for the Charleston Fighting Squirrels on Friday evening, in the second night of pool play, at the Senior Babe Ruth Midwest Plains Regional. Dawson Treat took the ball against the Perfectos, in a Missouri matchup, that saw each team win one game in the previous two head-to-head contests. Charleston edged the Perfectos in their first meeting, 8-7, while the Perfectos returned the favor in the Senior Babe Ruth State Tournament, 3-2...

Another offensive outburst was the key for Cape to seize control of its latest game. A five-run third inning Friday propelled the Catfish to an 11-1 thrashing of the Hannibal Hoots at Capaha Park. Since losing four straight a week ago, the Catfish have run their winning streak to six games. The Catfish have scored nine or more runs in each of the games, increasing their record to 31-13, best in the Prospect League...

The T-shirts given out to the 79 participants at the Gene Bess Basketball Camp’s final week-long session of the summer spell out what the campers are there to do. “Working on the fundamentals,” the back of each shirt says. It’s what the campers are there to do. They work through dribbling drills, speed and quickness and shooting drills with scrimmages mixed in and more...

SIKESTON — A pair of area softball teams advanced to the Babe Ruth League World Series in Jensen Beach, Florida, in two weeks. The Sikeston 10u All-Star and the 12u Tank Tech teams received invitations to the event. For the Sikeston 10u team, the road was tougher than it was for the 12u Tank Tech unit...