Baseball

Noah Burkey planned on pitching at Three Rivers College where his father has been head coach for the past 26 years. Instead, the Poplar Bluff senior signed his National Letter of Intent on Friday to play at Missouri State University. “That was my plan at first,” Burkey said of playing for his father, Stacey, “but when I got the opportunity to go to my dream school he understood and they supported me through it all...

SIKESTON — Sikeston senior baseball player Payton Howard signed his National Letter of Intent with Saint Louis University on Tuesday at the Sikeston Field House. Howard batted .308 for the Bulldogs in his junior season. He also scored 25 runs, had three triples, two home runs, and 11 RBIs...

Good Sports is a weekly feature that appears in the Southeast Missourian, as well as online at Semoball.com. It profiles the life of a person connected to sports and allows our readers the opportunity to know the people who are impacting athletics throughout Southeast Missouri in a deeper way...

Good Sports is a weekly Thursday feature that appears in the Southeast Missourian, as well as online at Semoball.com. It profiles the life of a person connected to sports and allows our readers the opportunity to know the people who are impacting athletics throughout Southeast Missouri in a deeper way...

BENTON, Mo. — Kelly is looking for a new baseball coach. Former head coach Justin McAlister resigned from the position last Monday, leaving a void. The school is hoping to name its new head coach by the December board meeting.

SIKESTON — Community support is one thing that every coach tends to instill within their respective programs. On Thursday night, the Sikeston baseball and softball teams competed in the “Battle for the Diamond” at the Sikeston Recreation Complex. A seven-inning softball game where the baseball players took hacks in an unfamiliar sport...

It’s been 30 years. Backed by a strong pitching performance from Chase Sarabia and a comeback-crushing double play by Damian Thilman, Naylor beat Neelyville 4-2 for the Eagles’ first Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship since 1989. “This is freaking awesome,” Naylor senior Caleb Dealba said. “We haven’t done this in forever. To be able to have a banner in the gym every time we walk in there, it feels good.”...

The Tri-County Conference baseball awards have been released. Cooter’s Lane McLevain is the Tri-County Conference Player of the Year. “Tyler batted .475 with 21 RBIs, one home run, and 21 runs scored this fall,” Cooter coach Davis Mathis said of McLevain. “He also went 6-0 on the mound with a 0.56 ERA in 37.2 innings pitched.”...

In 24 hours, Neelyville went from giving up 12 runs to giving up nothing. Propelled by excellent defense from their freshmen, including a pair of diving catches from right-fielder Preston Goodnight, the fourth-seeded Tigers beat top-seed East Carter 6-0 in the semifinals of the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament on Tuesday at Roger Pattillo Field, a day after edging Twin Rivers 13-12...

POPLAR BLUFF — In the first inning, Naylor scored a run off a walk and stranded the bases loaded while Clearwater had one runner reach on an error. It was a harbinger of things to come as third-seeded Naylor beat second-seeded Clearwater 11-1 in five innings in the semifinals of the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament on Tuesday at Three Rivers College...

POPLAR BLUFF — After three innings, Neelyville was losing 5-0, had committed six errors, had one hit. Instead of collapsing and calling it a day on their fall season, the Tigers kept working and rallied to beat Twin Rivers 13-12 in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament quarterfinals Monday at Roger Pattillo Field...

POPLAR BLUFF — Naylor scored in every inning as it overcame being outhit and kept its fall season alive. Tied at 8-all after 4 1/2 innings, the Eagles closed by outscoring Greenville 8-1 late to win 16-9 in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Monday at Roger Pattillo Field...

Cape Girardeau Central's Emily Ford and Megan Maxton paired up to win the doubles competition at the Class 2 District 1 Individuals Tournament on Thursday in girls tennis at Cape Girardeau Central High School. The duo downed two of their fellow teammates, Anita Kellum and Maria Seidu-Sofo, 6-1 each set to win the doubles championship...

BERNIE, Mo. - The third time proved to be the charm for the South Pemiscot Bulldogs baseball team against the Campbell Camels Thursday night. After suffering a 5-1 loss to Campbell on Sept. 16 and a 2-1 loss to the Camels on Oct. 1, South Pemiscot found a way to prevail in the third meeting between the two squads...

The championship is set at the Bernie baseball tournament following a dramatic finish in the second semifinal Tuesday night. No. 3 seeded Campbell tallied three runs in the seventh inning to force extra innings, and scored two more runs in the eighth frame to upset No. 2 seeded Bell City 7-5...

CLEARWATER 10, WOODLAND 3 Ahead 1-0 going into the fourth inning, the Tigers (9-2) scored in each of the final four innings to score 10 runs on 12 hits. Karson Fay was 3 for 3 with three runs, a double and an RBI as Clearwater’s leadoff hitter. Gage Keller tripled and was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and a run. Trey Rivas doubled and drove in two runs while Jackson Eaton scored twice...

BERNIE, Mo. - The favorite to win the Bernie Fall Baseball Tournament opened with a quarterfinal victory Saturday morning. The No. 1 seeded South Pemiscot Bulldogs scored in all five innings it battled as it run-ruled the No. 8 seeded Senath-Hornersville Lions 11-1 in five innings in the first semifinal Saturday...

CLARK TON, Mo. - The No. 1 seeded Cooter Wildcats are set to take on the No. 2 seeded Holcomb Hornets in the championship of the Tri-County Conference baseball tournament after both teams collected semifinal wins Tuesday at Clarkton. Cooter (21-1) beat No. 4 seeded Gideon 16-0 in its semifinal and Holcomb (13-5) beat No. 3 seeded Risco 9-5 in its semifinal Tuesday...

The St. Vincent Indians managed to shake off a drubbing in the second set to win a close third set and pick up a 25-23, 8-25, 26-24 home victory over Ste. Genevieve in volleyball. St. Vincent (3-8-3) was led to the win by Hannah Riney and Grace Schremp. ...

ELLSINORE — Bottom of the seventh, down a run, two outs, runners on second and third, and East Carter’s Luke Roark at the plate. Roark was 0 for 1 with a strikeout and reached on an error so far as East Carter’s No. 9 batter. The entire Redbird roster was having trouble against Clearwater pitcher Trey Rivas, who went into the seventh inning working on a complete-game shutout...

Winning the Tri-County Conference is a top priority for the Cooter baseball program every fall. “We play a bunch of games in the fall and hopefully that makes us better for the spring,” Cooter coach David Mathis said. “But our main goal in the fall is to learn how to play the game the right way and win the Tri-County title.”...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Sikeston opened the 29th Jackson Invitational with an 8-2 win over Doniphan at Shawnee Park Sports Complex on Saturday morning. The Bulldogs got off to a fast start after base hits from Naudia Lazcano, Nayla Bonner, Emma Drury, and Julia Spurlock wound up scoring a pair of runs...

The Notre Dame tennis team won the SEMO Conference Tournament on Friday in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, on the strength of its doubles play. Both Bulldogs doubles teams won semifinal matches and will play for the title at date to be determined. Claire Bruenderman and Anna Grace Stroup defeated Dexter's Kyla Propst and Julianna Rivera 6-0, 6-2 in one semifinal, while Claire Southard and Megan Gullette rallied to defeat Cape Girardeau Central's Anita Kellum and Maria Seidu-Sofo 0-6, 6-2, 6-4...

The Notre Dame tennis team prevailed in a meeting of unbeatens, rolling past Potosi 9-0 at the Brother David Anthony Migliorino Tennis Complex on Wednesday.

Cooter 5, Oran 2 ORAN - The Cooter baseball team took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning on its way to a 5-2 road victory against OranTuesday. Cooter improved to (20-1) with the win. Cooter leadoff hitter Hayden Nazarenus finished 2 for 3 with a solo home run. Chris Crowder, Preston Hatch, and Luke Barnes also drove home a run for Cooter...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. — Six different Sikeston softball players collected multiple hits in Tuesday’s 14-10 win over Neelyville. Jordi James, Megan Witt, Emma Drury, Nayla Bonner, Sarah Keller, and Sydney Burton each had two hits for the Bulldogs. Both Drury and Bonner drove in a pair of runs as well, as the Bulldogs exploded for 16 hits...

SENATH, Mo. - The Senath-Hornersville Lions baseball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to move ahead 5-2 but was unable to withstand the six-run surge that followed by the Bloomfield Wildcats. Bloomfield scored six unanswered runs in the final three innings as it rallied past host Senath-Hornersville 8-5 Thursday...

SIKESTON — The Sikeston girls tennis team dropped its match to Kennett on Thursday. The Bulldogs got swept in every singles and doubles match. In singles matches, Mackenzie Conway lost to Anelle Harris. Isabel Collins fell to Taylor Hufford while Claudia Santos lost to Kamryn Jaco. Audrey Phillips defeated Quinn Riley, Zakyirrah Montjoy lost to Molly McClain, and Katelin Taber fell to Carley Winston to round out singles’ competition...

Mackenzie Stoner slammed eight kills as the Jackson volleyball team denied host Notre Dame its 10th win of the season and picked up a big conference victory in straight sets (25-10, 25-19) on Thursday in Cape Girardeau. Hannah Shinn and Olivia Ward chipped in seven kills apiece for the Indians. ...

Cooter 2, Holcomb 0 COOTER, Mo. - The Cooter Wildcats baseball team wrapped up the Tri-County Conference regular season championship by beating the visiting Holcomb Hornets 2-0 Thursday afternoon. Lane McLevain pitched an 83-pitch complete game shutout for Cooter.He allowed two hits, struck out two, and walked two...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Megan Witt and Emma Drury came up big in a clutch situation on Tuesday night against Cape Central. After Sarah Keller led off the sixth inning with a single, and Jordi James and Naudia Lazcano were promptly hit by pitches, Witt gave Sikeston the 6-5 lead on a sacrifice fly...

PIEDMONT — Clearwater suffered its first loss of the fall Monday, but bounced back Tuesday with a win over defending Class 2 state champion Ellington. The Tigers scored in every inning but the first to beat Ellington 7-5. The Whippets had the tying run on base in the top of the seventh, but Ellington coach Jake Hime sent Garrett Morris from second to home following an RBI single to right field with two outs. ...

HOLCOMB, Mo. - The Holcomb Hornets baseball program isn’t off to a perfect start but has enjoyed considerable success this fall. A youthful Holcomb squad is currently 7-3 entering Tuesday’s home contest against Neelyville. “We’ve only got one senior on the team,” Holcomb first-year baseball coach Darrin Shipman said. ...

DONIPHAN — East Carter got hits from seven different spots in the lineup and runs from nine different players as it beat Doniphan 11-1 in five innings on Tuesday. Naomi Crowly, PJ Gholson, Kennedy Thies and Audrey Carter all had two hits, while Crowley and Carter both scored twice, and Thies and Hailey Brown both had two RBIs...

CAMPBELL, Mo. - The Campbell Camels baseball team scored all of its runs in the first two innings as it knocked off the previously unbeaten South Pemiscot Bulldogs 5-1 Monday afternoon. South Pemiscot took a brief 1-0 lead when Noah Willingham drove home a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning...

ORAN, Mo. — Dawson Menz gave the Oran baseball team the eventual go-ahead run in a three-run third inning for the Eagles. Menz singled in Kole Simms to give Oran (6-0) a 4-2 lead, against St. Paul Lutheran. The Eagles wound up winning 5-3. Menz finished 1-for-3 in the game, with his lone hit being a significant one...

STOUTLAND, Mo. - Fresh off a third-place finish in the Class 1 state playoffs in June the Cooter Wildcats baseball program is enjoying continued success in its fall campaign. Cooter capped off a perfect 6-0 week Saturday night when it took home the top prize at the Stoutland baseball tournament in Southwest Missouri...

Ella Overstreet carded a 3-over-par 75 to place second individually as the Jackson girls golf team finished nine strokes ahead of the host Falcons to capture the championship of the Rockwood Summit Invitational Tournament on Thursday at the Crescent Farms Golf Course in the suburban St. Louis area...

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. — Dylan Thornbrough and Heath Poindexter netted the only two goals for the Sikeston boys soccer team in Thursday night’s loss to Fredericktown. The Bulldogs fell into an early hole, down 3-0, before making the game interesting. Sikeston (0-8) is getting outscored 40-6 this season...

GREENVILLE — Clearwater put the ball in play 25 times and got 16 hits. Greenville put the ball in play 23 times and got four hits. As they say, that’s just baseball. With the Tigers seemingly always finding gaps and the Bears struggling to do the same, Clearwater scored in every inning but the seventh for a 13-4 win Thursday in Greenville...

Alexa Werneck of Dexter and Lane McLevain of Cooter were voted the female and male Semoball Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week ending Sept. 7. Werneck, who plays volleyball for the Bearcats, received 399 votes after registering 13 kills (.333 hitting percentage), five blocks and three digs in Dexter's 2-1 victory over Jackson...

East Carter County’s Makenna Moore tossed a complete game and gave up just one earned run on four hits as the host Redbirds flew to their fourth win of the season in the 2-1 victory over Jackson on Tuesday in softball action in Ellsinore, Mo. Moore struck out...

ELLSINORE — East Carter held on to beat Jackson 2-1 on Tuesday. Makenna Moore limited the Indians to three hits and a walk while earning five strikeouts. She also tripled and scored. Audrey Carter scored East Carter’s other run. East Carter (7-2) had four hits as a team, along with Moore’s triple, Anna Willis had a double, while Kennedy Thies and Hailey Brown both singled...

After a three-year hiatus fall baseball is returning to Clarkton High School. For the first time since 2016 Clarkton has enough players out for baseball to field a fall team at the high school level. “We haven’t had an opportunity to play since our eighth grade season,” Clarkton sophomore Anthony Lemus said. “It’s nice to get back on a diamond. We want to slowly build our baseball program back up.”...

NEELYVILLE — Austin Sheppard held Dora to three hits as Neelyville pulled away for a 6-2 win on Monday. Sheppard finished with two walks against and a strikeout over seven innings, and needed just 86 pitches for the Tigers (2-3). Austin Ennis was 2 for 4 with a double and two runs, while Parker Jeffries hit a triple and was 2 for 2 with a run and three RBIs. Ryan Armes drove in two runs, as well...

Molly Conrad hammered seven kills as the fourth-seeded Meadow Heights Panthers rallied and bounced back after dropping the first set to stave off an upset from a determined fifth-seeded Oak Ridge Blue Jays squad and prevailed (14-25, 25-13, 25-13) in the quarterfinals of the Woodland Invitational Tournament...

History was made on Thursday for the inaugural Saxony Lutheran girls tennis program. But it was made on another school's turf. The Crusaders posted an 8-1 victory over Charleston on Thursday at Cape Girardeau Central High School as Saxony does not yet have a tennis court on its campus in Fruitland. The Crusaders are fielding both a varsity and junior varsity tennis team for the first time in the school's history...

PUXICO — It took the Royals an inning to settle into their season opener, and then they cruised. Twin Rivers struck out twice in the first inning, but just three more times the rest of the game as they beat Puxico 15-0 in four innings Thursday. The bottom five spots in the lineup scored 10 of Twin Rivers’ 15 runs. ...

It took Notre Dame a little bit to get going but once they did there was no looking back. After dropping a tight first set 24-26, the Bulldogs allowed 19 points total the rest of the way, winning 25-7, 25-12 to take home the three-set road victory. It was a team effort for Notre Dame with numerous contributors. ...