Softball

NEW MADRID, Mo. — New Madrid County Central standout Lily Johnson is taking her softball career to the next level. Johnson recently signed a letter of intent to play softball for Union University in Jackson, Tenn. Last spring, as a junior, Johnson pitched in 19 games for the Lady Eagles. She logged 240 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.16 in 2019...

The Senath-Hornersville Lions softball squad hopes to have the opportunity to display its skills on the diamond under new head coach Melani Rooney this spring. Rooney, who has served as an assistant coach under previous head coach Leigha Woody for the past four seasons, is a 2008 graduate of nearby Kennett High School...

The Malden Green Wave softball program enters the spring hoping for an opportunity to continue its recent string of success. The Green Wave return six players off of last season’s squad that finished 20-6 and won its sixth straight district title. The returners are senior Krista Hilfiker, junior Katie Shuffler, junior Hailey Rojas, junior Madison Saulsbery, junior Hope Hartman, and sophomore Olivia Slaughter...

Editor's note: Selection to the All-Southeast Missourian Team does not necessarily constitute selection to the Semoball Award finalists for softball. The 2019 girls softball season was a memorable one in Southeast Missouri, with Notre Dame advancing to the Class 3 quarterfinal game in late October...

The Southland Rebels softball squad enters the 2020 season looking to make continued noise in the Tri-County Conference after finishing runner-up to Holcomb in its conference tournament last season. “Obviously, Holcomb will be really good again,” Southland coach Macy Shearer said. “We also had some competitive matches with Cooter last year and look have some tough battles with them again this season. It should be a competitive conference.”...

The pieces appear to be in place for another big year for the Kennett Indians softball program in 2020. Kennett graduated only two starters off of last season’s squad that won its sixth straight district title and placed second at the spring state tournament...

The Holcomb Hornets softball program enters its 2020 campaign hoping for repeat success coming off its best season in school history in 2019. “We most definitely want to try to repeat our season last season,” Holcomb shortstop Bailey Cupples said. “We want to repeat as conference champs and put ourselves in a position to try to win the district.”...

The SEMO Umpires Association will host its annual preseason meeting, along with MSHSAA rules review meetings for both baseball and softball February 26 at River Eagle Distributing in Cape Girardeau.

Neelyville’s Bailey McGruder has signed to play softball at Dyersburg State University. “It was a relief to get that done and make sure that is secured,” McGruder said. “It just felt like home. I went back to play a tournament there, we sat there and we ate dinner with them. It clicked. It felt good. I liked the town, I liked the team. The players were all really nice, the coaches seemed like they were invested.”...

McKenzie Smith started her senior year at a new school and with new teammates playing softball. After recently signing her National Letter of Intent to play softball in college, the Poplar Bluff senior is looking forward to another new adventure. “Coming here was culture shock,” said Smith, who started her high school career in Puxico...

After all of her teammates headed to the sideline with less than 2 minutes left before tipoff of the Advance Hornets’ recent girls basketball game against Oak Ridge, sophomore Alandry Below grabbed a teammate to rebound, as she shot a few free throws...

SIKESTON — Sikeston senior Emma Drury signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her academic and softball career at Dyersburg State Community College, on Thursday morning, at the Sikeston Field House. Drury finished her senior season with the Lady Bulldogs by hitting .357 with 16 RBIs. She also had an on-base percentage of .493, a slugging percentage of .571, and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.064...

Jackson senior athletes Elizabeth Snyder and Ashlyn Prince recently signed National Letters of Intent to compete in college. Schneider will play soccer at Mineral Area Community College, while Prince signed to play softball at St. Louis Community College...

Poplar Bluff sophomore BreAnn Thresher is looking forward to taking her softball career to an international level next summer with an invitation to join a select group of American players on a seven-day trip to Spain. The team, sponsored by ACIS (American Council for International Studies), will play games in Barcelona and other cities in Spain in July...

The Southeast Missouri State softball program didn't have to search far in order to bolster its talent.

SIKESTON — Kelly junior Alaney Moore earned second-team all-state honors for Class 2 last week. Joining her on the second team were four pitchers, three catchers, five infielders, four outfielders, and one at-large. Moore, an infielder, earned a spot alongside Baylee Jobson (Sr., Marceline), Jodi Polly (Sr., Eugene), Rylee Lunn (Sr., Summit Christian), Aubrie McRoberts (Sr., Warsaw), and Lexus Hagood (So., Neelyville)...

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...

SIKESTON — All-District teams from Class 2 and Class 3, along with the Class 2 All-Region, were announced last week. Starting with the All-District rosters, in Class 3, District 1, Sikeston senior Emma Drury made the first team, while senior Naudia Lazcano, junior Jordi James, and freshman Nayla Bonner were honorable mentions...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - One year later, another frustrating result. The East Carter Redbirds had three hits and put five other balls in play against Sherwood and lost 5-0 in the MSHSAA Class 2 semifinals on Friday at the Killian Sports Complex in Springfield, Mo...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - "I wanted this so much for them. They worked so hard," East Carter coach Teresa Kearbey-LeGrand said. "I don't know if it was nerves, if it was the waiting game, the anticipation, the air out of their sails because of the first game. I just don't know, but we just did not look like ourselves."...

SIKESTON — The SEMO All-Conference softball teams are here. Sikeston had one member on the first team and four more on the second team. Notre Dame had six nominations on the first team, while Jackson had four. North County and Farmington each finished with three nominees, and Kelly, Chaffee, Cape Central, and Poplar Bluff each rounded out the team with one...

With one senior and a large junior class on last year’s softball team, East Carter gave itself a two-year plan. The due date is Saturday. The Redbirds (22-6) are back in the state semifinals for the second year in a row and will face Sherwood (24-3) in the MSHSAA Class 2 semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. Palmyra (20-8) and Marceline (22-4) will play in the other semifinal. The third-place game is 5 p.m. Friday and the championship is 2 p.m. Saturday...

They say that all good things must end. Notre Dame's storybook season was abruptly cut short Monday as it lost its Class 3 quarterfinal softball game to visiting Incarnate Word Academy, 12-7.

ELSBERRY, Mo. — The Redbirds had another banner day Monday. With the help of a perfect relay throw, Makenna Moore tossed another shutout and provided the big hit as the East Carter softball team beat Elsberry 3-0 in the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinal. "I was nervous, obviously," Moore said of her sixth inning at-bat with the bases loaded. "My heart was racing."...

There may be no softball team remaining in the MSHSAA postseason that comprehends the importance of defense more so than Notre Dame.

It will be a busy weekend for five East Carter softball players. First, the Redbirds will play in the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinal in Elsberry at 3 p.m. Saturday. Then, Kennedy Thies, Audrey Carter, P.J. Gholson, Makenna Moore and Abagail Dinsmore will head to St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington, Missouri with the East Carter cheerleading squad to perform in the MCCA regional on Sunday...

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...

The East Carter softball team gave their large group of fans something to cheer about early in the MSHSAA Class 2 sectional playoff Wednesday. Makenna Moore laced a two-run triple in the first inning then struck out 10 in tossing a two-hitter as the Redbirds beat St. Pius X of Festus 5-0 at a rowdy Rains Field...

Analytics are the big trend in Major League Baseball. The jury is out, though, on how relevant statistical information is in predicting the results of postseason high school softball. On paper, strictly looking at this season's numbers, host Notre Dame (26-5) should defeat visiting Hillsboro (20-9) in today's Class 3 sectional matchup...

As the East Carter softball team prepared for its upcoming MSHSAA Class 2 playoff matchup with St. Pius X of Festus on Monday, their coach was in St. Louis seeing her doctor. At this time last year, as the Redbirds were making a run to place fourth in the state tournament, Teresa Kearbey-LeGrand was diagnosed with breast cancer...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. – Through six innings, the top five hitters in the Notre Dame softball lineup hadn’t done much against Perryville senior pitcher Makayla Brown in Friday’s Class 3 District 1 championship game. The Bulldog hitters, who have been productive all season in averaging over 10 runs per game, had gotten just a couple of hits and no runs from that aforementioned group in 15 at-bats.

Molly Flanagan blasted a solo home run among her three hits as second-seeded St. Pius X defeated top-seeded Kelly 2-1, denying the Hawks their 32nd district title in the Class 2 District 2 Tournament championship game in Benton, Missouri. A.J. Agers went the distance on the mound to earn the win for St. Pius X (15-6). The one run she gave up was unearned and she recorded seven strikeouts and one walk...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. – History shows that Notre Dame softball wasn’t going to have much difficulty with Sikeston.

Now that they have returned to the MSHSAA Class 2 state softball bracket for a second consecutive year, the bullseye may finally be off the backs of the East Carter Redbirds. Makenna Moore pitched her fourth consecutive shutout Thursday, allowing two hits while striking out 10 batters, as the Redbirds repeated as district champions with an 8-0 win over Neelyville at Three Rivers College...

FARMINGTON — Poplar Bluff scored three runs in the second inning, but managed one hit after that as the Mules lost to Northwest 13-3 in the semifinals of the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 tournament. Serena Davis, Breann Thresher and Ella Zgaynor scored for the Mules and Morgan Courtney had two hits...

BENTON, Mo. — The Kelly softball team started its quest for a 32nd district title Thursday against Chaffee in the semifinals of the Class 2 District 2 Tournament.

Parker Rhew was a hit this past week on and off the baseball diamond, as he easily won the Semoball.com Male Athlete of the Week honor.

FARMINGTON, Mo. — The glass slipper seems to fit the Poplar Bluff softball team pretty well. The Mules, seeded last after a 6-20 regular season, upset host Farmington 7-6 in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 quarterfinal Wednesday night. After knocking off the third-seeded Knights at home, Poplar Bluff (6-20) will face second-seeded Northwest (22-4) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Farmington...

East Carter wasted little time to show why its the defending district champion. The top-seeded Redbirds scored 15 runs in the second inning as they went on to beat fourth-seeded Doniphan 16-0 in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 semifinals Wednesday at Rains Field...

Neelyville’s Lexus Hagood picked a good time to hit her first home run of the season. In the top of the fifth inning, Hagood sent the first pitch she saw over the left-field fence for a 3-run home run that put the Tigers ahead by six. Twin Rivers scored three runs of its own the next inning, but a potential rally ended there as Neelyville won 9-5 in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 semifinal Wednesday at Rains Field...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Offense was plentiful on Wednesday in the first round of the Class 3, District 1 Tournament at Perryville High School. Sikeston scored the bulk of its runs in the first two innings, as they defeated No. 5-seed Fredericktown 17-2 in three innings...

SIKESTON — Jacob Lovel was the lone goal scorer for the Sikeston boys soccer team on Tuesday against Carterville, Ill. Lovel scored on a pass from Josh McClendon, but the Bulldogs fell 7-1. Sikeston (0-20) hosts Perryville on Thursday, in the final regular season match of the season...

It's an understatement to call Jackson softball coach Shawn Wilding confident about the Class 4 District 1 Tournament, which begins today in Farmington. "There's no doubt we can win (it)," Wilding said. "This is probably the best team I've ever had."...

The Advance volleyball team avenged its only loss thus far before it sustained its second defeat of the season in a 25-21, 18-25, 21-25 loss to Lindbergh in the championship game of the Second Annual Jackson Tournament on Saturday at Jackson High School.

MALDEN, Mo. — Behind strong defense and effective serving, the Sikeston volleyball team defeated Malden in straight-sets, 25-10, 25-19. The Bulldogs served 12 aces, blocked seven shots, and had 30 digs in the match. Emma-Claire Self and Emily McHaffie each had three aces. Khrystionna Swann, Taydrianna Barnett, and Alivia Cobb each had two...

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...

Jackson sophomore Kaydi Rhodes shot a 1-under-par 71 on Wednesday at The Links at Dardenne in O'Fallon, Missouri, to lead the school's girls golf program to its first district title. Rhodes finished four strokes ahead of Lindbergh's Sofia Gamayo to earn the medalist at the Class 2 District 1 tournament...

NEELYVILLE — Poplar Bluff put together another late rally Wednesday, overcoming a two-run deficit in the sixth inning for a 9-5 win over Neelyville. The Mules scored five runs in the sixth to pull ahead a day after pulling even in the sixth before losing in extra innings on Senior Day to Kelly. Their previous two wins also featured late comebacks with seven-run innings...

The Notre Dame girls tennis team shut out the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders 5-0 to advance to the finals of the Class 1 District 2 team tournament Tuesday. The Bulldogs got the early lead and never looked back, thanks to three doubles wins. The frst two doubles matches both ended 8-1 as Claire Bruenderman and Anna Grace Stroup defeated Maddox Murphy and Sydney Turner at the No. ...