Softball

With the pressure on in the bottom of the seventh inning, Notre Dame’s Hailey Burnett showed up and showed out. The Bulldogs had just scored to cut Jackson’s lead to just one run, and Burnett didn’t want to take any chances. With two on, one out and a full count, Burnett crushed the ensuing pitch, sending it over the left-field fence to lift Notre Dame past Jackson 6-4 on Thursday at Notre Dame Regional High School...

There is no high school softball program in the state of Missouri that can match the success achieved by Kelly High School.

POPLAR BLUFF — Looking to get Layla Sullivan some at-bats, Poplar Bluff softball coach Joel McDuffey mixed up the lineup a bit Thursday and put the senior hitting seventh. In her first plate appearance, Sullivan came up with the bases loaded and delivered with a hard grounder up the middle to score the first run of the game. She ended up with three hits, starting a six-run inning as the Mules beat East Carter 11-4 at Bobby Strenfel Field...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. — An early pitchers’ duel lasted one trip through the lineup. Each player for both teams got one at-bat through the first two innings, and nobody scored. In the third inning, Everyone for Neelyville got their second at-bat as the Tigers scored five runs and beat Doniphan 8-4 on Thursday in Neelyville...

Behind home runs from Ainsley and Hailey Burnett — as well as five RBIs from Ainsley — Notre Dame had little trouble with Festus on Wednesday, crushing the Tigers 13-1 in five innings. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom half of innings one and two, followed by one run scored in the third...

The game of softball is often ever-changing. Just ask Chaffee freshman Reese Van Pelt. On Monday, Van Pelt gave up nine runs on 13 hits against East Carter, with her Red Devils losing 9-5. On Tuesday, Van Pelt pitched an absolute gem on the mound and led the Chaffee offense in hits, as the host Red Devils dismantled Saxony Lutheran 11-0 in five innings...

POPLAR BLUFF — A day after giving up three touchdowns, the Poplar Bluff softball team was locked in a pitcher’s duel Tuesday with Jackson. The Mules rallied with two outs in the sixth to pull even but couldn’t get out of a two-on, no-out jam in the seventh as Jackson won 2-1 at Bobby Strenfel Field...

BROSELEY, Mo. — Kelly improved its winning streak to five games after applying consistent small-ball pressure on Twin Rivers. The Hawks finished with 10 hits and scored 11 runs in the final three innings to win 13-3 in Broseley. “That’s our bread and butter,” Kelly coach Melanie Heuring said. “If something isn’t going our way or we’re not hitting, sometimes bunting the ball helps us see it a little better. It helps us get on, manufacture some runs and gets our momentum going a little bit.”...

Despite a two-hit, two-RBI day from third baseman Jayden Welch, Chaffee was unable to keep East Carter off the base paths. The Redbirds pounded out 13 hits — outhitting the Red Devils 13-5 — en route to a 9-5 victory on Monday. Chaffee starting pitcher Reese Van Pelt allowed two runs in the first inning, a single run in the second, then seemed to calm down before the wheels fell off in the sixth and seventh innings, when the freshman hurler gave up three runs each in the final two innings...

POPLAR BLUFF — Things went from ugly to down right ghastly for the Poplar Bluff softball team Monday. Already trailing by eight runs, the Mules couldn’t get the first two outs of the fifth inning before Farmington hit a pair of grand slams. The Knights sent 17 batters to the plate, with 12 coming around to score in the inning, to beat the Mules 21-3 at Bobby Strenfel Field...

FESTUS, Mo. — The Sikeston softball team continues to show marked improvement, finishing 2-1 at the ATG Softball Classic in Festus on Saturday. Sikeston opened the day with a thrilling 7-6 win over Notre Dame (St. Louis) and then defeated Jefferson (Festus) 8-1. Sikeston ended the day with a 6-2 loss to Festus...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. — Neelyville coach Cindy Siebert was happy about the long balls but proud of the small balls. Reese Dobbins had a pair of two-run home runs, and the Tigers scored another three runs off bunts to rally and beat Twin Rivers 7-3 on Thursday in Neelyville...

BENTON – The Cape Central softball team played its third game in as many days on Wednesday and has another one (vs. North County) today, and that mental and physical grind showed against a good Kelly team, as the host Hawks lit up the Tigers for eight runs in their final at-bat and won 15-4.

Cape Central third baseman Haley Wolfe’s two-RBI triple in the fourth inning of the Tigers’ contest against Sikeston gave her team a boost of energy. The freshman broke a 1-1 tie on the hit and helped the Tigers roll to a 5-4 victory over the Bulldogs on Tuesday at Cape Central High School...

POPLAR BLUFF — Down a run in the sixth inning, the Mules answered. Down to their final out and trailing by a run in the seventh, the Mules answered. Down two runs in the 10th, the Mules answered. Down to their final out, again trailing by two runs an inning later, the Mules answered and then some more...

Behind some stout pitching by starter Samantha Waller, the North County Raiders took it to Chaffee, beating the visiting Red Devils 11.2 on Monday. Waller gave up two runs right off the bat in the first inning but put up zeroes the rest of the way, and the North County offense outhit Chaffee in the contest, 14-5...

SIKESTON — The Sikeston offense exploded Monday afternoon to rally past Twin Rivers for a 19-10 win. Sikeston trailed 5-0 heading into the bottom of the third, but the Lady Bulldogs didn’t flinch, scoring four runs in both the third and fourth before exploding for eight runs in the fifth inning. Sikeston topped their scoring off with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to earn the 19-10 win...

SIKESTON – Connie Spears no longer stands in the third-base coaching box at high school softball games, but her heart – and even her mind – can be found there during Sikeston High School softball games.

SIKESTON – The theme so far this season for the Sikeston High School softball team has been solid play for six innings, though in a seven-inning game.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — The Perryville softball team began Tuesday’s game against Sikeston with three starters out with injury and starting pitcher Alyson Stortz resting before the Pirates’ conference games later this week. The Bulldogs showed no mercy. Sikeston took advantage of Perryville’s short-handedness, defeating the Pirates 17-3 in six innings...

Poplar Bluff first baseman Adrianne Casey led the Mules offensive with two hits as well as drove in four RBIs on Tuesday while starting hurler Brianne Thresher pitched five scoreless innings, to shut out a talented Chaffee squad on the road, 10-0. Poplar Bluff touched up Chaffee starting pitcher Reese Van Pelt for 10 runs on 11 hits, as the contest on Tuesday was Van Pelt's worst of the season...

SIKESTON — Poplar Bluff’s streak of scoring two runs in the first inning ended after five straight games, but the Mules ended up jumping out to a two-run lead an inning later. Breann Thresher struck out a season-high nine, Lauren Webb drove in three runs and the Mules beat Sikeston 9-5 Thursday...

SIKESTON – Just three days after Sikeston dropped eight runs in a single inning to beat Naylor in the recent Rockwood Summit Softball Tournament in Chesterfield, the Eagles returned the favor to the Bulldogs on Tuesday at the Sikeston Recreation Complex and rallied for a 13-11 victory.

The Chaffee Lady Devils scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to knock off Kelly 3-1 on the road Tuesday afternoon. With the game tied at 1-1, Chaffee opened the top of the eighth with a single to left field from Jayden Welch. Hailey Rains then followed with a double to center, scoring Welch to give the Lady Devils a 2-1 lead...

BROSELEY, Mo. — Twin Rivers’ Whitney Williams was two steps shy of her second no-hitter of the season. Williams held Van Buren to one hit in a 7-1 home win Tuesday. In the Royals’ season-opener Friday, she allowed two walks over five innings in a 13-0 win...

The Chaffee softball team and head coach Brian Horrell got off to a good start to their fall season on Saturday as the Red Devils were victorious in two of the three games played at their host round-robin tournament, opening the day by beating Cape Central, 7-0, followed by another victory over Fredericktown, 5-1, then dropping the last game to the Notre Dame junior varsity team, 3-0...

After getting shut out in the opening game by the defending state champs, the Poplar Bluff softball team has been on a tear. The Mules are averaging nearly seven runs per game after three wins Saturday at the Rockwood Summit Tournament and an 11-0 win Monday at Greenville...

There are few businesses anywhere in the world that haven’t had to think differently over the past couple of years in this ever-changing environment that we are all immersed in, more than likely, forever. And Semoball.com is not immune to that. The website devoted to providing sports fans thorough coverage of sports throughout Southeast Missouri is still going to make that its mission on a daily basis, however, the internal pieces are going to be doing some shifting moving forward.

ELLSINORE — The Semoball Comeback Player of the Year has started her senior season on a strong note. East Carter’s Jordan Moore, who missed her freshman and sophomore seasons due to ACL tears in both knees, allowed two hits and struck out nine with no walks as the Redbirds beat Twin Rivers 5-2 on Monday...

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — The Sikeston Bulldogs softball team went 1-3 over the weekend at the Rockwood Summit softball tournament but ended on a high note with a win over Naylor. “Overall I think we competed very well considering the level of competition we played,” said Sikeston head coach Jacob May. ...

The Sikeston Bulldog softball team dropped their season opener in the Rockwood Summit tournament 13-1 to the host school.

With eight returning starters, led by a senior class that has a combined 216 varsity games under their belt, the Poplar Bluff softball team is looking to have a breakout season this fall. Emilee Cheek, Morgan Courtney, Serena Davis, Layla Sullivan, Breann Thresher, Lauren Webb and Ella Zgaynor return for their senior year along with juniors Adrianne Casey, Madelyn Hefner and Clara Rahlmann, who have played a combined 144 varsity games...

Naylor softball returns seven starters, but the two graduating seniors from last year’s 13-7 team were no small losses. Pitcher Alyssa Urich and shortstop Makenzie Crofford will be respectively replaced by junior Destiny Thomas and senior Shae Sarabia...

It was the very first game of the fall sports season when Jordan Moore was running to track down a fly ball. The left fielder jumped to make the catch but felt her knee do the same when she landed. Having already injured her other knee the previous winter rebounding in a basketball game, Moore knew immediately what had happened...

Southland senior Jenna Gibson wasn’t sure how things would go when her softball squad combined with nearby rival Senath-Hornersville this spring. “It was a super different year because I was a senior at Southland and we wound up combining with Senath-Hornersville,” Gibson said. “I think a lot of people thought it wasn’t going to work out well and there might be drama because we were small-school rivals. But it was honestly the best year I’ve ever had and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”...

Prior to the MSHSAA Class 4 Boy’s Soccer state championship game last November in Springfield, Jackson senior goalkeeper Luke Mirly wasn’t exactly feeling great.

The Semoball Cup is presented to the school with the most successful season based on a formula that takes into account the combined winning percentage of all sports teams (WIN) plus bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both teams (POST) and individuals (IND). The bonus points are divided by the number of teams a school fields. Here are the standings with previous rankings from 2020:...

The best of the best will be recognized at the 2021 Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH on July 10 at the Rock N’ Roll Drive-In in Chaffee.

Spring sports and top award finalists for the 2021 Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH will be announced Friday, along with the final wave of tickets going on sale. The announcement of finalists can be heard at 9 a.m. Friday on SEMO ESPN Radio and on the Semoball.com Facebook page. A story recapping all the finalists will publish later Friday online at semoball.com and in your local newspaper...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. — The East Prairie High School Lady Eagles softball team qualified for the Academic All-State Team Award with a combined team average grade point average of 3.3 or higher. The cumulative team GPA was 3.8225 including all 16 team members...

The 2021 Bootheel Conference all-conference softball awards have been released. Senath-Hornersville with Southland senior Jenna Gibson is the Bootheel Conference Softball Player of the Year. Gibson hit .707 with with seven home runs and 28 RBIs this spring. She also went 9-2 in the circle with a 1.89 ERA while striking out 120 in 66 innings pitched...

The 2021 Tri-County Conference all-conference softball awards have been released. Holcomb senior Hannah Burk and Holcomb junior Alyssa Brown have been selected Tri-County Co-Players of the Year. “Hannah led us in almost every offensive category and she plays first base about as good as anyone I’ve seen,” Holcomb coach Matt Casper said. “She’s just solid all the way around.”...

The all-state team has been released for spring softball. A total of 16 players in Class 1 and nine players in Class 2 from the Semoball coverage area have been selected all-state. Holcomb senior Hannah Burk, Holcomb freshman Maleigh Lemings, Holcomb senior Bailey Cupples, and Advance senior Danielle Markham have been selected as first-team all-state infielders in Class 1...

East Prairie senior Allie Eaves continues to rake in the postseason honors. On Wednesday, Eaves was selected to the Missouri Class 2 All-State second team, the latest accolade the infielder received this postseason. She was also named first team all-conference in the Scott-Mississippi County Conference, first team all-district in Class 2, District 1 and first team all region in Class 2, Region 1. She was also named to the academic all-state team...

The East Prairie Lady Eagles softball team finished a successful 9-4 campaign and four players have been recognized with postseason honors. Senior Allie Eaves was named to the first team all conference team in the Scott-Mississippi County Conference along with sophomores Tori Stinnett, Kennedy Cogdill and Katie Brewer...

SPRINGFIELD - The Holcomb Hornets greatest softball season in school history concluded a victory shy of the ultimate prize Sunday at the Class 1 state softball tournament at Cooper Softball Complex in Springfield. Holcomb played Purdy to a 1-all stalemate for the first four innings of play. But Purdy broke a 1-all tie when Robyn Schad hit a sole homer in the bottom of the fifth inning and eventually beat Holcomb 4-1 in the Class 1 state title championship...

SPRINGFIELD - The Kennett Indians softball squad closed out its season on a high note Sunday evening at the Class 2 state tournament. Kennett broke a 2-all tie when it scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning and hung on to beat Diamond 6-2 in the Class 2 third-place game at Killian Softball Complex in Springfield...

SPRINGFIELD - Holcomb Hornets left fielder Kelsi Tucker got a bit nervous when Wellington-Napoleon put the tying run on third base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday night. “My mind was just racing,” Tucker said. “I was just hoping we would get that third out some how some way."...

SPRINGFIELD - Kennett head coach Logan Dollins expected big things from senior slugger Kayton Hurst before his Class 2 state semifinal against Skyline ever got underway Saturday evening. “Kayton had a good round of batting practice this week,” Dollins said. “I actually told someone before the game started today that I expected her to do good things tonight.”...

The schedule has once again been altered at the spring softball state tournament at Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. The Class 1 and Class 2 state semifinals were postponed Friday due to rain. The first Class 1 state semifinal between Advance and Purdy did start on time at 4 p.m. Thursday but was suspended with two outs in the top of the third inning. Purdy currently leads Advance 1-0. Weather permitting the Advance-Purdy game will resume Saturday at 2 p.m...