Softball

Allison Carnell hit a double and drove in two runs to lead Jackson softball to its first win of the season, 6-2 over Linn, in the opening round of the People's Bank of Sullivan Back-to-School Classic in Sullivan, Missouri. Sicily Johnston went the distance in the circle to get the win for Jackson. She allowed two earned runs and recorded four strikeouts and two walks...

With another softball season set to begin Friday, teams across the state are preparing for their opening games. Practice has been underway for weeks, and programs like Notre Dame, Jackson and Cape Central are all scheduled to open their campaigns this weekend...

As Adrienne Stucker and nearly every softball pitcher can attest, there have been some close calls in the circle. From the moment a fastball leaves the hands of a pitcher and comes off the bat, there's a lingering fear among the game's hurlers that a 60-mph heater can come screaming back as a 100-mph line drive. These sharp line drives, or comebackers, happen all too often in fastpitch softball and leave pitchers standing 43 feet from the batter with less than a second to react...

The Semoball Cup ended up being a battle of the Bulldogs that needed overtime to decide. Megan Heisserer's golden goal to lift Notre Dame to the Class 2 soccer title also happened to clinch the Cup. In the closest finish in the early history of the award, Notre Dame edged Van Buren by 4.79 points in the standings that determine which area school had the most athletically successful school year...

From across Southeast Missouri, people descended upon Cape Girardeau on Saturday night for the region's premier sports awards show. More than 150 student-athletes from 57 area high schools were on hand for the Fourth Annual Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH at the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, as awards were handed out in 25 sports categories...

Jersey number: 23 Positions played during high school season: Shortstop, pitcher Summer team: Top Gun Academy Twitter handle: @kpayne04 Favorite warmup song: "Turn My Swag On" by Soulja Boy Favorite bat to use: Rawlings Favorite place to play: University of Tennessee...

Madison Landeros was little, around five years old, when she came home one night and begged her dad for the chance to play T-ball. She just wanted to try something new and fun. She didn't know then that night was the start of something special. Her dad, Michael, initially wanted Madison to golf. It was an easier route toward a college scholarship, Madison recalls him saying. But after Madison pleaded, the former baseball player relented, and he's been her coach ever since...

This spring, three area high school teams won state championships. With the success came accolades. Numerous local student-athletes earned recognition, including all-state honors. On the baseball diamond, Bell City won its third straight Class 1 state championship. Along the way, five Cubs earned all-state distinctions...

Ten months after the high school sports calendar began, we now know all 148 of our on-field nominees for the 2017 Semoball Awards. On Friday, the spring sport finalists for baseball, softball, girls soccer, boys and girls track and field, golf and boys tennis for the event -- to be held Saturday, July 8, at the Bedell Performance Center at Southeast Missouri State's River Campus -- were announced as part of a live selection show on SEMO ESPN Radio...

KENNETT, Mo. -- Two innings earlier, Scott City softball had been down to its last out when one swing of the bat erased a three-run deficit and sent the game into extras. In the bottom of the ninth, the game again hung in the balance, but the situation was different. With no outs, Kennett had the potential game-winning run at third...

MALDEN, Mo. -- To reach a fourth straight sectional, the Scott City softball relied on its patience at the plate. It wasn't the usual approach for a team that loves to hit, but it worked. In Monday's sectional, the Rams got back to their roots as they pounded out 14 hits in an 11-5 win over Malden at the Malden Sports Complex...

A pair of guests, plus Phillip Suitts in studio to talk baseball (and softball) playoffs.

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Scott City softball had already overcame two deficits and led by four runs entering the final inning. A district championship wasn't going to come easy, though. Oran quickly whittled that advantage down to two and had the tying run on second base with no outs...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- With Scott City softball leading Oran 5-3 after two innings in the Class 1 District 4 tournament championship, play was suspended Wednesday afternoon due to wet field conditions at Advance City Park. Rain started coming down in the top of the second inning and continued off and on until the game was halted heading into the third frame...

Jonathan Bell and D.J. Lynch each carded a 10-over-par 81 as the Notre Dame boys golf team won the Class 3 District 1 tournament championship for the second year in a row on Tuesday at the Fox Haven Country Club in Sikeston, Mo. The Bulldogs all finished below 90 as the defending district champions edged Farmington by five strokes in the team standings to come away with the district championship. Nicholas Westrich shot a one-over-par 82 to earn the medalist honors for the Knights...

Layne Johnson held the Bulldogs to six hits on the mound, as the Oran baseball team knocked off Sikeston 10-2 on Thursday in Sikeston, Missouri. Johnson threw 6 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs, striking out seven batters and walking two. Drew Reischman secured the final out for the Eagles...

Ben Womack hit two doubles and batted in two runs but it was ultimately not enough as the Notre Dame baseball team was unable to erase a five-run deficit and fell just one run short in a 5-4 loss to host Sikeston on Tuesday, dropping a crucial conference game that awarded the regular-season SEMO Conference championship to Poplar Bluff...

Notre Dame's Jonathan Bell carded a six-over-par 77 to tie for second individually, as the Bulldogs finished 16 strokes behind champion Poplar Bluff to receive second place Monday in the SEMO Conference Boys Golf Tournament at Fox Haven Country Club in Sikeston, Missouri...

The Scott City softball team had a 2-0 lead after six innings and a chance for a major confidence boost with the postseason right around the corner. Then things fell apart. Leading defending Class 1 fall softball state champion Van Buren by two runs with just three outs to go, the Rams gave up five hits and five runs in the top of the seventh to fall to the visiting Bulldogs 5-2 on Tuesday at Scott City High School...

For a group of 12th-graders at two local high schools, this season is especially special. Delta seniors will be representing their school on the softball diamond for the first time in years, and after years of waiting Bell City has a team. At both schools, seniors led the charge to form a team, recruiting others and building support...

Notre Dame girls soccer got a golden-goal winner in extra time from Megan Heisserer to get past Saxony Lutheran 3-2 in a conference matchup on Wednesday in Jackson, Missouri. It was a fourth straight overtime game for the Crusaders and a second extra-time loss in as many days...

Clay Sauceda hit a solo home run, but the Oran baseball team wasn't to fend off a determined Portageville squad, as the Eagles dropped a 7-6 decision to the Bulldogs on Tuesday in Oran, Missouri. Drew Reischman went 2 1/3 innings on the mound to be tagged with the loss for Oran (6-2). He gave up four runs (one earned) on three hits and had one strikeout and one walk. He also added a double at the plate...

Trent Unterreiner hit a double to record the only extra-base hit of the game, as the Perryville baseball team tallied a run in the final inning to eke out a 2-1 win over the Bearcats on Saturday at Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. Garrett Dix went the distance on the mound to earn the win for Perryville. He allowed one earned run and recorded nine strikeouts and four walks...

Kelly baseball got a walk-off hit from Nathan Vicenzi as the Hawks edged visiting St. Vincent 5-4 with a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kyle Fitzgerald went the distance on the mound to take the win for Kelly (4-6). He gave up four earned runs, struck out five and walked three...

The Kennett softball team finally met its match as undefeated Oran flew out to a 3-0 lead and hung on to win 4-1, dealing the Indians their first loss of the season on Friday at Indian Park in Kennett, Missouri. Oran took a 1-0 lead when Kaylee Payne hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning. The Eagles extended their lead to 3-0 when Leah Cauble hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning...

Britne Parker smacked two doubles and drove in four runs to lead Scott City softball to a 10-3 win over Advance. Jamie Glastetter tossed six innings to take the win for the Rams (5-1). She gave up three unearned runs on two hits and recorded eight strikeouts with two walks...

Conference: Stoddard County Activities Association Class & District: Class 1 District 4 Last season's record: 4-11 2016 postseason result: Lost in district tournament to Woodland No further information was provided Conference: Stoddard County Activities Association...

The Kelly girls soccer team extended its winning streak to four games with a 1-0 overtime victory over Perryville on Monday on the road. Hailey Noon netted the lone goal of the game in overtime with 1:45 left off an assist from Emily Bolen to get the win for Kelly, which improved to 4-0. The Hawks continued their winning ways following a weekend championship of their inaugural round-robin tournament...

ORAN, Mo. -- It may be early in the season, but it's never too early to make a statement. In a rematch of last year's Class 1 District 4 district championship -- and perhaps a preview of this year's -- Oran softball let loose a warning shot on Monday evening, making it clear it's not looking to play second fiddle in 2017 as it dusted reigning district champ Scott City 10-0 in five innings at Oran High School...

Kendall Barber, Perryville Central Methodist University Men's Track and Field Sam Brennan, Notre Dame Benedictine College Women's basketball Sophia Bright, Jackson Shawnee Community College Softball Abbi Brown, Chaffee Shawnee Community College Softball...

Ally Vaughn, catcher for Cape Central High School, signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball at John A Logan in 2017. Ally Vaughn with coaches after signing with John A Logan on Thursday, December 15...

The last time that Jackson boys soccer won a district title, Colten Weber was watching from the stands as his older brother, Nolan, helped the Indians to a trophy in 2011. In the time since, Jackson's trophy cabinet remained empty, while Colten lost his brother to brain cancer, making it all the more special as the younger Weber helped the top-seeded Indians take the Class 4 District 1 title on Thursday, defeating second-seeded Seckman 4-1 in Jackson, Missouri, to earn a berth in a sectional game.. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. --For Notre Dame senior Holly Reinagel, family members have been coaching her softball teams for as long as she can remember. Even when Reinagel got to high school that dynamic didn't change with assistant coach Ray Reinagel, Holly's cousin, working alongside head coach Jeff Graviett...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- In a season full of history, there was one more moment the Van Buren softball team will never forget. One by one players ran through a tunnel of their most loyal fans, which led to an even bigger celebration with their closest friends and family outside of the Killian Softball Complex on Saturday...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A couple of hours earlier, Notre Dame softball coach Jeff Graviett had seen his team's state championship hopes disappear in gut-wrenching fashion as the Bulldogs lost on a walk-off single. Heading into the third-place game, Graviett didn't think his team could overcome that disappointment and pull out a win to end the season on a high note. His players proved him wrong...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Van Buren softball coach Jack Childress was unsure how his team would respond after giving up two runs in the second inning of its MSHSAA Class 1 state semifinal on Friday. His uncertainties were erased when the Lady Dawgs chipped away at the deficit over the next two innings and absolutely erased it when they put Morgan Shockley, one of their fastest runners, on third with one out in the top of the seventh inning...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- This season, Notre Dame softball set its sights on returning to the state championship game after losing in last year's title game. In the process, the Bulldogs piled up 23 wins and again advanced to the final four. But on Friday they fell short...

The Notre Dame softball team learned a couple of things last year when it earned a trip to the Class 3 final four before falling to Warrenton in the state championship game. First and foremost, don't steal pillows. "Some girls stole some [hotel] pillows last year and they got caught on the way over to the field," Notre Dame senior outfielder Abby Rollet says. ...

The softball quarterfinal had ended less than 30 minutes ago, and Notre Dame senior Ellie Retz said she had already cried three times. The starting pitcher wasn't sad or disappointed, though. They were tears of joy. Nearly a year after Notre Dame lost in the championship game, the Bulldogs punched a return ticket to the Class 3 final four thanks to a 7-2 win over Union on Saturday at Notre Dame Regional High School...

DE SOTO, Mo. -- Win the inning. It's a mantra Notre Dame softball coach Jeff Graviett often tells his team. So Wednesday, after batting practice before the Bulldogs' Class 3 Sectional 1 contest, the coach gathered the team together in the dugout to drive home that message. Before his squad ran onto the field for defensive warm ups, Graviett reminded the Bulldogs that if they scored every inning they would be in great shape...

It was a different district and a different opponent, but the Kelly softball team left the field Saturday with the same sinking feeling. For the third consecutive year, the Hawks' season ended in the district final, one game short of the state tournament...

There were grins when the trophy was lifted, and a handful of smiles for the camera, but as the Notre Dame softball team walked off the field on Friday evening, it was already focused on the business ahead of it. In what was a stepping-stone victory for a Bulldog squad with much bigger goals at hand, top-seeded Notre Dame swooped past No. 2 Sikeston, 13-1 in five innings, in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Championship at Cape Girardeau Central High School...

For consecutive half-innings, the Cape Central softball team captured and then recaptured the lead on Thursday. Facing a deficit, third-seeded Central took a lead in the fourth and fifth, but Sikeston simply reclaimed the lead next time up. Then in the sixth, Central failed to muster any runs and the deficit bloomed to five...

The fourth-seeded Dexter volleyball team may have proven that Monday night's loss to top-seeded Advance was just a fluke, as the Bearcats dealt a vengeful 25-22, 25-15 victory to the Hornets in Thursday's semifinals of the Stoddard County Activities Association Conference tournament in Puxico, Missouri...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- One of the attributes Chaffee coach Brian Horrell appreciates in his team most was on display in the Class 1 District 1 championship Thursday. The Red Devils' no-quit demeanor was evident as they battled back from a deficit and even took a brief lead. But they couldn't hold it...

The Cape Girardeau Central softball team took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning and led the rest of the way en route to a 9-4 victory over sixth-seeded Fredericktown on home turf in a quarterfinal of the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament at Cape Girardeau Central High School on Wednesday...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Jackson struggled to find the big hit when it needed it most while Fox got its biggest hit precisely when it was most needed. An early pitcher's dual went into extras, both teams rallied, and No. 5 seed Fox was able to hold off the No. 4 Indians to win 6-5 in eight innings in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 quarterfinals...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Sydney Walker and the Chaffee Red Devils flashed some leather to keep their postseason hopes alive Wednesday. The Chaffee shortstop was a vacuum all night, stopping every ball hit her way, and laid out to nab a crucial line drive in the top of the seventh inning as the second-seeded Red Devils outlasted No. 3 Naylor 2-0 in an MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 semifinal at Rains Field in Poplar Bluff, Missouri...

A lot can change during the course of the season. The Perryville softball team faced Ste. Genevieve on opening day, defeating the Dragons 9-1. But when it really mattered on Wednesday, it was a different story. The Pirates shot themselves in the foot early on and couldn't do enough to dig all the way out of their hole, as fourth-seeded Perryville fell to No. 5 Ste. Genevieve 4-2 in a quarterfinal of the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament at Cape Girardeau Central High School...