East Carter County

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...

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...

Playing video games is steadily becoming an accepted afterschool activity and a pathway to earn college scholarships. Sixty high schools are currently members of the Missouri Scholastic esports Federation (MOSEF), including Clearwater, East Carter, Richland-Essex, Advance, Farmington, Ste. Genevieve and Cape Central...

GREENVILLE, Mo. — Greenville gave away runs early but took even more late. After getting two hits through four innings and giving up as many home runs while committing three errors, the Bears flipped things around in the final three innings. They nearly batting around in the fifth and sixth while the defense faced two batters over the minimum to rally from five runs down and beat East Carter 8-6 Thursday...

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...

Oran head baseball coach Joe Bickings and his team started their fall baseball season off on the right foot over the weekend as the Eagles shut out South Iron, 13-0. at a game played at Van Buren on Friday. Oran then traveled to Ellsinore, MO. on Saturday and won a twin bill with East Carter, 10-6, and won the later game against Arcadia Valley, 12-1...

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...

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:...

CHARLESTON - There is no shortage of top-quality high school baseball players throughout the Semoball.com area, so selecting just 10 players to be nominated for the 2021 Semoball Award for the Boy’s Baseball Athlete of the Year is a difficult task.

A slew of high school boys basketball squads are competing in a two-day basketball shootout at Kennett High School Tuesday and Wednesday. Rector, Clarkton, Delta C-7, Kennett, Greenville, and Portageville are slated to compete in head-to-head contests that begin at 8 a.m. and conclude around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday...

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.

State champions Oran and Kennett led all Semoball-area schools in all-state baseball selections with five apiece. In total, 36 athletes from the Semoball coverage area were named to all-state teams. The Eagles had three Class 1 first-team selections in senior Kaden Hargrove, senior Ty Johnson and sophomore Nic Massey. Oran senior Dawson Menz was named to the all-state second team, and sophomore Kolten Payne received an honorable mention...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — After starting the spring 7-9, Ellington is playing like the defending state champion it is. After going 29-1 and winning the school’s first state title in 2019, last spring was canceled before the Whippets played a game. With no state tournament, it’s still the Whippets’ crown to lose...

ELLSINORE — Jacob Saffle once again provided the game-winning hit as the rallying Redbirds overcome a touchdown late to claim the Ozark Foothills Conference regular season title Tuesday. Down seven runs after four innings and six heading into the bottom of the sixth, East Carter pulled off a dramatic comeback to beat Neelyville 12-11 on Saffle’s one-out, bases-loaded hit at Brodie Gargac Memorial Field...

Saxony Lutheran and Charleston were locked in a pitchers duel Saturday, but it was the pure domination of Crusader's starter Eli Brown that would hold true, as the senior shut down the Blue Jays offense to garner a 1-0 Saxony Lutheran win. While Charleston starter Dawson Crawford and reliever Luke Nichols combined for seven innings of one-run, one-hit baseball, the Crusader's Brown was just a little bit better, throwing seven innings, allowing just two hits and no runs, striking out 13, and walking zero.. ...

POPLAR BLUFF — East Carter put the squeeze on early to jump ahead of Poplar Bluff and got an extra run out of it Saturday afternoon. With the bases loaded and one out trailing by a run in the second inning, the Redbirds No. 8 hitter Levi Boyer got the bunt down with teammate Jacob Saffle racing home. Luke Roark scored from second on the play as Boyer beat the throw to first base...

The Woodland softball team won their ninth game of the season Friday on the road, pummeling Puxico by the score of 17-2. The Cardinals scored multiple runs in the third inning (six) and fifth (nine) innings, highlighted by a home run and an RBI triple hit by Rylee Cureton, who accumulated three hits while driving in four RBIs...

Trailing 6 to 5 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Oran freshman Lily Knotts drove a 1-0 pitch to deep left field, scoring Rylee Boshell and Molly Spane to win by walk-off on Monday, 7-6. Boshell singled two batters earlier, while Spane singled a batter later, moving Boshell to third base...

The Campbell baseball squad outlasted Oran 10-6 in a battle of state-ranked teams Friday. Campbell and Oran both scored a run in the first inning. The game stayed tied at 1-all until Campbell blew things open when it scored its final nine runs in the top of the fifth inning...

ELLSINORE — After being robbed of a go-ahead homer the pervious inning, the East Carter softball team rallied in the sixth with some much shorter hits. Jordan Moore’s two-run hit with one out and the bases loaded lifted the Redbirds past Naylor 4-3 to claim the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament title Thursday...

ELLSINORE — With two runs here and three runs there, Naylor was able to slug its way into the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament final. The Eagles scored in every inning but the last, finishing with 15 hits, to beat second-seeded Doniphan 14-8 Wednesday at East Carter High School...

ELLSINORE — East Carter was able to finish off a win just as the snow started to fall Tuesday in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament semifinal. The top-seeded Redbirds weathered a 13-3 win over Clearwater in six innings as Honna Brown hit a two-run homer in the rain and crossed the plate with the game-ending run...

ELLSINORE — The final out was the toughest one for a pair of upset-minded teams Monday in the opening round of the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. Second-seeded Doniphan and third-seeded Naylor both pushed across winning runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to complete come-from-behind wins...

By BRIAN ROSENER Sports Editor East Carter will host the Ozark Foothills Conference softball tournament starting Monday, but the Redbirds won’t be playing until the semifinals as the top seed. The opening round starts at 12:30 p.m. Monday with No. 2 seed Doniphan facing No. 7 Greenville in Elsinore. Third-seeded Naylor plays No. 6 Twin Rivers at 2:30 p.m. with the final game set for 4:30 p.m. as No. 4 Neelyville and No. 5 Clearwater face off...

The undefeated Cooter Wildcats improved to 9-0 as it won at Senath-Hornersville 9-1 Tuesday. Cooter, which is ranked No. 3 in the latest Class 1 state poll, scored four runs in the top of the first inning, one run in the third inning, three runs in the fifth inning, and one run in the seventh frame for its 9-run total...

ELLSINORE — While most of the teams in the Ozark Foothills Conference already have a fall softball season under their belt, Clearwater and Greenville are back on the diamond for the first time in nearly two years. “This is the first fall team we’ve seen and they can tell they were on kind of a different level there than we’ve seen already this spring,” Clearwater coach Shannon England said...

Following a year of missing out on gathering with friends and family due to the COVID pandemic, everyone, including sports fans, is anxious to spend time with those closest to us once again.

Local teams place in MCCA state cheer competition East Carter won its division at the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association's state championships, it was announced Sunday, while the East Prairie and South Pemiscot squads were honored for their work during timeouts. ...

SCOTT CITY — Six years ago, Scott City High School boy’s basketball coach Mark Dannenmueller reacted to a postseason loss to Charleston by strengthening the Rams’ schedule the following season to an insane degree.

High School boys and girls basketball district tournaments are finally upon us. Fans, players, and coaches have had to endure a strange, but sometimes fun, basketball season, which was filled with many postponements and/or cancellations due to Covid-19, as well as the weather. However, we can say that the 2020-2021 season has been one of the more entertaining ones in recent years.

At the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament seed meeting, East Carter boys basketball coach and athletic director Jordan Penn’s biggest concern was COVID-19. Everyone agreed to a few schedule changes to give all the teams an opportunity at an opening-round game...

ELLSINORE, Mo. — Back in December, it was a tip-in at the buzzer that gave the East Carter Redbirds a two-point over the Doniphan Dons and the top seed in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. Friday night in the rematch in the conference tournament finals, the Redbirds couldn’t get the buzzer-beater to fall...

The seedings have been released for the Class 1-3 boys and girls district basketball tournaments. Postseason play begins Feb. 20 for schools in Class 1-3. Higher seeds are slated to host quarterfinals and semifinals. Some districts will also have the highest remaining seed host their district championship. Other districts have elected to designate a neutral host site for their district final...

A lot of things have gone well for the New Madrid County Central girl’s basketball program this season.

BROSELEY — East Carter has likely secured the top seed in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. The Redbirds, who are also hosting the tournament this year, improved to 5-0 in conference play with a 74-43 win at Twin Rivers (8-7, 3-3 OFC) on Friday...

ELLSINORE – East Carter wanted to go into the halftime locker room on a positive note. It got just that with a six-point run capped by Preston Golden throwing down the best dunk of the night. East Carter went from up by four points after the first quarter to 13 on Golden’s dunk and stayed in control throughout the second half to win 75-51 on Tuesday in Ellsinore...

There were several great basketball performances throughout Southeast Missouri of late, but East Carter's Kyren West and Holcomb's Macy Houart were recently selected as the top performers over the last week by Semoball.com readers.

ELLSINORE, Mo. — After spending the past two years in Van Buren, the Yellow Sucker trophy has returned to East Carter. The Redbirds led by a point heading into the fourth quarter and held on to win 63-51 Friday in Ellsinore. “We worked a long time to get our program back to where it is steady and competitive like it was in the early 2000s. These guys just put in a lot of work,” East Carter coach Jordan Penn said...

Drum roll, please. After seeing a lot of chatter on who the top-10 boys and girls basketball teams are in the region, I have put together a list of who I think deserves to be mentioned. Here is the absolutely accurate (see the sarcasm) boys’ list: New Madrid County Central (9-0)...

ELLSINORE, Mo. — East Carter spent a lot of time in practice preparing for Doniphan’s press. The preparation worked wonderfully … until Doniphan changed defenses. The Redbirds scored five field goals in the first 4 1/2 minutes, largely after beating the press for an easy basket, and led by seven points...

Kamron Meese scored five of his game-high 41 points in overtime, and the Risco Tigers denied Bell City its first win of the season. Bell City (0-10) outscored the Tigers 18-14 in the fourth quarter to force overtime but lost 71-69 Thursday night at Bell City High School...

ELLSINORE – There were nine lead changes in the first half and none in the second. Ellington ratcheted up its pressure in the third quarter, and East Carter briefly tied the game one last time. The Whippets soon built the first double-digit lead and never looked back for a 72-61 win Tuesday in Ellsinore...

ELLSINORE — East Carter went into the half with momentum, and came out with even more. The Redbirds went from down by four to ahead by 17 in the span of 8 minutes spread evenly on both sides of halftime and went on to beat Ellington 74-37 on Tuesday in Ellsinore...

BROSELEY — Once they were able to take care of the ball, the Dexter Bearcats were able to take care of business and East Carter in the fifth place game at the Lady Royals Classic. The teams combined for 27 turnovers in the first half alone, but Dexter didn’t have any over the final five minutes of the third quarter during a 12-1 run...

BROSELEY — East Carter was the only team to earn an upset in the first round of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic. Now the 11th-seeded Redbirds had a shot to finish fifth. East Carter (4-4), which lost to Neelyville in the quarterfinals, earned its second upset with a 57-55 win against seventh-seeded Holcomb on Tuesday...

BROSELEY — The defending champs are lurking, ready to pounce. Neelyville advanced to the semifinals for an 11th straight year using the same formula that has worked for the Tigers in the past at the Lady Royals Classic. Makenzie Davis and Payton Reinbott each had double-doubles, leading Neelyville in a 71-48 win over East Carter in Monday’s quarterfinal...

BROSELEY - East Carter Redbirds girls basketball coach Angela Rodgers elected to make a defensive change at the end of the first quarter even with her team enjoying a 12-11 lead against the Kennett Indians. “We started the game playing man to man defense,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t think we did bad in man in the first quarter. But I decided to switch to a 1-3-1 after the first quarter to try to slow Patton down along with Kennett’s other players who were penetrating past us to the basket.”...

CLARKTON — East Carter didn’t score over the opening six minutes and the final three Friday night in the championship game of the Clarkton Christmas Tournament. The Redbirds had 11 more points than Portageville the rest of game, but the Bulldogs took advantage of those two droughts...