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East Carter takes top seed for OFC Tournament
The bracket for the 2022 Ozark Foothills Conference softball tournament was decided Wednesday as the teams get ready to play each other next week.
The first round will be on Monday at McLane Park in Poplar Bluff while the semifinals, third place and championship games will be played at Three Rivers College.
East Carter (10-0) got the top seed and with that, the Redbirds will have a first-round bye and will face the winner between No. 4 Doniphan (8-1) and No. 5 Twin Rivers (4-2) in the semifinal Tuesday.
"There are a lot of good teams in the OFC, it's a difficult conference," East Carter coach Teresa Kearbey-LeGrand said. "Any one of these teams can have a good tournament and come out on top."
Neelyville (5-2) has the second seed and will face seventh-seeded Naylor (0-8) in the first round. No. 3 Clearwater (8-3) will be playing No. 6 Greenville (1-4) to round out the bracket.
"We don't feel like we're at a disadvantage," Clearwater coach Shannon England said. "We come out and compete every game. We've been pleased with our season so far. We had a one-run loss to Scott City that we were leading for most of it and we were able to compete with East Carter.
“We hope to make a little noise and get out of the first round."
Greenville will be looking to turn things around at the OFC Tournament with their lone win of the season at Naylor back on March 29. The Bears have only played once since then, losing to East Carter on Thursday.
During the fall, the Bears made a playoff run to reach the district final. The roster now features three players that were playing volleyball in the fall.
"I feel like we're a middle of the pack team," Greenville coach Barbara Adams said. "We can make a run at it if someone pokes the bear and wakes these girls up."
Doniphan and Twin Rivers will kick off the tournament at 1 p.m. Monday followed by Neelyville and Naylor at 3 p.m. before a 5 p.m. first pitch between Clearwater and Greenville.
When the tournament moves to Rains Field at Three Rivers on Tuesday, the first semifinal between East Carter and the Doniphan/Twin Rivers winner will start at 3 p.m. followed at 5 p.m. by the second semifinal.
The third place game will be played at 3 p.m. Wednesday followed at 5 p.m. by the championship.
East Carter won the title last year, beating Naylor 4-3 in the final. The Redbirds have won three of the last four OFC Tournaments dating back to 2017. The 2020 OFC Tournament was not played due to COVID-19.