District golf

Cody Smith and Pacey Reading qualifed for the Class 1 state meet after tying for third and 15th place, respectively, on Thursday at the Class 1 District 2 tournament at Heritage Hills Golf Course in Moberly. The pair play at the Class 1 state meet at Country Club of Missouri in Columbia

Read more in the Saturday, May 6, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.

Baseball

Mexico in position, in wrong column in 4-3 walk-off loss to Hallsville

Mexico was in situations to win on Thursday against Hallsville but just couldn’t get it done.

Mexico vs Hallsville Photo Gallery

The Bulldogs were tied with Class 4 No. 10 Hallsville in the seventh inning in the first game of the Fulton Invitational Tournament but then lost 4-3 on a walk-off single by Cooper Rhoades. Mexico hosted Pool 1 games in the tournament, which involved Moberly, Fulton and Hallsville, but played as the away team against the Indians.

Head coach Daniel McCarty said, after a single to lead off the seventh inning and a balk to put the Hallsville runner into scoring position, Mexico played percentages by intentionally walking Colton Nichols and Aaron Orscheln to force Rhoades to beat the Bulldogs. Mexico had played one game against Hallsville earlier this year, losing 7-4.

“The 2 hitter (Nichols), he’s like 3-for-7 against us, and the 3 hitter is 4-for-7 against us so we decided to put them on in the last inning to get a forceout anywhere,” McCarty said. “The guy that hit the ball on the game-winning hit, he was like 0-for-8 against us in two games. We used that approach, and the outcome didn’t come our way.”

Andrew Orscheln serves as the Indians’ ace and looked like one against Mexico as he finished with 12 strikeouts in seven innings. Still, the Bulldogs picked up five hits and drew two walks to scratch across three runs (one earned) against the talented left-hander.

Mexico learned it's the No. 5 seed in the Class 4 District 7 Tournament to be hosted by Macon and will play No. 4 Moberly (12-10) at 10 a.m. May 13.

Other Fulton tournament scores:

Pool 1 in Meixco: Fulton 3 Moberly 0

Pool 2 in Southern Boone: Fatima 8 North Callaway 5, Eldon 4 Southern Boone 0

North Callaway falls with winning run at plate, loses 8-5 to Fatima

North Callaway certainly made its initial game in the Fulton Invitational Tournament interesting on Thursday.

The Thunderbirds fell behind Fatima 8-1, mostly due to a five-run third inning, but rallied with four runs in the seventh inning but then failed to take advantage of a bases-loaded, one-out situation to lose 8-5. North Callaway (11-6) lost its first of three Pool 2 games hosted by Southern Boone along with Southern Boone (21-9) and Eldon (17-8).

After Keaton Bell was hit by a pitch and Bradyn O’Neal was walked, the Thunderbirds had four RBI singles from Matthew Weber, Davis Woods, Sam Pezold and Carter Moore to be within three runs. Blake Gentges settled down to strike out the next two batters to strand the bases loaded.

Weber’s RBI in the seventh was his second on his second hit of the game, Woods picked up his second hit in the rally, and Bell finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Davis Woods battled through five innings on the mound for North Callaway, allowing eight hits and walked six. Fatima (13-11) countered with all-state pitcher Max Buscher, who was solid through six innings with eight strikeouts and seven hits allowed.

North Callaway continues tournament games today at Southern Boone in Ashland by playing the host Eagles, who is ranked seventh in Class 4 and a defending state champion, at noon and then Eldon at 5 p.m.

Carroll strikes out 15, Community R-6 shuts out Mark Twain 6-0

After experiencing being shut out for the first time this year, Community R-6 bounced back with its fourth such performance.

Mason Carroll led the Trojans to their fourth shutout of the season with a 6-0 win, striking out 15 and allowing three hits in seven innings. The victory ends a three-game losing streak for Community (12-5) that was extended after a 3-0 loss at Pilot Grove two days prior.

His fellow pitcher Gavin Allen gave him some support early after walking, stealing two bases and taking home on a wild pitch. The Trojans added a run in the third inning before coming through in RBI situations later in the game.

Brant Cope brought home two runs in the fifth inning, and Drake Welch’s sacrifice fly and Mason Rohan’s RBI double gave Carroll sufficient insurance against Mark Twain (2-16).

Community, the Class 1 District 12 Tournament No. 2 seed, has a chance to face a district opponent, No. 3 Higbee (13-1) in an away game at 5 p.m. Monday and then host Missouri Military Academy (8-7) at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Trojans face No. 7 seed Madison (0-14) in districts at 2 p.m. May 11 in Glasgow.

Van-Far defense puts home game vs Clopton out of reach, Indians lose 8-4

Van-Far won its first game this season three days before Thursday’s Eastern Missouri Conference contest against Clopton.

The Indians committed two errors in that 6-5 win against Sturgeon, but the defense encountered struggles familiar to this season against the Hawks. Seven errors allowed five unearned runs in an 8-4 loss. 

Reece Culwell was on the hook for all of Clopton’s runs, allowing seven hits and two walks in five innings started for the Indians. Culwell had one of five hits for Van-Far (1-15, 0-10 EMO) along with an RBI.

Hours after he qualified for the Class 1 state golf meet, Cody Smith came from Moberly’s Heritage Hills and went 2-for-4 with an RBI at the Indians’ ballpark in Farber. Nikos Connaway also had two hits along with two shutout and hitless innings pitched in relief.

Van-Far was tied with Clopton (6-10, 3-7 EMO) at 4 after Culwell’s RBI single in the fifth inning, but four Clopton runs aided by two errors in the sixth inning gave the Hawks a cushion.

The Indians played at Monroe City (3-11) at 5 p.m. today in their regular season finale. Van-Far is the No. 7 seed in the Class 2 District tournament to be hosted by Silex, and the Indians will face the host No. 2 Owls (6-9) at 2:30 p.m. May 11.

Centralia wins 4th straight CCC game after pulling away late in 9-5 win at Highland

Centralia was able to breathe easier in the seventh inning on Thursday.

The Panthers won 9-5 at Clarence Cannon Conference foe Highland after scoring four runs in the final inning to gain needed separation and a fourth straight conference victory. 

Tanner Dutton and Mattie Robinson gave Centralia (11-10, 5-2 CCC) much swing-and-miss stuff on the moundas Dutton struck out seven in four one-hit innings in the start while Robinson struck out five in three relief innings.

The Panthers had a 4-1 lead over Highland (5-9, 4-4 CCC) after a four-run third inning, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Jack Romine, but needed more after the lead was cut down to 5-4. 

In the seventh inning, two walks and a bunt single by Mason Presley loaded the bases for Centralia. Runs were scratched across on either hits or sacrifice flies by Anthony Ford, Dutton, Elliott McCoy and Ethan Adams.

McCoy led the team with three RBI while Dutton had two RBI to match Romine’s total.

Centralia plays at 5 p.m. today at Class 4 No. 8 Blair Oaks (18-13) before hosting Class 4 No. 10 Hallsville (16-4) at 5 p.m. Monday. The Panthers learned they’re the No. 6 seed in the Class 4 District 7 tournament to be hosted by Macon and will face No. 3 Kirksville (15-12) at noon May 13.

Missouri Military Academy records first shutout with 3-0 win at Tuscumbia

Missouri Military Academy is playing its best baseball lately.

MMA has won four of its previous five — with an extra-inning loss in that span — and earned its first shutout victory of the season with a 3-0 win at Tuscumbia on Tuesday. Hunter Manderson started pitching for the first three innings and struck out five and allowed one hit and two walks and then William Delaplane pitched shutout ball in relief.

The Colonel offense gave them support early against Tuscumbia (2-16) with all three runs in the first two innings. The first five batters reached base for MMA (8-7) in the first inning as Manderson drove in two runs with a single as part of his multi-hit game. Michael Moss picked up an RBI single in the second inning.

Ethan Hersh scored twice in those innings as he finished 3-for-4 from the leadoff spot.

MMA plays at Marion County (4-10) at 5 p.m. Monday before going to Community R-6 (11-5) at 5 p.m. Tuesday. 

Girls soccer

Class 2 No. 11 Southern Boone 7 Mexico 0 in Ashland. Julie Richardson and Ava Leininger each record hat tricks for Lady Eagles. Mexico falls to 2-18-1 and Southern Boone rises to 15-5

Track and field

Centralia sweeps home meet, collects 19 first-places

Centralia didn’t run out its full team on Thursday but still decisively defended its home turf.

The boys and girls won the Centralia Open, with the Lady Panthers winning with 139 points (Macon was second with 117) and the Panthers taking first with 210 points (Macon was second with 144).

Among the girls’ first-places were Tilly Fox in the 200, high jump and long jump, Kyla Spickert in the 800, Kaylie Ensor in the pole vault, Bailey Schuering in the triple jump, Annie Robinson in the javelin, and the 4x200 and 4x800 relays.

The boys’ first places were Dryst Bostick in the 800, Wesley Robertson in the 3200, Jesse Shannon in the pole vault, Shane Mitchell in the long jump, Boen Zimmerman in the shot put, Josh Russell in the discus, Evan Brumback in the javelin, and the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x800 relays.

Look for full stories and results in the Wednesday, May 10, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.