District tennis

Mexico doubly impressive in 5-0 district win vs Lutheran St. Charles

Mexico was stronger together on the courts on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs won their first match in the Class 1 District 6 tournament at North Point in Wentzville, defeating Lutheran St. Charles 5-0. Mexico won its three doubles matches by a combined score of 24-10 and then only dropped two singles games in two singles matches.

“This was one of best played doubles team play we have had all season,” head coach Tony Senor said. “Declan (Gleeson) and Boston (Davolt) played together for the first time all season and they complimented each other very nicely. Brendan (McKeown) and Quaid (Grubb) took care of their Doubles match in quick fashion and they were able to play good together too. Zeven (Ruiz) showed his experience with Camden (Williams) by winning 8-6. When you go up 3-0 in doubles, it is very difficult for the other team to come back.”

The pairs of Gleeson and Davolt and McKeown and Grubb each won 8-2 while Gleeson was perfect in his 6-0, 6-0 victory in singles. Davolt was ahead 6-0, 5-0 in his singles match before the match was called.

In its third straight district title match, Mexico faces host North Point in the district championship match at 2 p.m. today in Wentzville.

Missouri Military Academy advances to district title match

Missouri Military Academy will be playing for its third straight district title on Thursday.

The top-seeded Colonels will be able to play at 3:30 p.m. Thursday after defeating Ft. Zumwalt East 5-0 on Tuesday at Ft. Zumwalt in St. Peters in the Class 2 District 4 tournament.

Baseball

Community R-6 clings to 4-2 win vs MMA in regular season finale

The win might not have been pretty at times on Tuesday, but Community R-6 will take it.

Community R-6 vs MMA Photo Gallery

MMA vs Community R-6 Photo Gallery

The Trojans took the lead at home against Missouri Military Academy in the fifth inning and were able to hang on despite encountering a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the seventh inning. Mason Carroll struck out the final three Colonels to finish with 13 strikeouts and one earned run on five hits in seven innings.

Community head coach Joel Krato paid a visit to the mound after Carroll hit Luke Wolf to lead off the inning and surrendered back-to-back singles to Anthony Melick and Charles George. Krato said Carroll had the skills to escape that inning unscathed, he just needed the reminder.

“I said, ‘You’re a really good pitcher. Throw hard. Throw strikes,’” Krato said. “What’s incredible, and this goes with a lot of our kids, Gavin (Allen) and Mason are similar. Carroll told me in the third inning that I’m just not feeling good. We’ve had a lot of games and have gone long hours, and he probably threw his hardest in the last inning.”

Through one stretch of the game, Carroll had retired 11 straight Colonels (9-8) until Wolf broke the streak with a single. An outfield error followed and then Noah Garcia brought home those two runs with a RBI single up the middle, making 2-1 MMA.

When the Trojans (14-5) were in a more serious bind in the seventh inning, Carroll said Krato helped him increase his confidence even when all of his weapons weren’t formidable.

“The offspeed wasn’t working for me at all so I had to rely on my fastball,” Carroll said. “If I couldn’t find the strike zone, I just had to calm down to throw strikes.”

On the opposite side of the diamond, MMA had William Delaplane going pitch-for-pitch with Carroll with a polar opposite approach. Delaplane finished with seven hits, six strikeouts, four runs and two walks in six innings.

“It was a good game to watch,” MMA head coach Thomas Roberts said. “His curveball baffled them. He throws a 12-6, and it’s just nasty and hard to hit. Not a real overpowering pitcher but has always has got some stuff. Our defense played well — the ball was hit at them and they caught it.”

Roberts said MMA disagreed with a couple of rulings around first base when the Colonels believed the umpire obstructed his defense when trying to field a chopper by Ayden Meranda in the fifth inning and when MMA disagreed with a safe call after Mason Rohan beat out a soft ground ball to score another Trojan run. Those gave way to three two-out runs for Community, including a game-winning two RBI single by Eli Johnson that happened in the same inning as Garcia’s run-scoring hit.

Roberts said those calls loom large in a tight ballgame but so do run-scoring situations that don’t yield any runs.

“We gave up two runs on an obstruction call that wasn’t made by home plate,” Roberts said. “The official was in the way, but that’s part of baseball. Officials are part of the field, but they have to try to make an effort to move. But then we left too many runners on. (Carroll) was outstanding and threw hard and threw well.” 

Carroll’s performance was just part of the whole picture of Community finding ways to win, Krato said. The Trojans fell behind after Brant Cope’s RBI double in the second inning but responded in the same inning as Garcia’s two-RBI single. 

“Competitors just find ways to compete and get the job done. Period,” Krato said. “It ain’t always going to be pretty, ain’t always going to hit the cover off the ball, you’re not always going to make every single play possible, but at the end of the day, teams that win find ways to win.”

On those chaotic plays around first base and any ball on the ground, the Trojans ran hard down the line to notch runs with two outs in the inning. Meranda stole second base after reaching in the fifth inning and then was able to score on Johnson’s single, which impressed Krato.

“Eli Johnson was 0 for his last 6 coming into that at-bat — didn’t look great at the plate (Monday) against Higbee and didn’t look great in his first two at-bats today,” Krato said. “But again, just find a way to get the job done and put the ball in play. It was great baserunning by some of our kids. Sometimes those kids forget there are two outs and forget to go. If (Meranda) doesn’t go, we don’t score.”

No. 2 seed Community in the Class 1 District 12 tournament faces Madison (1-14) at 2 p.m. Thursday in Glasgow while No. 5 seed MMA in the Class 3 District 7 tournament plays No. 4 North Callaway (14-8) at 5 p.m. Friday at South Callaway in Mokane.

Mexico held to handful of hits in 4-0 loss at Moberly

Mexico hopes it finds its offense in the third meeting with Moberly.

The Bulldogs face the North Central Missouri Conference rival Spartans at 10 a.m. Saturday in the first round of the Class 4 District 7 tournament in Macon but lost at Moberly 4-0 to end the regular season. The loss was Mexico’s 10th straight as it mustered three hits to extend a stretch where the offense has averaged 2.1 runs per game.

Carson Fletcher went seven innings for Moberly (14-12, 5-5 NCMC) while striking out one and walking one. He allowed hits to Andrew Runge, Sam Ryan and Austin Maxwell and walked Tyler Thoenen.

Maxwell pitched 3⅔ innings in the start for Mexico (8-18, 4-6 NCMC) as he allowed three runs on five hits and four walks while striking out three. Jack Wilburn allowed a run on four hits in 2⅓ innings in relief.

Allen strikes them out, hits one out in 7-2 win at Higbee

If Monday’s performance was any indication of what would happen at districts, Community R-6 will be happy.

The Trojans won at district foe Higbee 7-2 after Gavin Allen struck out 11 and allowed two hits in seven innings on the mound and hit a two-RBI home run as part of his three-RBI day at the plate. Ayden Meranda also finished with three RBI that he earned on one double in the sixth inning.

Allen’s home run made it 3-0 Trojans in the third inning after he retired the first six Tigers in the game. Allen allowed six more baserunners in the game to hand Class 1 District 12 No. 3 seed Higbee its second loss of the season.

Community is the No. 2 seed and faces No. 7 and Central Activities Conference foe Madison (1-14) at 2 p.m. Thursday in Glasgow.

Missouri Military Academy matches school record with 10-6 win at Marion County

Missouri Military Academy surged into history on Monday.

After trailing 5-2, the Colonels scored eight runs in the sixth inning to win 10-6 at Marion County. MMA finished with 11 hits and had two-RBI games from Hunter Manderson, Luke Wolf and Caleb Atkinson.

In the sixth inning, 13 Colonels stepped up to the plate as Atkinson doubled home a run for the first of two RBI hits in the inning, Anthony Melick tied the game at 5 with a groundout and Michael Moss, who scored three runs, hit a RBI single for the 6-5 lead. Eight of the Colonels’ hits happened in the frame.

Manderson struck out four and allowed one earned run on one hit and three walks in three innings as the starting pitcher.

MMA is the No. 5 seed when it faces No. 4 North Callaway (14-8) at 5 p.m. Friday in the Class 3 District 7 tournament at South Callaway in Mokane.

North Callaway, Woods records Senior Night shutout in 4-0 win vs New Bloomfield

It was fitting North Callaway turned to a senior on Tuesday night.

On Senior Night, the Thunderbirds defeated New Bloomfield, thanks largely to senior Davis Woods limiting the Wildcats (7-16) to three hits, striking out six and not walking anybody in seven innings. Woods also led the four-run sixth inning for North Callaway (14-8) as he hit a two-RBI double to begin the scoring.

Senior Braydn O’Neal finished 2-for-2 with a run scored, senior AJ Siegel had a single and Sam Pezold picked up a double.

North Callaway has the No. 4 seed in the Class 3 District 7 tournament when it plays No. 5 Missouri Military Academy (9-8) at 5 p.m. Friday at South Callaway in Mokane.

Girls soccer

Mexico wins on Senior Night

On Monday, the Lady Bulldogs defeated North Central Missouri Conference rival and district foe Fulton 2-0 to move to 3-19-1 and win on Senior Night.

Marali Herrera and Claire Hudson scored goals for the Lady Bulldogs.

Mexico learned its the No. 7 seed in the Class 2 District 3 tournament in Orchard Farm in St. Charles and will play No. 2 Orchard Farm (10-7) at 1 p.m. 

Track and field

Centralia sweeps Centralia Classic; Bondurant, Reinhard, Rohrbach win for North Callaway

Centralia

Boys: Rohan Holiman 1st in 800, JR Lesher 1st in 3200 with school record 9:46.73, Cayden Dunn 1st in 110 hurdles and 1st in 300 hurdles, Logan Rosenfelder 1st in triple jump and 1st in long jump, Evan Brumback 1st in javelin, Payton Mabrey 1st in shot put, Breylen Whisler 2nd in 100, Landon Moss 2nd in 800, Dryst Bostick 2nd in 3200 and 2nd in triple jump, Jacob Beard 2nd in pole vault, Jameson Cooper 2nd in discus, Boen Zimmerman 2nd in shot put

Won with 212 points (Macon 2nd with 111 points)

Girls: Shelby Lewis 1st in 200 with school record 26.13, Olivia Adams 1st in 400, Jozelynn Bostick 1st in 800 and 1st in 1600 and 1st in 3200, Becca Erisman 1st in 300 hurdles, 4x200 relay (Becca Erisman, Autumn Hawkins, Kaelyn Walters, Shelby Lewis) 1st, 4x400 relay (Olivia Adams, Becca Erisman, Annie Robinson, Shelby Lewis) 1st, Autumn Hawkins 1st in long jump, Kaylie Ensor 1st in pole vault, Ellie Berendzen 1st in discus, Cora King 1st in shot put, Harper Forshee 1st in javelin, Kaelyn Walters 2nd in 100, Kenedee Moss 2nd in 1600, Rylee Palmer 2nd in 3200, 

Won with 210 points (Macon 2nd with 113 points)

North Callaway

Boys: Brendan Reinhard 1st in high jump, Caleb Rohrbach 1st in shot put, Gavin Rasmussen 2nd in 300 hurdles, Isiah Craighead 2nd in javelin

Third with 88 points

Girls: Lia Bondurant 1st in high jump, Cora Tripp 2nd in 100 hurdles, Jalyn Leible 2nd in triple jump, Kymorie Myers 2nd in discus, Faith Cash 2nd in javelin

Fourth with 73 points