Girls tennis

Mexico girls show guts to defeat Hannibal for first time in four years

In four years, the North Central Missouri Conference girls tennis battle between Mexico and Hannibal hasn’t been that close.

On Tuesday in Hannibal, the Lady Bulldogs won their first conference matchup of the season and their first dual with the Lady Pirates (2-3, 1-2 NCMC) in four years with a 6-3 victory. In previous years, Mexico has lost 8-1 and 9-0 but had comeback singles wins by Jyllian Whitworth and Alice Eggen to give Mexico (3-5, 1-1 NCMC) a 4-2 singles edge.

Whitworth won her match 10-8 and Eggen forced her match into a tiebreak, winning 11-10 (8-6). Other singles victories included Katie Gooch winning 10-0 and Lani Blair winning 10-1.

In doubles, Gooch and Blair won 10-7 and Eggen and Daida Herrera-Garcia won 10-4.

Mexico junior varsity also won its dual 5-4 with wins by Alexis Smythe and Yolitza Rodriguez Rios at 10-6, Lea Hernandez and Marali Herrera-Sanchez at 10-7, Abby Bowen and Bailey Christianson at 4-2, Hernandez-Sanchez and Elise Galloway at 4-0, and Phoebe Whipple and Bowen at 4-0.

Mexico hosted Battle on Wednesday and conference foe Kirksville on Thursday prior to playing the Troy Varsity Girls Tennis Tournament on Friday.

Softball

Community R-6 strikes out shaky Pilot Grove 14-0

Community R-6 softball took its undefeated reputation this season into its conference.

The Lady Trojans defeated Central Activities Conference foe Pilot Grove 14-0 in five innings on Tuesday at home. They earned the run-rule victory on seven hits and scored 12 unearned runs on seven errors to back Jocelyn Curtis’ nine strikeouts and one hit in five innings.

Paige Painter led the Community (6-0, 1-0 CAC) offense again by going 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double. She began the scoring with a RBI single in the first inning and tacked on two runs with a double in the second inning.

At the top of the order, Rylee Rafferty scored three runs, and Brooklynn Glasgow scored three times and walked twice. Amy McCurdy finished 2-for-4, and Taylor Johnson and Peyton Schafer each scored two runs.

Seven of the Lady Trojans runs were scored in the fourth inning to end the game early and score double-digit runs against Pilot Grove (2-4, 0-1 CAC) for the third time in four games.

Community played at district foe Silex (3-3) at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Myers leads North Callaway to 8-3 win at Wright City

North Callaway’s Kymorie Myers hit a ball that quickly left the ballpark in Wright City on Tuesday.

Myers finished 3-for-4 with three RBI in the Ladybirds’ 8-3 win against the Eastern Missouri Conference foe Wildcats. Corynne Miller finished 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, and Ella Slater ended up with the winning two-RBI single to make it 5-2 in the fifth inning and eventually help North Callaway stay undefeated at 5-0.

In the third inning, Myers gave North Callaway (2-0 EM) the 3-2 lead with a laser that cleared the Wright City fence early for a two-RBI home run. Emma Staats had a two-RBI home run for Wright City (2-2, 0-2 EMO), but North Callaway had more big hits in store. 

Miller picked up a two-RBI double in the sixth inning to help secure the victory as Lauren Speight did her part in the circle, pitching seven innings with eight hits, three strikeouts and one walk. 

North Callaway plays in the Take the Lake Softball Tournament at Ballparks National in Macks Creek, facing Class 4 Marshafield (6-1) first at 11;45 a.m. Friday and then Class 5 Timberland (4-0) later in the day.

Van-Far hit around in 11-1 loss at South Callaway

Van-Far softball continues to adjust early this season.

The Lady Indians learned that pitcher Dalana Gay wasn’t available just before their season-opening at North Callaway due to injury. Reeve Woodall stepped into the circle once again on Tuesday at South Callaway as Van-Far lost 11-1 in five innings.

Van-Far (0-2) allowed 11 hits and were down 10 runs after the third inning. The Nos. 2-5 hitters for South Callaway (3-2) each finished with multiple RBI. 

The Lady Indians scored a run in the fourth inning when Woodall smacked a RBI double with two outs to score Carmen Wilburn. Each of those girls had two hits to make up Van-Far’s four hits.

Van-Far (0-1 EMO) plays at Paris (1-3) at 5 p.m. tonight.

Centralia outlasts Highland in crazy 14-13 win

In Tuesday’s Clarence Cannon Conference game in Highland, Centralia and Highland combined for 18 hits and 12 errors.

The Lady Panthers took advantage of late mistakes by Highland to win 14-13, scoring three runs in the seventh inning to take the victory. Following two singles, Ellie Page reached on an error that scored a run and set up a RBI groundout by Cora King to tie the game and then Olivia Adams had the game-winning single with two outs.

King led Centralia’s offense with five RBI, including a grand slam in the fourth inning to help the Panthers to claw back from a 11-4 deficit to begin the frame. An error allowed the first run in the fourth to score, then King hit a grand slam and finally Kaylie Ensor tied the game with a two-RBI single.

Ensor and Adams each had two RBI for the Lady Panthers (5-4, 2-0 CCC), Madi Johnson had three runs, two hits and a double, and Kaelyn Walters and Page each scored three runs.

Walters battled seven innings of eight hits and seven Centralia errors that gave way to eight unearned runs. She struck out eight and walked seven. Highland (0-1 CCC) pitching allowed eight walks and six unearned runs.

Centralia hosts district foe Moberly (1-2) at 5 p.m. tonight.

Paris defense unable to keep Lady Coyotes in game vs North Shelby, loses 14-4

Paris softball faced its third straight program that has been either 500 or had a winning record the past few years.

The Lady Coyotes lost 14-4 at district foe North Shelby after committing a season-high 11 errors to alloweight unearned runs. Kennedy Ashenfelter allowed eight hits and allowed five walks and struck out seven in 5⅓ innings pitched.

Paris (1-4) kept up offensively in the first two innings and took a 4-3 lead after the second inning. In the first inning, Ashenfelter scored on a passed ball and Wendi Sutherland hit a sacrifice fly. Alyssa Webb’s two-RBI double in the second inning made it 4-1 Paris.

An error allowed a run to make it 4-3 in the second inning but then North Shelby (3-0) took a 6-4 lead after the third inning thanks to a couple of run-scoring hits. The Lady Raiders widened the gap by scoring in every inning afterward.

Paris hosts Van-Far at 5 p.m. tonight.

Volleyball

North Callaway drops three more sets in Fulton loss

North Callaway volleyball hasn’t been able to take a set from Fulton.

The Ladybirds were swept by the Lady Hornets (4-0) again, losing 25-12, 25-18 and 25-18 at home. 

Natalie Shryock led with 13 kills, Jaden Smithee finished with 13 assists, Riley Blevins had 10 digs and Avis Endres had three service aces.

North Callaway (1-4) plays at district foe Calvary Lutheran (2-3) in Jefferson City at 6 p.m. tonight.

Centralia 

Centralia won at district foe Boonville (1-2) in three sets (25-13, 25-20, 25-20) on Tuesday night to move to 2-2. JV won in two sets and the C-team lost in two sets. The Lady Panthers play at Father Tolton (2-1) at 6:30 p.m. tonight.

Fall baseball

Trojans push across runs, Carroll piles up strikeouts in 5-4 win at Sturgeon

Community R-6 had to take advantage in the fifth inning on Tuesday night.

Mason Carroll pitched 6⅓ innings with 16 strikeouts, four hits, three earned runs and three walks against Sturgeon (1-2) and was intentionally walked. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Trojans pushed across two runs to eventually win 5-4 for their first fall season win this year.

Mason Rohan led the inning with a double and Eli Johnson singled before Cooper Rohan’s line drive to the outfield was mishandled for an error to score a run and Drake Welch drew a walk to bring home another run. Johnson finished 2-for-3 with two runs, a double and a walk.

In the second inning, Community (1-1) took the lead after a Brant Cope RBI single and an error committed on Lane Carter’s ball each scored a run.

Community hosts Clopton at 5 p.m. Thursday, which begins four straight home games.

Recaps from Mexico softball and boys soccer Tuesday night can be found in galleries already posted and in the Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, edition.