Softball

Mexico 10 Kirksville 2 in Mexico 

A day after an important victory, Mexico (6-6, 2-0 NCMC) picked up another with a 10-2 win over North Central Missouri Conference and Class 3 District 4 foe Kirksville (4-3, 1-1 NCMC) at Gallop Field in Mexico. The Lady Bulldogs beat conference and district foe Hallsville 12-5 on Monday at home. Against Kirksville, Mexico scored nine runs in the fourth inning after the Lady Tigers tied the game at 1 in the top of the inning. Hannah Loyd, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, led of the inning with a home run and the next seven Lady Bulldogs reached base. Scottie Smith and Kayleigh Samuelson each had two RBIs, and Alyssa Miller and Keerstan Ewing each had one RBI.

Ewing pitched seven innings with two unearned runs allowed on five hits with one strikeout.

Mexico plays at conference foe Hannibal (1-5, 0-1 NCMC) at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Van-Far 15 South Callaway 6 in Vandalia

Van-Far (1-6) is in the win column after a 15-6 victory over South Callaway (1-3) on Tuesday at home. It is the Lady Indians' first win over South Callaway since 2018 and the first victory for Cameron Huff as a softball head coach. The Lady Indians finished with 12 hits and put the game away with a six-run sixth inning when it was 9-6. Kenya Jones hit a three-RBI home run, Mylee Keller had two RBIs, Bryanna Stanich went 4-for-4 with three runs and one RBI, Ashlynn Grammer finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and Adyson Barnett had one RBI. 

Barnett pitched seven innings with four earned runs allowed on 11 hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.

Van-Far plays at Paris (5-0) at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Centralia 1 Highland 0 in Ewing

Jaylynn Brown came out ahead of Tuesday's pitching duel for Centralia (7-2 2-0 CCC) in a rematch between state finalists. Brown struck out 17 and allowed two hits in a 1-0 win at Clarence Cannon Conference foe and Class 2 state champion Highland (8-4, 1-1 CCC). Abigail Lay struck out six and allowed one run on six hits and four walks for Highland. 

Ealynne Bostick scored the game's only run via a wild pitch in the third inning. Bostick was hit by a pitch before the next two batters reached to load the bases. Kassena Ridgel finished 2-for-4, and Bostick, Cora King and Claire Page each had hits in a game that saw a combined seven hits.

Centralia hosts Class 3 District 4 foe Moberly (2-4) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

North Callaway 12 Wright City 0 in Wright City

North Callaway (4-3, 2-0 EMO) had a bad night on Monday in a 12-2 loss at Russellville (K'Lea Basnett hit two grand slams for the Lady Indians) but experienced the polar opposite on Tuesday with a 12-0 win over Eastern Missouri Conference foe Wright City (4-4, 0-2 EMO) in five innings. The Ladybirds secured their first shutout this season and first against Wright City since 2018. Megan Schmidt struck out six and allowed one hit and one walk in five innings.

Kymorie Myers hit a home run and triple and finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Ella Neal went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, and Liv Knoepflein had two RBIs. 

North Callaway tries to stay undefeated in the conference in a 5 p.m. Thursday game at home against Wellsville-Middletown (0-3, 0-1 EMO).

Paris 3 North Shelby 2 in Shelbyville

Paris (5-0) not only won its Lewis and Clark Conference opener on Tuesday but handed North Shelby (7-1) its first loss with a 3-2 victory. The Lady Coyotes stayed undefeated behind a 10-strikeout performance by Ava Crain, who allowed two unearned runs on seven hits and three walks in seven innings, and a home run by Emma Ashenfelter.

The Lady Coyotes scored all of their runs in the sixth inning after trailing 2-0 for two innings. They finished with three hits and had all of them happen in three consecutive at-bats with singles by Reese Sutton and Katie Cummins and then a blast by Ashenfelter. 

Paris hosts Van-Far (1-6) at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Fall baseball

Sturgeon 12 Community R-6 2 in Sturgeon

Community R-6 (3-2) couldn't muster as much offense it has in the previous two games in a 12-2 loss on Tuesday at Central Activities Conference foe Sturgeon (4-1). The Trojans finished with four hits after scoring 32 runs in the prior two wins over Macon County with Bucklin and Calvary Lutheran. Sturgeon scored four runs in the first inning and sealed the game with eight runs in the sixth inning after Community scored two runs in the top half of the sixth inning. 

Kyler Swaim came through with a two-RBI single in a bases-loaded situation. Cooper Rohan, Nik Crider and Houston Hogan each had a hit.

Community plays in the Higbee Baseball Tournament on Saturday.