Softball

Centralia takes fourth in tournament, fatigues vs state-ranked Hallsville

It is that time of year in the softball season.

Districts are in the middle of the month, and for Centralia softball, the Lady Panthers need to battle through fatigue to finish strong. Centralia went 1-2 on Saturday in its home softball tournament, defeating Putnam County 16-1 and losing to a couple Class 3 state top-five opponents Chillicothe 7-3 and Hallsville 5-2. 

The Lady Panthers (14-11) lost the third-place game to No. 4 Hallsville (18-3), dropping the first meeting of the year between the district opponents before the Lady Indians return to Centralia on Tuesday. Centralia had two hits, with Hawkins recording two of them and Harper Sontheimer picking up an RBI. The Lady Panthers’ two pitchers — Kaelyn Walters and Meredith Wright — walked seven and allowed seven hits.

Head coach Elizabeth Bostick said her pitchers did a great job keeping the Hallsville offense in check as three balls left the infield in the first four innings. Going into Saturday, the Lady Indians were averaging 9.6 runs per game and have averaged at least nine per game in the previous two seasons.

“Hallsville prides themselves on being enormous hitters, and for five or six innings, they didn’t get anything out of the infield,” Bostick said. “Honestly, as tired as we are and doing what we are, where we’re at with how many pitchers and everything we have, I’m not that disappointed.”

Centralia lost to Hallsville in last year’s Centralia Tournament but allowed 17 runs in the defeat. Bostick remembers not having much pitching then either and will have to endure a tough schedule like the Lady Panthers do every year, already playing 10 games against state-ranked opponents this year.

At this point this season, Bostick said she doesn’t have one of her pitchers and No. 4 hitter Makenzi Adkisson available after sustaining a sprain in the 16-1 win Thursday at Clark County. She asked Walters and Wright to shoulder all the innings and they did admirably but acknowledged they reach a “fatigue point” and rely heavily on the defense behind them.

“They’re taxed by the time we get to the third game of the day,” Bostick said. “The pitching staff really did a good job. My fielders did a great job. We made the plays we’re supposed to and did the things we were supposed to do.”

Centralia travels to North Callaway (7-14), who finished sixth in the same tournament, on Monday.

Look for the full story in the Oct. 5, 2022, edition of The Mexico Ledger and on the website on the same day.

North Callaway underclassmen lead offense in sixth place finish in Centralia

The young Ladybirds were leading the offense most of the time Saturday in Centralia.

North Callaway finished sixth in the Centralia Tournament after losing 11-1 in five innings to Class 3 No. 3 Chillicothe, defeating Putnam County 12-3 in five innings and dropping the fifth-place game 10-3 to Kirksville. The trio of freshmen Kymorie Myers and Ella Slater and sophomore Faith Cash combined to go 14-for-29 (.483) with nine RBI.

The Ladybirds had a tough first-round matchup with state-ranked Chillicothe and struggled to hold down the Lady Hornets. North Callaway allowed three home runs and two girls to drive in at least four RBI. Chillicothe built a 7-0 lead after two innings against Ellie Bedsworth, who walked eight and had three errors made behind her.

It was North Callaway’s turn to score runs in bunches with its second-round rout of Putnam County. The first inning was scoreless for both teams, but the Ladybirds scored multiple runs in each inning after that. Myers, Slater and Cash were 7-for-11 with seven RBI as Myers and Cash each had three hits and Slater picked up her second career varsity home run. Lauren Speight allowed four hits and one earned run and struck out six.

Myers and Slater each finished 3-for-4 against Kirksville with Slater and Jalyn Leible driving in runs, but it wasn’t enough for a comeback. The Lady Tigers scored four runs in the first inning and widened their lead against Speight and Olivia Knoepflein, who combined to allow six unearned runs via seven errors. Kirksville outhit the Ladybirds 13-10.

On Monday, North Callaway (7-14) hosts Centralia (14-11), who finished fourth in the same tournament Saturday.

Mexico continues to punish district foes, defeats Palmyra, Wright City

Mexico’s run of success against district opponents continued Saturday.

The Lady Bulldogs hosted a Round Robin that involved them, Class 3 No. 10 Southern Boone and district foes Palmyra and Wright City. Mexico won 5-2 against Palmyra at 9 a.m. prior to beating Wright City 12-2 in five innings a couple hours later to move its record against district foes this year to 4-1 while outscoring them 35-15.

In the two games, Mexico had nine extra base hits with all of them except one happening in the Wright City game. Hannah Loyd hit her sixth home run of the year and Jo Thurman increased her season home run total to five, while combining to go 8-for-12 with eight runs and six RBI.

Eboni Mayfield pitched the complete seven innings against Palmyra, allowing seven hits and two runs while striking out four. Emma Cunningham went all five innings against Wright City, allowing six hits and two runs with three strikeouts.

Loyd made sure Mexico responded quickly after allowing a first-inning run to Palmyra, hitting a two-RBI home run out to center field in the bottom half of the inning. Mayfield kept Palmyra at bay while the offense figured out how to scratch runs across, which it did with three runs in the sixth inning.

Mexico didn’t waste a lot of time against Wright City, taking a 4-0 lead in the second inning after Thurman’s solo shot. A Wright City home run cut the lead in half in the next inning, but the Lady Bulldogs didn’t stop scoring until the run-rule forbade them from doing so.Thurman was intentionally walked in the fifth inning to load the bases for Lexie Willer, who made the Lady Wildcats pay with a bases-clearing double to make it 11-2. Loyd traded places with her on her double.

Mexico (18-11, 5-4 NCMC) has a chance to avenge its only district loss this year when it hosts North Central Missouri Conference rival Fulton (24-6, 8-0 NCMC) on Thursday. The Class 3 No. 2 Lady Hornets defeated Mexico 10-0 in five innings earlier this season.

Community R-6 falls short in two games of Louisiana Round Robin

Community R-6 came very close to being undefeated Saturday in Louisiana.

The Lady Trojans played in a Round Robin against Class 2 No. 5 Elsberry, Louisiana and Mark Twain, defeating Mark Twain 7-3 in the last game but losing the first two by one run. Community could not outscore Elsberry to lose 11-10 in 10 innings before falling short 9-8 in six innings to Louisiana.

In all three games, Olivia Kuda went 5-for-11 with five RBI and her second home run of the year, and Kayla Jett finished 6-for-10 with five RBI and her first home run of the season.

In the win, Mark Twain took a 1-0 first-inning lead before Community scored the next seven runs to get in the driver’s seat. Jett gave the Lady Trojans a 2-1 lead on a single in the second inning and then added on with an RBI double in a four-run third inning. Curtis had an RBI double earlier in the third while tossing seven innings with six hits, one earned run and six strikeouts.

The Lady Trojans had 19 hits in the final two games but tallied six through all 10 innings against Elsberry. It was Kuda and Jett through the first five innings against the Lady Indians, including Jett’s home run in the fifth to cut Community’s deficit to 2-1. In the sixth inning, Kuda tied the game at 3 with a two-RBI home run.

In extra innings, Elsberry had a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning after scoring on a bunt play but lost it when Brooklynn Glasgow tied the game with a double. Elsberry scored two in the 10th inning and the Lady Trojans couldn’t match it after Sarah Angel picked up a sacrifice fly.

Paige Painter allowed 11 hits in 10 innings while allowing four runs, and Elsberry pitcher Addyson Steele struck out 10 in 10 innings.

Community made Louisiana be the chasing team after taking a 5-3 lead in the second inning. Jett tied the game at 3 and then Glasgow and Kuda gave the Lady Trojans the lead. 

After tying the game, Jett gave Community a 6-5 lead with a single in the third inning. The four Lady Trojan errors caught up to them in the fourth inning when the Lady Bulldogs took a 9-6 lead on back-to-back doubles.

Painter went all six innings while allowing seven hits and five earned runs and striking out six.

Community (10-12) gets another chance against Louisiana at home Tuesday.

Girls tennis

Four Mexico girls earn all-district honors, Gooch going to sectionals

The quality of tennis was high Saturday in Wentzville, but four Mexico girls rose to the challenge.

That many earned all-district honors at the Class 1 District 7 individual tournament at North Point High School. Katie Gooch finished second in singles, also earning the opportunity to play in sectionals on Saturday, Jyllian Whitworth was third in singles, and Jocelyn Garcia and Estrella Lopez took third-place in doubles.

Head coach Kim Costley said there were eight all-district positions total. She said the doubles pair of Lani Blair and Claire Hudson had a tough draw by facing Palmyra’s No. 1 team in the quarterfinals, losing 6-1, 6-1. The Mexico pair won 6-4, 6-4 against Fulton’s team. 

“We had a pretty complete day and had many solid matches,” Costley said. “We are playing pretty solid tennis.”

Gooch defeated Fulton’s Kier Henderson 6-1, 6-1 and Palmyra’s Hadlie Kroeger 6-1, 6-1 before being beaten for the championship 6-0, 6-3 by Fulton’s Jayna Davison. Whitworth defeated North Point’s Victoire Bourdin de Bechillon 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 prior to losing 6-2, 6-2 to Davison in the semifinals and beating Kroeger 8-6 in the finals. Garcia and Lopez won matches against Fulton’s (6-1, 6-1) and North Point’s (8-1) teams but lost 6-4, 6-4 to Moberly’s team.

Mexico focuses on the team district tournament that begins Tuesday at North Point, with the championship happening on Wednesday. The Lady Bulldogs will play North Central Missouri Conference foe Moberly at 4 p.m. Tuesday. 

Cross country

Mexico’s Peuster finishes in top 15 at Laker Invitational

Mexico had six runners among the top 50 in a sizable field.

Thomas Peuster finished 15th out of 146 in the boys 5,000 meters on Saturday at Laker Invitational in Camdenton, with two others joining him in the top 50. Maggie Ramsey was the top Mexico girl in the 114-runner field in the girls 5,000 meters, finishing 33rd and being one of three Lady Bulldogs in the top 50.

Peuster ran to a time of 16:55.59, Guy Fairchild was 33rd with a time of 17:48.44 and Tyler Grimes finished 50th with a time of 18:24.86. At 238 points, Mexico finished 10th out of 20 boys teams with Nixa winning the team title with 45 points and Capital City’s Keion Grieve racing to a top time of 15:40.79.

Ramsey finished with a time of 21:33.35, Kalea Henneberry was 49th with a time of 22:19.66 and Sidney Turlington ran to a 50th-place time of 22:25.11. Mexico finished with 212 points in ninth place out of 12 team, with Bolivar taking first at 70 points and Webb City’s Abigail Street finishing with a top time of 18:37.69.

North Callaway lands high finishes in home meet

North Callaway wanted to look good Saturday at its home meet.

Four of the school’s runners finished in the top 15 at the North Callaway Cross Country Invite in Kingdom City. Pressley Schmauch had the best finish for North Callaway in the girls 5,000 meters, Grace Rasmussen had a ninth-place time of 23:20.29 in the girls race, and Tristan Young and Brendan Reinhard placed ninth and 14th, respectively, in the boys 5,000 meters.

Out of 28 runners, Schmauch raced to a time of 21:57.73 and Rasmussen had a time of 23:20.29. The boys race had 34 runners, and among them, Young raced to a time of 18:04.41 and Reinhard finished with a time of 18:40.26.

California’s Kenzleigh Goans had the top time in the girls race at 20:30.24, and St. Charles’ Nate Maples won the boys race with a time of 16:14.70.

Paris places three in top 15 at North Callaway Invite

The Paris cross country team brought four runners to Kingdom City on Saturday and every one had a good showing.

Three of Paris’ runners finished in the top 15 of their respective races at the North Callaway Cross Country Invite and all four were in the top 25. Alexandra Tullius had a best finish in the girls 5,000 meters by taking fifth out of 28 with a time of 22:09.37, Mairyn Kinnaman was right behind her in sixth with a time of 22:17.75 and Landen Chapman finished 13th out of 34 runners in the boys 5,000 meters with a time of 18:35.36.

David Elzea was 25th in the boys race with a time of 21:34.06.

Van-Far pair run in Kingdom City meet

Van-Far was able to send two runners to Kingdom City on Saturday.

Erin Childs competed in the girls 5,000 meters at the North Callaway Cross Country Invite, and Richard Hayden was in the boys 5,000 meters. Childs finished 15th out of 28 with a time of 24:22.91, and Hayden was 31st out of 34 runners with a time of 23:54.09.