District baseball

Mexico’s offensive geyser defeats Moberly 11-1 in districts

Mexico was hoping for that type of day.

The No. 5 Bulldogs won their first district game since 2019, and the first for any of the current players, as they defeated North Central Missouri Conference foe and No. 4 Moberly 11-1 in six innings on Saturday in the Class 4 District 7 tournament in Macon. The victory also snapped a 10-game losing streak for Mexico (9-18) that saw the team face several state-ranked foes during the stretch but also averaged around two runs per game. The 11 runs is more than the combined output from the previous five games.

In back-to-back innings for the third and fourth, Mexico scored five runs to follow two quick innings. Seniors Matt McCurdy and Tyler Thoenen led the offense with three and two RBI, respectively, as McCurdy was 2-for-3 with a double and Thoenen went 2-for-4 with the first run-scoring hit of the game — a two-RBI single in the third inning. Austin Maxwell finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double.

Maxwell and McCurdy each plated runs with singles for a 5-0 lead in the third inning. Drew DeMint’s RBI double in the fourth inning began the scoring in that frame and was one of four total doubles for the Bulldogs. He, Landon Hilderman, Landyn Kleinsorge and Jack Wilburn each had an RBi to give Mexico seven total hitters with at least one RBI.

Kleinsorge started the game against Moberly (15-14) on the mound and pitched five innings with five hits and three walks. He allowed a sacrifice fly in the third inning.

Mexico faces No. 1 seed and Class 4 No. 9 Hallsville at 5 p.m. Monday, which will be the third meeting between the two teams. Hallsville has defeated Mexico 7-4 and 4-3 via a walkoff hit in the most recent meeting.

Centralia season shut down by all-conference pitcher from Kirksville, loses 4-1

Good hitting met good pitching on Saturday in Centralia’s district game.

The good pitcher from No. 3 seed Kirksville defeated No. 6 Centralia’s bats that have been averaging around six runs per game in a 4-1 contest in the Class 4 District 7 tournament in Macon. Keaton Anderson was one of six pitchers in the North Central Missouri Conference to be named to the all-conference team and proved why as he pitched seven innings with 10 strikeouts, two hits and two walks.

One of the Panther hits happened on the first batter of the game as Elliott McCoy led off with a double. The other hit came in the seventh inning on an Ethan Adams RBI single, which wasn’t long after a nine-batter streak of retired Panthers by Anderson.

Adams pitched for Centralia (12-13) as he allowed three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out seven in 5⅔ innings. Kirksville (17-13) had all that it needed in the first inning as the first three batters reached, including a RBI single by Jalen Kent. Cole Kelly had a RBI single later in the inning to make it 3-0.

Sectional tennis

Mexico’s McKeown wins 50th, advances to state

Brendan McKeown made personal and school history on Saturday.

McKeown became the first Mexico boy to advance to a state tennis tournament since 2015, winning his sectional match at Cosmo Park in Columbia against Kirksville’s Gavin Pike by a score of 2-6, 6-6 (7-2 tiebreaker), 10-5 super tiebreaker. The victory is the 50th in McKeown’s career.

Head coach Tony Senor said Pike pushes McKeown to his limit so he definitely earned his trip to state this year on Friday and Saturday in the individual state tournament at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. 

“Brendan dropped the first set to Kirksville 2-6. I knew it wasn’t over by a long shot,” Senor said. “We have played Gavin Pike of Kirksville many times over the course of Brendan's career. Gavin takes Brendan to the brink, and they always bring the best out of each other. Brendan showed a lot of heart and guts to keep playing at the level for so long. We are super pleased to have a state qualifier again. Looking forward to the experience and trying to get all-state honors with an eighth place or higher finish.”

Senior Declan Gleeson, Mexico’s other top-two player, also played in sectionals Saturday but lost his match to Father Tolton’s No. 1 player 2-6, 2-6.

“He gave it his all,” Senor said. “Declan was one of the best No. 2 ranked players for the boys in recent memory. He will be missed next season for his play, leadership, and never-say-never attitude.”

District track and field

Look for district track and field results for Mexico, Centralia and North Callaway in the galleries section.

Sectional track and field

Community R-6 in Class 1 Sectional 1 meet in New Haven

In the boys javelin, Gavin Allen broke his previous school record of 40.99 meters with a third-place throw of 46.75 meters, making the top four to advance to the Class 1 state meet Friday and Saturday at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.

Victoria DiSalvo qualified for state for the third straight year as she finished fourth in the girls 300 hurdles and third in the girls 100 hurdles.

The girls 4x100 relay team of Sarah Angel, Adriana Woodson, Alyssa Beamer and DiSalvo fell just short of qualification with a fifth-place finish but ran a season-best time of 56.45.

Missouri Military Academy, Van-Far at Class 2 Sectional 2 meet at South Shelby in Shelbina

For Missouri Military Academy, Bryson Powell qualified for state in back-to-back years after finishing second in the 1600 while Gabe Canonico is also going to the Class 2 state meet for the second straight year after finishing second in the 300 hurdles. The Class 2 meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.

Gage Gibson finished seventh in the 300 hurdles to miss state for Van-Far.

Paris at Class 1 Sectional 2 meet at South Shelby in Shelbina

Drew Williams won the boys 800 and qualified for the Class 1 state meet as part of the second-place boys 4x800 relay team with Landen Chapman, Brayden DeOrnellas and Clayton Duncan.

Chapman qualified for the boys 3200 with a third-place finish, and Colton Kendrick was third to qualify for the boys pole vault.

Mairyn Kinnaman qualified twice on the girls side with a second-place in the 3200 and as part of the third-place 4x800 relay team with Sophia Crusha, Emma Ashenfelter and Kaylee Johnson.

District girls soccer

Mexico season ends in St. Charles

At their opponents' host district tournament, the Mexico girls lost 8-0 on Saturday to Orchard Farm in the Class 2 District 3 tournament at Orchard Farm in St. Charles. The Lady Bulldogs' season ends with a 3-22-1 record.