By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Despite wet courts early in the day, the Dexter Bearcats were able to play their season-opening match against Poplar Bluff on Thursday afternoon.

The Mules and Bearcats split the close match, with Poplar Bluff taking a 4-5 win on the Varsity level and DHS winning 7-6 in JV.

Kyle Willis, a junior, had one of the best Varsity singles matches, winning a 7-2 tie break to claim a 9-8 victory over Poplar Bluff's Dylan Page.

"Kyle came from being down 4-6 to win in a tie break," head coach Leanne Dooley said of her number three Varsity player.

Sam Ward, the Varsity number two, was able to pick up 8-2 wins in both his singles and doubles matches. After downing Cody Hillis and Devin Allison with doubles partner Tyler Miller, Ward again defeated Allison on his own.

In JV action, senior Dalton Putnam started off his tennis career with a 7-5 victory over Collin Gullett in singles. Brooks Propst picked up a dominating 6-1 victory over Poplar Bluff's Ethan Griffith.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, when they travel to Farmington for an all-day tournament.

The DMS Track team opened the season at East Prairie on Wednesday afternoon, and team members broke several records on the day. (From left) MaKayla Waldner, Melanie McKuin, Karaline Keirsey and Dakota Reynolds broke the school record in the 4x100 and the 4x200 meter relays with the times of :56 and 1:58, respectively. Waldner also broke the school's triple jump record, which she set last season, with a 33'4" jump.
Thanks to coach Kim Waldner for the photo!

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

KENNETT - The Kennett Indians played host to the Bearcats on Wednesday afternoon; the 'Cats put their 1-0 record on the line in their first District contest of the season, but ultimately fell short with a 4-3 Indian victory.

Jordan Miller took to the mound for the 'Cats, lasting 3 and 1/3 innings, with five K's, two walks, and one earned run. Head coach Brian Becker was pleased with his team's effort against the Tribe.

"I thought our pitchers did a good job. Jordan Miller went out there and got off to a very good start. He threw strikes, but got in a little bit of trouble in the fourth, so I put [Brad] Potts in. Brad was able to get a few strikeouts to get us out of the inning," Becker said. "The next inning, he struggled a little bit, so [Alex] Cliff came in the last inning. He got the first two outs, walked a guy, and then their number two hitter, Smith, hit a ball just down the third base line and a kid scored from first base - that sealed the deal for them there."

Potts, in one and 2/3 innings of work, struck out three, walked two, and gave up two earned runs. Cliff, who picked up the loss, walked one and gave up one earned run.

The Bearcats did an excellent job of keeping Adam Grantham in check at the plate; the senior has already signed to play for the NCAA Division I Arkansas State University Red Wolves next season.

"Grantham is a good ball player; we held him in check for the most part," Becker noted. "The only hit he had on us was against a drawn-in infield; they had a runner on third late in the game, and we had to draw our infield in with less than two outs. He snuck one up the middle for a base hit and an RBI."

The Bearcat offense was limited in the contest, with no players coming up with multiple hits at the plate. Becker credited the Tribe's pitching staff for the low production.

"Offensively, we're just not swinging the bat well right now. You have to credit a lot of that to Kennett's pitching; Lockhart started, threw the first three innings, and then Grantham came in for the final four," he said. "We were able to scratch a few runs off Grantham, but he's a great pitcher. D.J. [Dowdy] was able to come through with a base hit there in the second, and Overall put down a squeeze bunt to tie the game in the sixth, but we just never could push that final run across in the last two innings."

The Bearcats stand at 1-1 on the season heading into another District 1 matchup with Doniphan on Friday. Becker indicated junior Logan Northern would be on the mound for the Bearcats. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The DHS Tennis team has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming season; the Bearcats advanced one player to State last season, and are extremely young in 2012.

Head coach Leanne Dooley noted the double-edged sword of youth on her squad; she doesn't have much experience coming back, but will only lose two players (one with no experience on the Varsity level) to graduation this year.

"I've got three experienced Varsity players returning; the bottom part of the Varsity will be kids that played JV last year and have little to no Varsity experience," Dooley said. "I only had two seniors last year, and we only have two seniors this year: Tyler Miller and Dalton Putnam, who played baseball until this year. I've got a couple juniors who are showing great promise; Kyle Willis played on varsity all season last year."

Miller, the lone returning senior and a 2011 State qualifier, is expected to be the Number One player this spring. Dooley noted that there was still some speculation on the team's doubles pairings for the year.

"Tyler will be my one, Sam Ward my two, and Kyle [Willis] my three; I don't see that changing," she said. "We haven't decided what we're going to do on doubles yet - three games out of the match have to be doubles, and I've only got one solid set of doubles in Tyler and Sam. It may not stay that way, and I might just let them play with who they want to pay with. It will make them happier, but they won't win as much. We'll have to wait and see - we have a long way to go and a short time to get there."

Dooley noted that two of the Bearcats' tougher opponents, Kennett and Charleston, were unable to field teams this season. The 'Cats have a nine day layoff in April, but were able to fill the other hole with an additional match against the Sikeston Bulldogs on May 1. The Bearcats also picked up Notre Dame as an annual opponent, after facing them twice last season.

"We picked up Notre Dame this year; we played them twice last year and beat them, but their program is just starting out," she said. "They have beautiful facilities and a wonderful coach, so they'll come along fast. I like going over there and playing - I like their coach and the way he teaches the game."

The Bearcats are set to open the 2012 season on Thursday (March 22) afternoon, when they host the Poplar Bluff Mules in a JV and Varsity match. Things are set to get underway with doubles matches at 4:00 p.m., and singles matches immediately following.

Click here to download the 2012 Tennis schedule.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The DMS Lady Bearcats continued their winning ways on the volleyball court Tuesday night. Both squads recorded victories over the Bernie Mules in the annual 'Hits for Hope' fundraiser, with all proceeds going to 18 FORE Life.

The seventh grade squad had a tough test in their match; they were forced to go to three sets for the first time this season. Head coach Melissa Hahn - who was also in her first three-set matchup as a coach - was proud of her team's effort in the high-pressure situation.

"That was tough; it was tough for me, because I've never been to three sets as a coach. They pulled it out and I was proud of them for that," she said. "It was good for them to see that pressure, so we could find out how they would do. I wasn't thrilled with the second set; we got down and it took us a while to get back up, and we need to work on that. The seventh grade also needs to work on serve-receive. Our girls have relied on their serving in the last few games, but there were times that they weren't ready for it to come back over."

The seventh graders posted 25-7 wins in the first and third sets, with Bernie taking the second set 18-25. Ashlyn Wyman and Lexi May led the way with 12 and eight point rallies for the Lady 'Cats.

In the eighth grade contest, the Lady 'Cats cruised to 25-10 and 25-4 victories. Ashlyn Werneck and Julia Hahn both posted seven serve rallies for the Lady 'Cats in the second set.

"I was extremely pleased; the girls I put out on the court communicated well. When it came back over, when had a pass-set-hit most of the time," Hahn said of the eighth grade squad. "I think they had good chemistry, and I was proud of their intensity. Our serves were on, they were talking on the floor."

"We finally got Julia Hahn hitting the ball hard - she had some awesome hits and I was proud of that," she continued. "Ashlyn Werneck had great serves all night, and she had a couple great hits as well."

Despite the lopsided score, Hahn was quick to give the Lady Mules credit for their skill.

"I've got to give Bernie credit; the score was not reflective of how that game was. There were some rallies that we wound up on top of that really helped us," Hahn said. "Bernie brought a great team over, they had some awesome servers and good hitters. We have to stay fired up; next week we have the Bernie Tournament, and we'll see them there and again in the County Tournament."

The Lady 'Cats will be back in action on Thursday night, when they hit the road to take on Advance. The seventh grade squad is scheduled to get things underway at 6:00 p.m.