The Dexter Middle School Eighth grade volleyball team continued its winning ways in the Bernie Tournament this week. The eighth grade squad pulled out hard-fought victories over Advance and Bernie to take home first place. The team consists of: (front row, from left) Amber Spence, Ashlyn Werneck, Julia Hahn, Lauren Thrower, Brittany Brown, (back row, from left) Alyssa Pixley, Delaney Pullen, Kendall Adams, Paige Chasteen, Mary Kate Miller, Madison Bishop, and Matney Davis. (photo submitted by Lori Pullen)

Dexter’s 7th grade volleyball girls participated Saturday in the Poplar Bluff 7th grade tournament. There were 10 teams that competed in pool play to determine seeds for the tournament. In the Dexter pool, the local team beat Clearwater, Sikeston, Caruthersville, and Bernie. Dexter beat Bloomfield in the first tourney game then Poplar Bluff for the championship. Team members include Macy Graves, Ashlynn Wyman, Alexis May, Sydney Rogers, Zoe Schumer, Emily Mouser, Sarah Miller, Emily Page, McKenzie Anthony, Kayla Murdock, Madison McConnell, Janie Lindsey. Congratulations, girls!!! (Photo submitted by Michelle Kirkley)

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Logan Northern had an outstanding day from the rubber against the Doniphan Dons.

The junior right-hander threw a complete game, giving up just four hits with five strikeouts, no earned runs, and didn't give up a walk until there were two down in the seventh, leading the Bearcats to a 7-1 victory in his first start of the season.

"I thought Logan Northern did a heck of a job for us today," head coach Brian Becker said after the win. "He threw a great game. He kept us in the ballgame whenever we struggled to score some runs early, and we eventually busted it open for him."

"I felt pretty good all game. I tried to keep the ball away from the middle of the plate and away from them," Northern said. "I just followed Coach Pixley and tried to get the ball down so they could hit it to my defense, and my defense did the work."

Dexter's offense started out on a slow pace, as the Bearcats stranded four base runners in the first three innings. Becker attributed the early woes at the plate to much slower pitching compared to their first two games.

"We started off slow, but I thought we swung the bats a little better today than what we have so far," he said. "It was a bit of an adjustment for them, coming from what we saw Wednesday to some pitchers that didn't have as much velocity today, and it took us a while to adjust."

"We got our rhythm, and started hitting the ball pretty well. We hit some 'at-em' balls today, hit it hard a few times," Becker added. "We had some opportunities early and hit the ball right back at them, but that's just baseball sometimes."

The Dons struck first blood in the fourth inning; David Bara, after hitting a leadoff double, attempted to steal third; a throwing error by catcher D.J. Dowdy (Dexter's only error in the contest) allowed the shortstop to record Doniphan's lone run of the day.

The Bearcats responded in the bottom of the fourth, when Dowdy blasted a two out, two run double on the first pitch he faced to give the 'Cats a 2-1 lead. Jordan Miller smacked a double into left-center to drive in Chase Young in the bottom of the fifth and increase the DHS lead to 3-1.

The Bearcat offense exploded in the sixth inning; Brad Potts and Josh Overall each tallied one RBI, while Alex Cliff cranked a long single to center for two RBI's in the four-run rally.

Northern recorded a strikeout and fly out to open the seventh inning before walking his first batter of the day. Northern forced another pop-up on his next batter, and Young made the out to end the big win.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Monday afternoon, when they host a JV doubleheader against the Twin Rivers Royals. The Varsity squad will be back on the field Tuesday afternoon against the state-ranked Oran Eagles.

"Shoot, they'll be good; they're state-ranked," Becker said of the Eagles. "They lost some good players from last year, but they have some good kids coming back. They've got a great program over there, and are always well-coached. You have to respect their ball club every time you play them, and they have earned that respect through the years. Hopefully our kids will come out ready to play on Tuesday, and I think it will be a good ballgame."

Becker was unsure of his starter for Tuesday afternoon, but indicated it would most likely be Jordan Miller. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

ADVANCE - The Lady Bearcats continued their winning ways in a SCAA matchup against the Advance Hornets on Thursday night. The eighth grade squad went to three sets for the first time, but ultimately came out on top to stay a perfect 3-0 on the season.

The seventh graders were able to pick up a win in two easy sets. After a close 25-21 win in the first set, the Lady 'Cats pummeled the Hornets in a lopsided 25-4 second set.

In eighth grade action, the Lady 'Cats picked up a 25-17 win in the first set. Ashlyn Werneck and Julia Hahn both served seven points, and as a team, the Lady 'Cats only missed one serve. In the second set, the Lady Bearcats struggled from the service line, missing five serves in a two-point, 23-25 loss. Dexter's serving woes continued in the third set, but the Lady Bearcats were able to tough out a 25-21 victory to take the match.

Head coach Melissa Hahn was disappointed in her team's performance in the eighth grade contest, noting the game as the worst serving performance to date.

"[I was] disappointed in our serving. The eighth grade team missed a record-high 12 serves," Hahn said. "That was the biggest difference in the game and what kept us from ever gaining momentum. We lost the second set by two points. We missed 5 serves compared to Advance's one missed serve; that cost us the set."

"We would have some great plays then follow it up with a missed serve," Hahn continued. "Advance did a great job of picking up everything we hit over. They are a great defensive team. We pulled out the third set to win the game, but I was not pleased with my team's performance. It just wasn't the same team that was on the floor when we played Bernie."

The seventh grade squad will be back in action on Saturday (March 23), when they compete in the Poplar Bluff Seventh Grade Tournament. The eighth grade squad will have a rematch with the Hornets on Monday, when they face off in the eighth grade only Bernie Tournament.

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.