By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BLOOMFIELD - The Lady Bearcats defeated Bloomfield in a run rule contest to open the SCAA Tournament last week.

They did it again on Wednesday afternoon.

The 'Cats had another outstanding day at the plate and cruised to an easy 26-6 victory over the Wildcats to improve to 10-6 on the season.

Riley Rickman was on the hill for the Lady 'Cats; the sophomore right-hander gave up five hits, six runs (all earned), and nine walks while striking out six in the win. Rickman made up for runs she gave up with an outstanding day at the plate, going 4-4 with three runs scored, five RBI's, and a walk.

The 'Cats hammered Bloomfield starter Summer Griffin early and often, racking up 10 runs in the first inning. Rickman drove in two runs with a one-out single; catcher Tiffany Watson followed up with a single to re-load the bases. Whitney Layton drove an RBI single to left-center during her second at-bat.

The Wildcats struck for three runs in the bottom half of the first inning; Stephanie Lambert drove an RBI single to left field to cut Dexter's lead to 10-3.

Becky Anderson, who was issued a leadoff walk, was driven in by a ground-rule double from Maddie Christian; Ashley Brown and Whitney Layton both took home on pass-balls to increase the lead to 14-3. Emily Triplett smacked an inside-the-park home run to right field to plate the final run of the inning.

Lambert came through with an RBI double in the bottom of the second for Bloomfield's only run in the inning, but the Lady 'Cats still held a big 15-4 lead.

The top of the third was the only inning the Lady 'Cats didn't go through the lineup; Layton crossed home plate after tagging up on a Triplett fly-out. Rickman connected on a deep triple for her fourth RBI of the game to put the score at 19-4.

The Wildcats were able to score in the bottom of the third to avoid the 15-run rule, but the Lady 'Cats drove in seven more runs in the top of the fourth inning to put the game out of reach and pick up a 26-6 victory in four innings of play.

The Lady 'Cats will be back in action on Thursday, when they hit the road for a 4:30 p.m. contest at Senath-Hornersville.

Photo Above: Emily Triplett slides home safely under a tag to cap off her inside-the-park home run during the second inning of Wednesday's 26-6 win.

The West Kentucky United U-14 girls soccer team won the Music City Invitational Tournament. Pictured from left to right in the front row: Bailey Wood (Marshall County), Macy Wessel (Massac County, IL), Allie Fiske (Marshall County), Callie Thomas (Graves County), Allye Darnell (Graves County), Kaitlin "Cookie" Cook (Marshall County), Julie Kinsolving (Caldwell County) and Skylar Hargrove (Graves County). Back row: Coach Aaron Fenton (Mid Continent University Assistant Coach), Ashley Zimmerman (Lone Oak), MaKayla Waldner (Dexter, MO), Linda Arakelyan (Murray), Liz Armstrong (Murray), Bailee Bostick (Mayfield), Anna Ferguson (Hickman County), Erica Zetter (Mayfield) and Hannah Bowles (Caldwell County). Congratulations!
Photo submitted by Lou Zimmerman.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Seeds and schedules for the 2012 SEMO Conference baseball tournament have been released; the Dexter Bearcats' 5-3 record in conference play was good enough to nab the fifth seed, which speaks volumes about the outstanding baseball within the conference this year.

"This conference is as tough as it's ever been. From town to town, there is good baseball all over southeast Missouri. The conference is as good as I've ever seen it this year," head coach Brian Becker said earlier this season. "It's going to be really tough to seed this tournament. It's going to be really interesting to see who has who where; it's going to be a fun tournament with some good baseball."

To further prove the parity within the conference, #4 Sikeston beat #1 Notre Dame 10-7 on Tuesday (April 24) night; the victory didn't have any bearing on the Bulldogs seeding, however, as the teams were seeded Monday evening.

The Bearcats' three conference losses came to #1 Notre Dame, #2 Kennett, and #3 Poplar Bluff by a combined four runs. Dexter holds wins over #4 Sikeston (5-4), #6 Cape Central (6-2), #7 Jackson (6-5), #8 NMCC (1-0), and #9 Kelly (13-1).

The Bearcats will open the tournament on Friday, when they play #4 Sikeston at the Sikeston Legion field; if the Bearcats win, they will play Saturday (April 28) at Notre Dame High School in an 11:00 a.m. contest. If the 'Cats fall to Sikeston, they will play Saturday in a 10:00 a.m. contest at Cape Central High School.

Championship Day will be Monday (April 30), with all games played at Capaha Park starting with the fifth place game at 2:00 p.m.

The full schedule for the 2012 SEMO Conference Tournament can be downloaded here.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The DHS Tennis team fell on hard times Monday when they hosted the Cape Central Tigers.

The Tigers were dominant on the courts, and pulled off a complete sweep of the Bearcats on both the JV and Varsity levels.

Kyle Willis and Joseph Greer put up the best match of the day in Varsity doubles, where they faced off against Alvaro Jaramillo and Jake Wright. The Dexter duo fell 8-9 after losing a 2-7 tiebreak.

Keaton Altom dropped a 5-8 decision to Austin Shupert in Varsity singles; Willis and Sam Ward both found themselves on the losing end of 4-8 contests.

The 'Cats will return to the court on Wednesday (April 25), when they host the Sikeston Bulldogs in a 4:00 p.m. match.

Photo above: Drew Mason returns a shot during his singles match against Ryan Watts on Monday afternoon.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Both the Bearcats and the Tigers scored all of their runs in one respective inning, thanks to errors committed by the opposing team.

The Bearcats were able to come out on top in a 6-2 contest over SEMO Conference foe Cape Central on Monday afternoon.

Jordan Miller (1-1, 2.39 ERA) went the distance for the Bearcats, including four K's and two walks. Freshman Chase Hagerty took the start for the Tigers and lasted five and 2/3 innings. Luke Hinkebein closed out the game and took the loss.

The 'Cats were three up, three down in each of the first three innings. The Tigers struck for two runs in the bottom of the third, thanks to errors and third base and shortstop by the Bearcats.

Chase Young delivered a two-out single in the top of the fourth, but the 'Cats couldn't capitalize on their first baserunner of the day. Miller retired the Tigers in order in the bottom half of the inning to keep the score at 2-0 in Central's favor.

The 'Cats were three-up, three down in the top of the fifth; Ethan Dambach led off with a single for the tigers in the bottom half of the inning, but was caught stealing second for the first out of the inning. A groundout and flyout moved the game to the sixth.

A leadoff walk to Owen Flowers in the sixth inning would prove fruitful for the Bearcats. Flowers advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and was brought home by a two-out single from Brad Potts to start the rally. Central's infield imploded during the inning, giving up three runs on errors. Josh Overall and Owen Flowers hit back-to-back singes to plate one and two respective runs and put the 'Cats up 6-2.

After a leadoff single by Ramsey Scott, Miller forced two flyouts and a fielder's choice to escape the sixth inning with a four-run lead.

The 'Cats couldn't put anything together in the top of the seventh inning, but Miller retired the Tigers in order to seal a 6-2 victory for the Bearcats.

Potts led the way at the plate for the 'Cats with a 2-4 effort. He also scored a run and had an RBI. Flowers was 1-2 with a run, an RBI, and a walk.

The 'Cats will be in action again on Friday afternoon, when they face off against Sikeston in the opening round of the 2012 SEMO Conference Tournament.

The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start from the Sikeston Legion field.