By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Tiffany Watson was called safe at home in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lady Bearcats a 6-5 lead over the Advance Hornets.

After an appeal by Advance's head coach, and a conference with the second base umpire, the call was overturned. The game went to extra innings, where the Hornets plated two runs in the top of the eighth to seal a 7-5 victory.

It was the second time this season that the Hornets and Bearcats have met on the field; in their previous encounter, the Hornets pounded the Lady 'Cats in a 15-1 contest in the SCAA Tournament finals.

Becky Anderson took the start and the loss for the Lady 'Cats; the senior right-hander pitched all eight innings of the game, and gave up 11 hits, seven runs (five earned) with nine strikeouts.

Anderson worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first inning; Emily Triplett grounded into a fielder's choice to give the Lady 'Cats a 1-0 lead in the home half.

Neither team was able to score in the second inning, but the Hornets struck for two more runs in the third. Both teams saw a scoreless fourth inning.

The top of the fifth saw a leadoff home run from Advance's Kelsi Sturgeon; the Hornets put three runs on the board in the frame. Triplett and Taylor Owens put RBI singles on the board in the bottom half of the inning to bring the score to 5-3. Kendra Stevenson and Triplett belted back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 5-5.

Anderson retired the Hornets in order to start the seventh inning; Watson led off with a walk for the Lady 'Cats, and advanced to third on singles from Owens and Maddie Christian. Whitney Layton hit a hot shot down the third base line to drive Watson across home plate, but the call was reversed for the third out of the inning.

The Hornets struck for two runs in the top of the eighth inning, and the Lady 'Cats were retired in order to end the game with a 7-5 final score.

With the loss, the Lady 'Cats fall to 12-7 on the season; Dexter will close its season on Tuesday (May 1) afternoon with a 4:30 p.m. home game against Twin Rivers.

Photo Above:Emily Triplett had a solid day at the plate for the Lady 'Cats, going 3-5 with 3 RBI's (SMT file photo by Kay Stevenson).

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

NEW MADRID - A dominant 174 point performance, including seven first-place finishes, by the Lady Bearcats on Monday afternoon granted them a SEMO Conference Championship at the Conference Track Meet, held at NMCC High School.

Taylor Martin swept the sprints, earning first place in the 100, 200, and 400 meter races. Chandler Crowley took first place in both the 100 and 300 hurdles, while Alexis Smith finished second in the 1600m (one mile) and third in the 3200m (two mile).

Lindsey Hindman picked up a second-place finish in the long jump with a 15' effort, while Christina Harris finished in a three-way tie for first place in the high jump with a 4'8" jump.

The Boys finished in sixth place with 10 points; Notre Dame took first place in the Boys division with 156 points.

Zach Comstock finished fourth in the triple jump with a 37'5" mark, while the 4x200m relay team took fifth place with a 1:41.95 time.

The track team will be back in action on Friday (May 4) when they compete in the Hillsboro Invitational, the last meet before Districts.

Photo Above: Lindsey Hindman's 15' mark in the Long Jump was good enough to net a second-place finish and contribute eight points to the Lady Bearcats' 174 point first place finish. (SMT file photo by Andrew Cato)

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

CAPE GIRARDEAU - An early offensive explosion by the Dexter Bearcats would prove to be the deciding factor in the third place contest of the 2012 SEMO Conference tournament; the 'Cats plated seven runs in the first inning on the Poplar Bluff Mules.

The 'Cats rebounded well after a tough against top-seed Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon in a game that could have easily been won.

"We picked ourselves up well today after that difficult loss, and we came out swinging and played a good game," head coach Brian Becker said after the win. "I'm awfully proud of our kids. They came out on a mission and jumped on these guys early. We wanted third place pretty bad, and they came out swinging the bats well, and Owen did a good job after the first inning and settled in well."

Owen Flowers (4-1, 2.51 ERA) hurled his fourth consecutive complete game; the senior right-hander struck out two and walked four in the 118 pitch outing.

"They had some hard hit balls against [Owen], but our defense played well behind him," Becker noted. "Whenever Owen needed a good pitch to come out of a tough situation, he made that pitch. I'm very proud of him. He had another good outing today."

The bottom half of the Bearcat lineup carried most of the brunt of the offensive attack in the contest. D.J. Dowdy (2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K), Josh Overall (2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K), and Cody Neldon (3-4, 1 R, 3 RBI) all had multi-hit outings. Dowdy had his third-straight two hit game, while Neldon had his first multi-hit game in seven contests, and just his second of the season; Overall extended his hit streak to seven games.

"Josh is starting to swing the bat; he was four-for-eight going in the tournament going into this game, and he's starting to swing the bat right now," Becker said of his second baseman. "If we can get him and some of these other guys that have been struggling a bit to start going, and it appears some of them are starting to turn it around, that'll do nothing but good things for us."

The 'Cats jumped on Poplar Bluff starter Jonathan Pratt early for seven runs, six hits, and three walks; Pratt exited the game after 2/3 of an inning. The Mules would use four pitchers in the contest, with Lucas Tibbs closing out the final three and 2/3 innings of the game.

After the seven run rally in the first, the 'Cats wouldn't score again until the third inning when Brad Potts drove a single into right field to score Logan Northern on a close play at the plate.

Dexter put together another big inning in the fourth, putting up four runs on two bases-loaded walks and a single to deep left by Neldon. The Bearcats would be held scoreless in the fifth inning before another hard-hit single by Neldon in the sixth brought Overall across home plate for the thirteenth run of the game for Dexter.

With just three more games before the Class 3, District 1 Tournament, Becker noted that now is as good a time as any for his squad to heat things up.

"We're picking a good time of the year to start getting hot; I don't think this team has peaked yet," he said. "We still have a lot of good baseball ahead of us, and hopefully we can come out this weekend and have a good showing against Cooter and Clearwater, two good teams, and we can build a win streak heading into Districts."

The 'Cats will be in action again on Saturday (May 5) when they host Cooter and Clearwater in a doubleheader; the 'Cats open the day with a 10:00 a.m. contest against Cooter, and will face off against Clearwater at 2:00 p.m.

Photos Above:
Top: The team hoists their third-place trophy after Monday's big win over Poplar Bluff.
Middle: Owen Flowers threw his fourth complete game of the season; he only had two strikeouts, but great defense behind him helped limit the Mules' offense.
Bottom: Josh Overall fires a ball to first base after making the tag for a 4-3 double play.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

FARMINGTON - The Bearcat golf team had a solid showing at last week's District match, played at Crowne Pointe Golf Club.

As a team, the Bearcats' 394 was good enough to land fifth place in the 11 team field; the 'Cats narrowly missed out on fourth place, taken by Farmington with a 390 stroke effort.

Notre Dame finished first with a 330 team score.

The Bearcats will advance three players to the sectional round of the post-season: senior Cody Stevens (90), sophomore Myles Urhahn (97), and freshman Drake Mitchell (101).

The 'Cats are back on the course today (Monday, April 30) in the SEMO Conference match, played at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

RESULTS - Team: 1. Notre Dame, 330; 2. Sikeston, 338; 3. Perryville, 388; 4. Farmington, 390; 5. Dexter, 394; 6. Ste. Genevieve, 410; 7. North County, 428; 8. Salem, 429; 9. Potosi, 462; 10. Fredericktown, 472; 11. Central (Park Hills), 488.

RESULTS - Bearcats: Cody Stevens, 90; Myles Urhahan, 97; Ryan Joyner, 106; Drake Mitchell, 101; Brandon Strickler, 141.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

CAPE GIRARDEAU - With two swings of the bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dexter Bearcats' four run lead was erased and by the Notre Dame Bulldogs in the semifinal round of the SEMO Conference tournament.

"That was as tough a loss as you can have right there. We had the number one team, both in this tournament and in the state, beat," head coach Brian Becker said. "We just let 'em off the hook. That's what we talked about after the game: we hope we get another shot at them, but next time we won't let them off the hook."

The 'Cats held a comfortable 9-5 lead over the top-seeded Bulldogs going into the sixth inning; starter Brad Potts (5.1 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 2 BB) was still on the mound, but gave up a one-out walk to Justin Landawee. Becker opted to make a pitching change, and put Jordan Miller on the mound.

Miller struggled to find the strike zone, and after two walks and the heart of Notre Dame's lineup coming up, Becker opted to put Josh Overall on the mound with one out and the bases loaded.

Overall's first pitch to Cody Heisserer (1-4, 4 RBI, 1 R) went over the left-center fence for a grand slam. Overall's third pitch, this time to Jesse Schott (4-4, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2 HR), resulted in a deep solo shot to left-center to give the Bulldogs a 10-9 lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.

Despite the tough loss, Becker was pleased with his pitching staff's effort throughout the contest.

"Potts threw outstanding; he was a little shaky in the first inning, giving up that leadoff double, but after that he settled in and did a great job," he said. "You have to give credit to Notre Dame; they had the right hitters up at the right time, and they knocked a couple out of the park in a row on us. Josh can't hang his head about that; he's got to pick his head back up and keep going. He might wind up on the mound again Monday, so he's got to put this behind him real quick."

The Bearcats played an outstanding game in the back-and-forth contest, and did well at the plate early in the game. Notre Dame ace Heisserer (2.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 4 BB, 3 K) took the start, but was knocked out early. The 'Cats also played solid defense, only committing two errors in the contest.

Notre Dame took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a three run shot from Schott. The 'Cats would get a run on a bases-loaded walk in the second, and a big six-run rally in the top of the third to take a 7-3 lead.

A leadoff single from Chase Young got things started in the third; Miller and Alex Cliff both drew walks, before D.J. Dowdy smacked a line-drive, two RBI single to center. Cody Neldon forced an error with a hard-hit ground ball to score Dowdy, and Potts tacked on an RBI single.

The Bulldogs added two runs in the bottom of the third, and both teams were blanked in the fourth inning. Potts led off with a triple in the fifth inning and was driven in by Young. Dowdy came through with another long single to score Young and give the 'Cats a 9-4 lead.

Lefty reliever Jonathan Lynch entered the game in the sixth for the Bulldogs, and retired the Bearcats in order in the sixth. The Bearcats had the tying run on base after a two-out walk to Miller in the top of the seventh, but the Lynch forced a pop-out to center to end the game.

"We played good baseball for the most part; there in the first inning, we got down three runs on them but we came back and took the lead against a very good pitcher," Becker said. "Heisserer is one of the best pitchers in Southeast Missouri, but we had him on the ropes all day. We got to him early and knocked him out of the game in the third, and we kept adding on to it. We just didn't close the deal today."

The 'Cats will move on to face No. 3 Poplar Bluff, who were upset by No. 7 Jackson later in the day, to battle for third place in the tournament.

The game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. first pitch on Monday (April 30) at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau.

Photos Above:
Top: D.J. Dowdy connects on a two RBI double during the third inning of Saturday's game at Notre Dame. The junior catcher was 2-4 with 2 RBI and 1 run scored in the contest.
Bottom: Brad Potts slides safely into third base after his leadoff triple in the fifth inning. Potts was 2-5 with 1 RBI in the game.