By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

SIKESTON - The tennis 'Cats had a dominating performance against the Sikeston Bulldogs on Tuesday afternoon in their third match of the season.

In the Varsity-only contest, the Bearcats picked up an 8-1 win, including two shutouts in the singles division by Kyle Willis and Jacob Robinson.

Sam Ward lost a 7-9 tiebreak match against Brandon Goodwin in the closest contest of the day; Tyler Miller won 8-2 over Josiah Bill. In doubles, Ward and Miller won 8-5 over Bill and Goodwin.

Freshman Noah Kronk picked up an 8-4 singles win over Sydney Gadberry; he and Robinson won their doubles match against Adam Smith and Gadberry with an 8-1 final score.

The Bearcats will be back on their home court Friday (May 4) when they host the Poplar Bluff Mules in their final regular season match.

The contest is scheduled to get underway at 4:00 p.m.

Photo Above: Tyler Miller returns a shot during his 8-2 singles win against Josiah Bill.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady Bearcats closed their season by playing host to the Twin Rivers Lady Royals on Tuesday afternoon; the Royals capitalized on every mistake the 'Cats made, and rallied for a 13-2 victory in five innings.

Becky Anderson took the start and the loss for the 'Cats; the senior threw all five innings and gave up six earned runs on eight hits, with five walks and three strikeouts.

A loss is never a desirable way to end a season, but head coach Leonard Morse was proud of his young squad's effort throughout his first season as head coach; the 'Cats, 12-8, ended the season with double digit wins for the first time in five years.

"We're a young team, and where we were on March 1 compared to where we are on May 1, it's night and day. We've progressed so far, and even though we got ten-runned tonight, we still showed that we can play with anybody on their schedule," Morse said, "especially after our game last night with Advance, taking a team thats only lost one game all season to extra innings."

"It was a great season," Morse continued. "Considering we were 12-6 headed into our final two games against quality opponents, it was a heck of a season. Our girls are a lot better than what they were, and they've started to come together as a team and figure out what it means to play as a team. Hopefully we can carry that into next season."

The 'Cats were held scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, despite having a baserunner in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth innings. In the fourth, Riley Rickman was tagged out at home advancing on a single hit by Taylor Owens; the next at bat, Tiffany Watson was caught off third and picked off by Maci Shearer.

In the bottom of the fifth, Maddie Christian delivered a hot shot down the third base line for a leadoff single. Ashley Brown followed up with a double, and then Whitney Layton and Kendra Stevenson came through with back-to-back RBI singles. Rickman drove a single to center field to advance Stevenson to third, but the Lady 'Cats were unable to put together any more offense, ending the game after the fifth with a 13-2 loss.

Anderson and Layton were the only seniors on the squad this season, and Morse had nothing but good things to say about the pair.

"I couldn't have asked for two better seniors, especially with Becky moving in during her senior year and being new to the school. She fit in quickly, both on and off the field, and I have nothing but high praise for both of them," he said. "I had Whitney for all four years, and she's been a delight to have on the team. They lead wherever they are at - you can't ask for better seniors than that as a coach."

Photos Above:
Top: Whitney Layton had a solid day at the plate in her last game as a Lady Bearcat; the senior went 2-3 with an RBI.
Bottom: Becky Anderson struck out three batters in her final game in a DHS uniform.

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.