Dexter, MO - The Dexter High School honored their spring sports with their 2022 Awards Ceremony held on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Coach Starla Pulley and Asst. Coach Jenkins gave out the awards for Softball.
"We had a lot of new faces to our program this year," commented Coach Starla Pulley. "Some girls haven't played in quite a while, so we spent a lot of time working on fundamentals and trying to learn different aspects of the game."
The Bearcats had four freshmen, three sophomores, and three juniors on the their roster and hoping they all return next year.
Though they lost five of their first seven games, they played competitively and the season looked optimistic. They beat Malden early on and that was a great confidence building for the Lady 'Cats. They won their first round of SCAA play against Bloomfield, but lost to a very good Advance team and later to Bernie in the third place game. The following Friday they beat the county champs Advance 10-9 and that was a tremendous win for the girls.
The Lady 'Cats then won the next eight games. They won the D Division of the Swing Pink going 3-0 during the one day tournament. They also beat Woodland who got second at the SCAA Tournament. Then in the first round of the District Tournament they defeated Arcadia Valley then lost to Clearwater who went on to win Districts.
The Bearcats did suffer some injuries late in the season as well which lead to players playing positions they were not familiar with, but did a great job stepping up. They ended the season 11-8.
"I had two seniors who are leaving to bigger and better things," continued Pulley. "Lexi Laramore came out to play for the first time this year. I asked her many times to come out and play softball and she finally did her senior year. I had the privilege of coaching her in volleyball and she is just a great athlete, teammate and just a great person. Her personality and positivity and willingness to do whatever is needed is a great leadership quality that we all could learn."
"Kennedy Bess is my other senior and we are going to miss her greatly. She is a phenomenal player, teammate, and just an all around great young lady. Her dedication, hard work and love for this sport is something that will be hard to replace. I know that both of these young ladies will go and do extraordinary things after high school."
Letter winners are Kennedy Bess, Lexi Laramore, Emily Hester, Abbie Sandage, Molly Simmons, Kinleigh Chappell, Amelia Jenkins, Kaylee Hazel, Tatyana Littlewhiteman, Kaden Jackson, Alexis Sisk, Payton Short, and Isabella Pittman.
Andrea Hernandez was the team manager. "I really appreciated her coming out and being the team manager. She came to every practice and every game helping and cheering us on in the dugout."
Highest Batting Average Award: "This young lady started off the season a little rocky. We had her in the lead off position and we talked about it and knew she could do so much more. We moved her to the 6th spot and she took off. There were so many times where we needed the bottom of the line up to take off and she was there to make it happen. She finished the season with a .408 batting average, .508 on base percentage, .632 slugging percentage. She had 20 hits, 4 doubles, 2 triples and 1 home run this year." The Highest Batting Average Award goes to Kinleigh Chappell.
The Bearcat Award: "This award goes to a player that is a true example of what our athletes should strive to be and she is hardworking, a great leader, hustles, encourages everyone, dedicated, a goal setter, self disciplined, coachable, and I could go on and on. She was a force to be reckoned with behind the plate. Teams were scared to steal on her. She has been a leader in our program for the last four years from filling shoes as a catcher, pitcher, infield, and outfield. She has also been one of our top players the last four years in hitting and defense. This year she had a .353 batting average and .963 fielding percentage and 9 stolen bases. She will be missed greatly!" The Bearcat Award goes to Kennedy Bess.
Most Valuable Player Award: "This award goes to a young lady that is the epitome of what a team player looks like. She has a lot of heart and passion for the sport. She works all year long and it shows. As a freshman she had 147 strike-outs and pitched 91 innings. As a sophomore she pitched 96.2 innings and had 164 strike-outs, beating her record from last year. She is driven and goal oriented. She not only is our leader on the mound she is one of out top hitters with a .309 batting average. I would put her up against anyone in a tough situation. There have been several situations this year where we had bases loaded with one out and she got us out of it. If the other team started chanting, she got more driven and focused. I can't wait to see what she will do in the next two years." The Most Valuable Player Award goes to Amelia Jenkins.
Dexter, MO - The Dexter High School honored their spring sports with their 2022 Awards Ceremony held on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
Coach James Sneed presented the baseball awards along with Asst. Coach Cody Boyer.
"The JV had a record of 2-5," stated Sneed. "We had some games cancelled and the JV SEMO Conference was also cancelled due to weather. This was a good group of kids, just wish they could have gotten more games in, but they maintained a good attitude throughout the season."
The varsity baseball team had a regular season of 11-13 This is the first time since the 2014-2015 season that the Bearcats have seen a double digit win season.
"I'd like to say this is also a good group of athletes. They came to practice everyday and I think they have improved throughout the season."
Dexter plays Notre Dame in the District Tournament at Kennett on Monday.
Letter winners are Nolan Alford, Beau Carrier, Taylor Condict, Ben Howard, Jackson Howard, Kaeden Kennedy, Lee-Michael McDonald, Cole Nichols, Camden Riley, Adam Saylors, Brock Wyman, and Ryan Young.
Most Improved: "This player was second on the team in batting average, hitting .397 and was an everyday player this year after beginning last season on the infield and being moved to the outfield and only starting occasionally." Most Improved Player Award goes to senior Taylor Condict.
Batting Average: "This athlete lead the team with an average of .463, along with most hits of 31, 2 home runs, 20 RBI's and tied with the most runs scored." Batting Average Awards goes to junior Kaeden Kennedy.
Most Valuable Player: "This player was second on the team in innings pitched with a 2-2 record and was named to the 2022 SEMO Conference Media All Tournament Team, lead this years team in hitting and played every inning of every game as catcher when not pitching." Most Valuable Player Award goes to junior Kaeden Kennedy.
"I have three seniors on the team," continued Coach Sneed.
"Taylor Condict won our most improved award this year and is a two sport athlete. I've had the pleasure of coaching him in football for 4 years and this year in baseball. He plans to attend college after graduation. Camden Riley has played all over the field for us this year and is a TEAM leader. I've coached him for 6 years in baseball and 4 years in football. He plans to attend Mississippi State after graduation. Adams Saylors moved from 2nd base this year to left field to improve our defense and he has flourished out there. He has thrown out 5 runners at the plate and probably could have had a couple more. This was my first year coaching him and he also plans to attend college after graduation."
Coach Sneed will be retiring this year after coach three sports each year for over 20 years, whether it be high school or middle school you could find him out their mentoring athletes!
Pictured above: Dexter Baseball seniors receive special gifts at the 2022 DHS Springs Sports Award Ceremony, their last game lineup framed, vs Bloomfield. From left to right are Adam Saylors, Camden Riley, and Taylor Condict.
Farmington, MO - The Dexter High School golf team won the MSHSAA Class 3, District 1 title on Monday at St. Francois Country Club in Farmington, Missouri. The Bearcats haven't seen a trip to the State meet as a team since finishing 3rd in 2010. They did win Districts in 2019, but did not make it out of Sectionals.
Dylan Sitze earned medalist honors to lead the team at 7-over-par 79.
Cy Worley tied for second at 86 with Ryan Bozada of St. Clair and Gavin Huck of Ste. Genevieve and also medaled.
Tucker Temples placed ninth with a score of 91 while Ben Christian placed 15th with a score of 95.
"We struggled around the greens somewhat today overall," Dexter head coach Eric Sitze said. "The wind and wet conditions made the golf course harder today for sure, but we are glad to be moving on to State next week in Sedalia."
Coach Sitze estimated to be at least 30 mph gusts and the field playing a narrow 6,569-yard course, Dylan Sitze was the only player to break 86, winning by seven shots.
Dexter’s team score of 351 was 24 shots better than runner-up Ste. Genevieve.
"Tucker had his best round of the year for us finishing 9th overall." commented Sitze. "Anytime you have two guys finish 1 and 2 that is going to help your team score. Not our best score, but the kids did a good job hanging in there and grinding it out."
There are sixteen teams in the Class 3 District 1 competition. Ste. Genevieve finished second with a score of 375, St. James followed at 379. Other teams participating were Fredericktown, Sullivan, Park Hills, Potosi, St. Clair, Perryville, St. Mary's Arcadia Valley, Salem, Doniphan, Affton, Herculaneum and Kennett.
“Hopefully we can get some things straightened out and play better next week.”
The Bearcats will play at Sedalia Country Club in the two-day, 36-hole MSHSAA Class 3 championships starting Monday, May 16, 2022.
Dexter, MO - The Track and Field Team honored their seniors at Charles Bland Stadium.
Ayden Walters is the son of Bryan and Carrie Walters.
He is a member of the football team and track and field teams, Chamber Choir, the Musical "Frozen" and Musical "Shrek", Future Business Leaders of America and Sr. Beta Club.
As a member of the Track and Field Team, his most memorable moment at DHS is getting to see the improvements made by my teammates.
Dexter, MO - The Track and Field Team honored their seniors at Charles Bland Stadium at a recent track meet.
Dulcie Pullen is the daughter of Alex and Lori Pullen.
She has been a member of the varsity volleyball, basketball, and field and track teams all four years of high school. She is also a member of National Honor Society Vice President, Top 10%, Sr. Beta Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FCCLA, and Pep Club.
Her future plans are to attend Southern Illinois University in the fall and major in Radiologic Sciences.
As a member of the track and field team, her most memorable moment DHS was attending State Track Meet her junior year in the 4x4 relay.
