By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

DEXTER, Mo. - Daniel Fitts had one heck of a birthday. The Bearcat left-fielder hit a deep three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning and made an outstanding throw from deep in left field to pick off a Scott City runner at home for the third out of the sixth inning. Fitts’ effort helped push the Bearcats to a much-needed 3-1 victory over Scott City.

“Today’s Daniel Fitts’ birthday, and I don’t know who’s happier, him or me,” head coach Brian Becker said after the game. “He hit that three-run blast for all our runs, and made that huge throw to the plate. DJ Dowdy made a heck of a play there during his first game behind the plate on the varsity level, and it got us out of the inning, which we’ve struggled with lately. Hopefully this win today will lead to bigger and better things in the future.”


Sophomore Brad Potts made the start for the ‘Cats today, picking up his second win of the season. Despite limited run support, the youngster had a great outing, striking out three batters, forcing three groundouts, and picking off a runner at first base. Potts struggled to find the strike zone in the first inning, walking three batters, but was able to get out of the jam without giving up a run.

“Pitching and defense, we had both today. We haven’t had that a lot this spring, but when you have those two things you can win ballgames. [Potts] had a three walks in the first inning, and getting out of that inning was huge without letting them score a run; it picked our ball club up and gave us some momentum,” Becker said. “We played solid defense with the exception of two errors. Today was [Jordan Miller’s] first game not behind the plate, but with Josh Overall out, we had to shift some people around, and Jordan made some good plays on defense. I brought Miller in during the seventh (Potts’ pitch count was just over 100 pitches) and he did a good job.”



Josh Overall had surgery on Thursday (April 7) to correct a broken collarbone, and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

The ‘Cats only had three hits in the contest, and Becker credited Scott City’s pitching staff.

“[Scott City’s] pitcher had a nasty little slider and had pretty decent pop on the ball,” Becker added. “He did a good job of shutting our offense down, but he made a mistake on that pitch to Fitts, and Daniel made him pay for it.”


The Bearcats move to 4-3 on the season, and will face the Sikeston Bulldogs on Monday (April 11) afternoon at Sikeston.


“We’ve got Sikeston on Monday(April 11),” Becker said, “and they have a good ball club. We’ll have to come out Monday and play similar to how we played today to get the win."

The 'Cats have yet to name an official starter for Monday's contest. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.

Photos above Top Photo: Daniel Fitts threw a rocket from left field straight into the glove of catcher DJ Dowdy to save a run and get the third out of the sixth inning in Thursday’s 3-1 win against Scott City.
Bottom photo: Brad Potts picked up his second win of the season against Scott City.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Dexter High School baseball team was handed a tough loss at the hands of the Notre Dame Bulldogs on Wednesday (April 6) afternoon. The ‘Cats have struggled in the last few games, but coach Brian Becker remained hopeful despite the lopsided score.

“We had opportunities to get out of innings,” Becker said. “We’d have two outs in an inning and we couldn’t close the deal. We didn’t make plays that needed to be made to get us out and it killed us. Instead of making plays to limit them to one or two runs, we’d give up four or five runs. We just couldn’t limit the damage.”

The Bearcats swung the bat well, with 5 players getting a hit in the contest. Jordan Miller was the only Bearcat to get multiple hits on the day, going 2-2 at the plate. Josh Overall was also the main offensive producer for the Bearcats in the contest, going 1-2 and blasting a two-run homer during the top of the second. Alex Cliff went 0-1 with two sac fly’s and two RBI’s. Chase Young was 1-2 with two runs scored. Bryn Hester and Josh Sifford both went 1-3 with a double in the game.

“We hit the ball pretty well,” Becker continued. “We only had six hits but three of them were doubles, and we swung the bat well. [Notre Dame] made a couple nice plays defensively, and that limited us.”

Overall got the start for Dexter and lasted two and a third innings. Overall struggled to find the strike zone during the outing and gave up six walks.

“Josh took the start on the mound for us today and did a pretty good job,” Becker commented. “He just had too many walks while he was in there.”

The ‘Cats will be hit with some adversity this afternoon, when they lose Overall for the season.

“I found out as the game began that we’re going to lose [Overall] for the rest of the season,” Becker said. “He broke his collarbone on a four-wheeler a while back, but the bone didn’t grow back right when it was set. He’s going into surgery at noon today to have it re-broken and re-set. Stuff happens – we just have to roll with it, plug some people in and hope that they perform.”

The ‘Cats will face Scott City at home Thursday (April 7) afternoon.

“They started out with a big win over Jackson – which is huge for anybody – and they opened some people’s eyes with it,” Becker said of the Rams. “They’ve struggled a bit since then, going 2-4-1, but they’ll be a tough team. Their coach does a good job with them, and they’re always a solid team. I expect nothing less this year.”

Brad Potts is set to make the start for the Bearcats in the 4:00 p.m. contest.

Photo above Top Photo: Josh Overall fires during his last start at Malden. Overall went 1-2 with a 2-run homer in the contest, but will have season-ending surgery at noon today.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

The T.S. Hill Middle School volleyball team is still undefeated, with only two games to go before the county tournament.

Both the seventh and eighth grade teams were in action last night (April 5) against Puxico, and both teams again won in two sets each.

Matney Davis earned top server honors in the first set of the seventh grade match. Her seven points helped lead the 'Cats to a 25-15 victory.
Amber Spence led the way with seven points in the second set; Dexter again won 25-11.

In the eighth grade match, Courtney Potts nailed down seven points for the Lady 'Cats, leading them to a 25-15 victory in the first set. Shyann Jines got ten points off serves to push the 'Cats to a 25-9 win to complete the sweep of the match.

The Lady 'Cats will hit the courts again on Monday (April 10) when they face the Bell City Cubs at home. April 14 (Thursday) will see the young 'Cats take on Woodland in the Bearcat Event Center.

Saturday (April 16) is the start of the SCAA Tournament, held at the BEC. The games are set to run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, with the championship games played Monday (April 18) night. Scheduling hasn't been finalized for the Championship Games yet, but make sure to check back with the ShowMe Times for updates on the tournament brackets and schedule.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

MALDEN, Mo. - Fielding errors were again the Achilles’ heel of the Lady Bearcat softball team on Tuesday (April 5) afternoon. The young ‘Cats fell to the Malden Green Wave 3-1.


Freshman Kendra Stevenson got the start and went the distance for Dexter in the loss. Stevenson showed vast improvement over her last start against Kennett, giving up 10 hits and striking out three batters. The youngster seems to be more of a low-ball pitcher, forcing eight groundouts during the contest.


Dexter drew first blood in the game during the top of the second inning when Tiffany Watson scored on an error from Malden’s third baseman. The Green Wave tied the game in the bottom of the third, and the game remained tied at one until Malden scored a run in the bottom of the fifth.



Mollie Whitehead and Whitney Leyton were both in scoring position for the ‘Cats with the with two outs in the sixth inning, but were stranded on base after a Taylor Owens strikeout.


Malden scored again in the sixth inning, bringing the score to 3-1.


The ‘Cats were three up, three down in the top of the seventh to end the game.

With the loss, Dexter moves to 3-2 on the season. The Lady ‘Cats will take to the diamond again Thursday (April 7), when they take on the Richland Rebels at Richland. The game is set for a 4:15 p.m. first pitch, weather permitting.

Photo above Top Photo: Lauren Massingill battles to keep her at-bat alive during the third inning of Dexter's 3-1 loss at Malden. Massingill went 2-4 with two strikeouts in the contest.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

The DHS Tennis team competed in the Poplar Bluff Invitational Tournament on Saturday (April 2). The tournament included athletes from Poplar Bluff, Cape Central, Sikeston, Farmington, and Dexter high schools.


Tyler Miller was the only Bearcat to medal in the tournament, finishing second in the No. 1 Singles bracket.


The Bearcats will be in action again Thursday (April 7) afternoon, when they face the Poplar Bluff Mules at home. The match is set for a 4:00 p.m. start, weather permitting.

Photo provided by SMT reader and Bearcat mom Tracy Miller. Thanks Tracy!