By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

Baseball Season is in full swing for the summer, but Caleb “Bob” Miller started his baseball season in the middle of February of this year. Caleb is another Dexter High School athlete that has continued his career at the collegiate level at Maryville University in St. Louis, MO.

During his tenure as a Bearcat, Miller displayed strong leadership as a two sport athlete, playing baseball and football all four years. With a quiet manner, his performance was always above the line of exceptional.

As a four year letterman in baseball, his love of the sport was shown on the diamond throughout his career at DHS. Miller enjoyed great success, earning All-Conference and All-District recognition - honorable mention his sophomore year and first team his junior & senior year - as well as being the SEMO Conference Co-Player of the year his junior year and the Standard Democrat Player of the Year his senior year.


Baseball was always a great love for Miller, and it’s a family tradition. Specialty Engineering has always been known for the partnership with the youth of Dexter and local youth league baseball programs. The Miller family can be credited for the support and organization of the Junior Babe Ruth program for many years.

It was always assumed that “ Bob” would continue his career at the college level.

“Maryville, Florissant Valley (St. Louis), and Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana all recruited me out of high school,” Miller recalled. “They were the schools that were talking to me hard. I had a visit with Arkansas State, but nothing came out of that.”


In the end, Miller decided to take his talents to Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo.


“The location of the school is great - close to home, but not too close,” Miller said of his decision. “The educational program is elite; all my coaches are driven and motivated, they all want us to get better. It seemed like the right fit for me.”

With a 44 game schedule, the Maryville Saints are members of the Great Lake Valley Conference. The 2011 Spring season was challenging as the Saints ended the season with an overall record of 9 wins and 35 losses. (5-25 GLVC)

“We haven’t had a lot of success yet,” Miller said, “but we just moved into one of the best Division II conferences in the nation. The transition’s been tough, but we’re getting better.”

As a sophomore, Miller has been able to plug himself into the lineup very quickly, and (so far) has a career batting average of .240 with 15 RBI’s. He has also performed well defensively with a .941 fielding percentage and 36 putouts.

Miller was also named to the Academic All-GLVC team his freshman year.

“My freshman year I played in 20 games, but those were mostly pinch hitting or coming in off the bench,” Miller added. “I started all but four or five games this season.”

With hard work and determination, there is no doubt that Miller will continue to be an everyday starter for the Maryville Saints. "Bob's" love of the game wouldn't let him do anything less.


The ShowMe Times will keep you up-to-date on Miller's progress with the Maryville Saints next season; you can read up on everything about Maryville athletics here.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

The Girls first round of the Rib City Shootout was held in Dexter on Friday and Saturday (June 17-18). The basketball extravaganza, now in its second year, has continued to grow to record levels and is quickly becoming one of the premier summer basketball tournaments in the midwest.

The Shootout hosts three different age groups (junior high, JV, and Varsity), and teams from all across Missouri - as well as Tennessee and Arkansas - come to participate in the two-day tournament.


Teams are guaranteed to have at least 6 games, with a maximum of 8 games, during the tournament.

A total of 35 teams were in the Shootout, including St. Joseph’s Academy, Crane, Meadow Heights, and Dexter.


Thanks to the size of the Bearcat Event Center - three games can go on at once - as well as the T.S. Hill Middle School gym, tournament officials were able to squeeze over 100 games into the event.


The next round of the Shootout will be July 22-23, when the boys will take the courts again. The girls will have their second round on July 28-29.

Additional information about the next rounds of the 2011 Rib City Shootout can be found at www.ribcityshootout.com.


Make sure to check back with the ShowMe Times for pictures and updates during the next round of the 2011 Rib City Shootout!

A small town’s growth can usually be measured by the number of young people that return to invest themselves into the community. Kyle Christian is one of those young men. As an up-and-coming commercial loan officer at Montgomery Bank, Christian has made the choice to return to Dexter and begin his career.
 
Many people remember Kyle through his early years as an athlete, an avid golfer and one of those cute Christian twins - it was always confusing to be able to tell Kyle and Matt apart - but you could always guarantee that where you would find one, you would typically find the other.
 
Kyle continued his golf play at the college ranks as a member of the Arkansas State University golf team. After completing his degree and his college golf career, Kyle returned to Dexter and began his professional career in the banking industry at Montgomery Bank as a personal banker.
 
Christian quickly became involved in the community. He is an active member in the Dexter Lions Club as well as serving on various committees at the Hidden Trails Country Club. He has also been a great encourager for young people with an interest in golf. But in all his service, Kyle still has a love for golf and the desire to compete.
 
Kyle continues to scratch his golf itch each year in the Missouri Amateurs Golf Association. Five years ago, Kyle began to enter MAGA tournaments in the area. Christian’s development during his years at ASU definitely paid off as he has qualified for the MAGA State Tournament each year.
 
Travels in those years have taken Christian to many great golf courses throughout Missouri - including prestigious courses in Jefferson City and St. Joseph - and this year he will be in the St. Louis area. The tournament is moved to different locations, offering a degree of challenge to golfers as they find themselves on unfamiliar courses.
 
On June 1, the 2011 MAGA State Qualifier was held at the Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau. Over 55 golfers were on site for the event, but only the top 24 would be advancing to the MAGA State Tournament.
 
“I started off rough at the Dalhousie qualifier and was about six over through five holes,” Christian recalled. “Then I got my game lined out and actually shot pretty well on the back nine.”
 
Kyle further noted that his play has continued to get better over the past two weeks and he is anxious to see how things go in the state tournament.
 
The MAGA State Tournament begins Monday (June 20) in Augusta, MO, at the Boone Valley Country Club near Chesterfield, Mo.
 
“The course is really great as they have bent grass from the tee box all the way to the greens,” Christian added. “It will be a pretty neat experience”.
 
The tournament expects to host over 140 golfers from throughout Missouri. Each golfer is guaranteed a minimum of two rounds of stroke play. At the end of the second day, the top 64 players will advance to the match play (the golfer with the best score on the hole gets a point; at the end of the round, the player with the most points wins) portion of the tournament. Head-to-head 18-hole match play will continue until the championship on Sunday, when the two top leaders will compete in a 36-hole match to determine the state champion.
 
Results of next week’s tournament will be reported as we get them here at the ShowMe Times, and you can also follow the live scoring of the tournament at www.mogolf.org.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

Thursday night saw more great little league baseball action at the Dexter Parks & Recreation Sports Complex.

Youngsters continued to develop in the fundamental aspects of baseball - hitting, throwing, and catching - during their games.


The young athletes even got to play in the rain! A light sprinkling came over the complex for about half an hour - most of the heavier weather went to the south of Dexter - but the games didn’t get postponed.


Coaches are invited to send their games' scores and highlights to the ShowMe Times. Items should be emailed to amiller@showmetimes.com or acato@showmetimes.com, or click "Submit Event" at the bottom of the ShowMe Times homepage.

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The ShowMe Times will be out enjoying the youth league action this week, and a complete photo gallery of photos from area youth league games from Week Three of this DPR season will be posted this weekend on the ShowMe Times!

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

The second round of the annual Rib City Shootout is set to begin in Dexter on Friday (June 17) morning.

After the great success of the boy's first round last weekend, it is now the ladies' turn to take the courts.

Teams from three states - Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee - will all compete in the two-day tournament.

Games will be spread across three courts in the Bearcat Event Center, as well as in the Middle School gym and Dexter Park & Rec's new facility by the Dexter Aquatic Center. Make sure to check back with the ShowMe Times this weekend for photos and updates from this great event!

View the full schedule for the weekend’s tournament here!