Dexter, Missouri - It may have been a non-conference game, the Bearcats were ready for a win, they needed this win and they accomplished a win! 

The Neelyville Tigers entered the game with a 20-1 record and are ranked #1 in the Missouri Class 2 rankings. 

Neelyville seemed confident to beat Dexter with a 9-14 record on the season.  To their surprise the Bearcats were able to load the bases several times scoring 10 runs total for the afternoon.

The Tigers scored 4 runs in the first two innings, but the Bearcats proved to be stronger.  Logan Northern scored the first run in the 3rd inning for the Bearcats on a hit by Brad Potts. 

The Bearcats were able to even the score 4 to 4 in the the 4th.  By the 5th inning it was tied again 5 to 5.  Five more runs in the 5th gave the Bearcats the momentum to keep on hitting!  The Tigers didn't know what hit them.  The Tigers never scored again and it was 10 - 5 Bearcats game!

Chase Young #3 was able to step up to the plate and bat.  Unfortunately he did not get a hit, but way to go Chase!  It's been a tough year for him with his basketball injury and not being able to play baseball.  He is healing extremely well and will be back at the plate soon.

The crowd was on their feet cheering for Clarence Riddle who stood at the plate and took a few swings.  Great kid and a great ball player.  Way to go Clarence! 

Final Score 10 - 5.  What a great game for the Seniors of 2013!

Dexter, Missouri – The Dexter High School boys’ baseball team seems to be struggling this year.  Weather also seems to keep the Bearcats from having home field advantage as their game yesterday was moved to Portageville.

“The weather has been crazy this spring,” Dexter’s coach Brian Becker stated.  “We have just got to get better as we are facing Perryville in the first round of the districts this Saturday in Cape.  They are going to be a tough opponent.”

The Dexter Bearcats were up by 2 in the third as Brad Potts delivered a leadoff single and ran to second on a throwing error.  He scored on a single by Jordan Miller. 

Then Portageville answered in the bottom of the third with its first run of the game.  The Bulldogs tied the game in the fourth on three singles and scored again in the fifth with the game winner.

“That’s been the story of the season,” Bearcat’s coach Brian Becker said.  “We struggle at the plate and it’s frustrating.  Not only for me, but also for our kids. “

Coach Becker used three pitchers for Dexter.  Brad Potts started and worked two innings.  Jordan Miller relieved him and threw two innings.  Nick Noble picked up the loss at the end.

“We just wanted to get them all some work,” stated Becker of his pitching decisions.  “Tomorrow’s game is in question.  I just wanted to make sure they got some mound time.  All-in-all, I thought they did ok.”

Dexter is 8-14 on the season, only playing three home games.  The Portageville Bulldogs are now 14-8.  

The Dexter Bearcats are scheduled to play Neelyville at home today.  They will be honoring five seniors during the game, so come out and cheer for the Bearcats and congratulate the seniors!

Jefferson City, Missouri - Hunters shot 42,220 turkeys during Missouri’s regular spring turkey season. That is an increase of 1,773, or 4 percent, from 2012.

Top harvest counties during the regular spring turkey season April 15 through May 5 were Franklin with 996 birds checked, Texas with 879, and Callaway with 710.

This year’s spring turkey season was the safest on record, with only one firearms-related hunting incident reported. That incident was nonfatal and occurred during the regular season.

Hunting conditions were far from ideal, with frequent rain and below-average temperatures during much of the three-week season. In central Missouri, nighttime low temperatures averaged about 10 degrees colder than in 2012. The same weather station in Boone County reported approximately 1.5 inches more rainfall during this year’s spring turkey season than in 2012.

Jason Isabelle, a resource scientist who oversees turkey management for the Missouri Department of Conservation, says this year’s increased harvest is the result of both improved turkey production and hunters’ dedication.

“We knew from last year’s field surveys that wild turkeys had the second year in a row of good production,” says Isabelle, “so the outlook was pretty good going into the season. But you have to hand it to hunters for getting out there under some challenging conditions. That just goes to show you how much enjoyment folks get from spring turkey hunting in Missouri.”

Adding the harvest of 3,915 turkeys during this year’s spring youth season April 6 and 7 brings the 2013 spring turkey harvest to 46,135. This is 1,335 more than in 2012, a 3-percent increase.

County-by-county spring turkey harvest totals are available at mdc.mo.gov/node/263.

The Conservation Department’s First Turkey Program lets turkey hunters commemorate their first turkey kill with a certificate suitable for framing. You can even add a photo of the proud hunter with his or her bird. To create a first-turkey certificate, visit mdc.mo.gov/node/10469. The same site has forms for a youth’s first deer, as well as first deer/turkey certificates for ad

Dexter, Missouri – The Dexter Bearcat Tennis Team traveled to Sikeston and slammed them 9 – 0.  What a great afternoon for Dexter as they beat the Sikeston Bulldogs in all of the singles and doubles!

Two of the six single pairings ended up in 8 – 0 shutouts!  Way to go Bearcats!

Varsity Singles:

Sam Ward of Dexter defeated Layton Jones of Sikeston 8-0.

Kyle Willis of Dexter defeated Christian Rehder of Sikeston 8-6.

Ethan Flowers of Dexter defeated Jimmy Hines of Sikeston 8-3.

Noah Kronk of Dexter defeated Wade Gadberry of Sikeston 8-4.

Joseph Greer of Dexter defeated Mark Jones of Sikeston 8-4.

Drew Mason of Dexter defeated Caleb Dannenmueller of Sikeston 8-0.

Varsity Doubles:

Sam Ward/Kyle Willis won 8-5 over Layton Jones/Christian Rehder.

Ethan Flowers/Joseph Greer won 8-4 over Jimmy Hines/Wade Gadberry.

Noah Kronk/Drew Mason won 8-5 over Mark Jones/Caleb Dannenmueller.

Way to go Dexter Bearcats!

The JV Tennis Team almost had a perfect match as well; however lost one of their doubles 6-2.  They won all of their single matches.

Junior Varsity Singles:

B Propst defeated Kentrez Pope 6-4

J Dodson defeated Coby McMikle 7-5

H Warren defeated Logan Wheatley 6-6(1)

J Kohlbaker defeated Anthony Le 6-4

T Stevenson defeated Davion Davis 6-1

C Sims defeated Tre Warfield 6-2

A Moore defeated Demarious Crawford 6-2

Junior Varsity Doubles:

Propst/Dodson defeated Coby McMikle/Anthony Le 6-2

Warren/Kohlbaker defeated Logan Wheatley/Anthony Le 6-2

Davion Davis/Tre Warfield defeated Crumley/Whitehead 6-2

Jefferson City, Missouri - In spite of less than ideal weather, hunters shot 21,437 turkeys during the first week of Missouri’s three-week spring hunting season.

This year’s first-week harvest is 328 fewer than last year, a 1.5-percent decrease. That small difference is fairly insignificant, according to Resource Scientist Jason Isabelle with the Missouri Department of Conservation. He says the first-week harvest number is encouraging considering the weather that many hunters had to contend with.

“We had some very challenging hunting conditions for much of the week,” says Isabelle, “but still managed to harvest about the same number of turkeys that we did on opening week last year. At one point during the week, we were 17 percent behind where we were last year. But the improved conditions that we had this past weekend, particularly on Saturday, helped us to nearly catch up to where we were at this point one year ago.”

Isabelle, who oversees the Conservation Department’s turkey management program, says last year’s turkey harvest was the second to show an increase since 2004. Jakes, as 1-year-old male turkeys are commonly known, made up 17 percent of this year’s first-week harvest compared to 26 percent last year.

“Jakes made up a smaller percentage of the opening week harvest than last year,” says Isabelle, “but the difference does not necessarily indicate that we have fewer jakes on the landscape. Prior to 2011’s hatch, we hadn’t had good turkey production for a number of years. Because of the improved hatch of 2011, jakes were readily available during the 2012 season, and adult gobbler abundance was lower than it typically would be, so naturally hunters shot more jakes. We had a second year of improved nesting success in 2012 and a good carry-over of birds from 2011. Hunters found more 2-year-old gobblers this year, and that took some pressure off of our 2012 crop of jakes.”

Isabelle says weather could still hold down this year’s harvest, but with relatively normal conditions, especially on weekends, hunters could easily top last year’s end-of-season turkey kill.

“If the weather cooperates, I could certainly see a spring harvest that exceeds the last couple of years,” he says. “Hunters still have the majority of the season ahead of them. As the season progresses, there will be more hens nesting, which leaves gobblers by themselves and more likely to respond to hunters’ calls. This fact, coupled with less hunting pressure during the last couple weeks of the season, can make for some outstanding hunting conditions.”

Missouri’s top three turkey harvest counties in the first week of the season were Franklin with 560 turkeys checked, Texas with 444, and Ste. Genevieve with 413. The Conservation Department recorded no firearms-related hunting incidents during the first week of the season.