Mexico has been tested in the final stretch of its regular season schedule.

The Bulldogs have two tough North Central Missouri Conference contests at the tail end but tried to fare well against non-conference state-ranked opponents. After losing 5-4 Monday at home to Class 5 No. 2 Helias Catholic, Mexico lost its fourth in a row 4-3 on Wednesday at Class 4 No. 9 Blair Oaks after allowing four unanswered runs.

Chase Schnieders hit the game-winning RBI single in the sixth inning and earned a win pitching in relief for the Falcons (15-12). The Bulldogs (8-12) scored three runs in the second inning with four hits but were held to three hits in the final five innings by Schnieders and Jacob Tellman, who struck out nine in 5⅔ innings.

In the second inning, Tyler Thoenen led off with a double and then scored on starting pitcher Jack Wilburn’s single, Austin Maxwell picked up an RBI on a groundout, and finally Drew DeMint’s line drive up the middle scored another run and was one of his two hits. 

Wilburn’s day was done after Blair Oaks scored twice in the fourth inning and then the Falcons tied on a sacrifice fly allowed by Brady Fox, who held Blair Oaks hitless and scoreless through 1⅔ innings.

Mexico (4-4 NCMC) hosted conference rival Fulton (8-5, 7-2 NCMC) on Friday before playing at 5 p.m. May 8 at another NCMC rival Moberly (11-9, 2-5 NCMC).

Community R-6 uses big inning to stay undefeated in conference, district with 6-1 win at Glasgow

Community R-6 is still tearing through conference and district opponents.

The Trojans, who received votes in the most recent Class 1 state poll, scored five runs in the third inning at Central Activities Conference and district foe Glasgow on Tuesday to win 6-1 and stay an undefeated 5-0 in conference and 4-0 against district opponents.

Eli Johnson and Gavin Allen had RBI singles in the third inning, Mason Carroll scored two runs with a double and Brant hit an RBI single to make it 5-0. Mason Rohan finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Carroll allowed five hits and one walk and struck out six in five shutout innings before Allen allowed one unearned run on two hits and two walks and struck out four in two innings. 

Glasgow  (4-9, 1-5 CAC) didn’t record an extra-base hit and only scored on an error in the sixth inning.

Community (11-2) played at conference and district rival Cairo (7-5, 4-2 CAC) at 5 p.m. Friday, losing 5-4 in nine extra innings, to bring its conference- and district-undefeated streak to an end, before hosting North Shelby (6-4) at 5 p.m. Monday.

North Callaway adjusts from duel to doubles in 8-4 win vs Silex

For four innings, it appeared North Callaway’s home game was going to be a pitcher’s duel.

The Thunderbirds led Eastern Missouri Conference foe Silex 1-0 before Silex punched with three runs in the top of the fifth inning and then North Callaway hit back harder with six runs to eventually win 8-4. Five doubles by the Thunderbirds (11-5, 8-1 EMO) supported Sam Pezold on the mound as the junior struck out 12 and allowed one earned run on five hits and three walks in seven innings.

Silex’s answer to Pezold was Josh Price, who finished with a line of five runs on four hits and three walks in 4⅔ innings. Price surrendered a double to Keaton Bell in the first inning before he scored but only faced two above the minimum after his initial inning.

Pezold was perfect through 4⅓ innings prior to Price beginning Silex’s threat with a single that turned into a 3-1 lead after a two-out error. That advantage didn’t last long for the Owls (5-9, 4-5 EMO), however.

The first three Thunderbirds reached to start the bottom of the fifth inning, beginning with Davis Woods’ double. After the game was tied, back-to-back doubles by Braydn O’Neal and Matthew Weber made it 6-3 and then Kyle Pennell added an RBI single.

O’Neal led the team with three RBI, Weber followed with two RBI, and Carter Moore went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a double.

North Callaway plays at Sturgeon (5-10) on Friday before beginning the Fulton Invitational on Thursday as part of Pool 2 games hosted at Southern Boone in Ashland. The Thunderbirds face Fatima (11-11) at 6:30 p.m.

Thunderbirds break open game in fourth, defeat Louisiana 8-3

The hits for North Callaway were bunched together in the fourth inning on Tuesday.

North Callaway at Louisiana Photo Gallery

The Thunderbirds defeated Eastern Missouri Conference foe Louisiana 8-3 on the road after scoring six runs in the fourth inning. Eight of their players finished with at least one hit and five had at least one RBI against the Bulldogs (2-12, 0-7 EMO).

Head coach Zeth Lavy said Tuesday’s win was important as it kept the Thunderbirds’ hopes for a share of a conference title alive with a 7-1 conference record.

In the fourth inning, Sam Pezold scored Kyle Pennell on a single to tie the game at 1, Jordan Fishburn scored two on a single, Braydn O’Neal plated two on a double and Matthew Weber scored one on a single. Seven of North Callaway’s 10 hits happened in the inning.

Fishburn, O’Neal and Pezold each finished with two RBI, and O’Neal and Pezold each had two hits.

Carter Moore moved to a 3-0 record on the mound after pitching four innings with five strikeouts and one run allowed on two hits and three walks.

Hersh, Melick lead Missouri Military Academy in 7-6 Senior Night win vs Van-Far

Missouri Military Academy entrusted one of its seniors on Tuesday night.

Ethan Hersh proved that was a wise choice as the senior struck out seven and allowed seven hits, four walks and two earned runs in 6⅔ innings in a Senior Night 7-6 victory for the Colonels against Van-Far (0-13). The Indians had four of their seven hits in the final three innings, scoring five of their runs during that span.

MMA (7-6) scored five runs during the first two innings as the Colonels found success against Gibson Condie. Senior Anthony Melick hit a two-out triple in the first inning before scoring on a wild pitch. Melick singled in the second inning before scoring on a Hunter Manderson groundout, making it 5-0.

Van-Far was back in the game after the fifth inning following a three-run frame. The Indians didn’t need a hit in the inning, though, as they were hit by a pitch, walked twice and used an MMA error to make it 5-4.

Melick popped an RBI triple to right field in the fifth inning to make it 6-4 and give him a 3-for-4 performance. He scored the winning run later in the inning on one of three Van-Far errors in the game.

Luke Wolf also finished 3-for-4 for MMA, while for Van-Far, Reece Culwell had two hits, Cody Smith finished with two RBI and Ryan Null hit a double.

Van-Far (0-8 EMO) plays at Eastern Missouri Conference foe Louisiana (2-12, 0-7 EMO) on Friday.

Centralia batters pair of conference opponents, defeats Monroe City 12-0, Brookfield 12-1

The Panthers moved above 500 in Clarence Cannon Conference play in emphatic style on Tuesday.

Centralia won a pair of conference home games in five innings each as it beat Monroe City 12-0 and Brookfield 12-1 to move to 3-2 in CCC play. The Panthers finished with a combined 23 hits in the two victories.

Against Monroe City (2-9, 1-5 CCC), Jack Romine led the offense by going 3-for-4 with five RBI, and Mason Presley and Anthony Ford followed with two RBI each. Matt Robinson struck out eight while allowing five hits in five innings on the mound.

Centralia (7-9) scored six runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings against Brookfield (6-7, 2-5 CCC) as Ford led with three RBI, and Romine and Tuckyr Pollock each finished with two RBI. Ethan Adams struck out eight while allowing one run on two hits and two walks in five innings.

Centralia played at conference foe Palmyra (1-11, 1-4 CCC) on Thursday, winning 13-2, before hosting a triangular today with a 10 a.m. game against California (10-7) and a 2 p.m. contest against Elsberry (14-5), who received votes in the latest Class 3 poll.

Against Palmyra, Pollock and Romine led the offense with three RBI each from the top two spots in the lineup, and the Panthers finished with 13 hits.