Softball

Mexico defense support early offense in 7-0 win vs Winfield

Mexico needed this victory.

The Lady Bulldogs hosted district opponent Winfield on Saturday morning, winning 7-0, in their first game since the 10-0 loss Thursday at district and North Central Missouri Conference rival Fulton. Kierstan Epperson had two doubles and an RBI, Maddy Feger finished with two hits and an RBI and freshman Hannah Loyd hit her third career home run.

Head coach Curt Riley said the team looked completely different from the Fulton game as Mexico appeared ready to go from the first pitch. The Lady Bulldogs had the defense to back up pitcher Emma Cunningham — who had four hits, three strikeouts and one walk in seven innings — and they hope the victory ends up earning them a higher postseason seed as their record moves to 2-1 against district foes.

“Defensively, that’s as good as we’ve played,” Riley said. “I just felt like we were ready to go this morning, and we have to be.”

Jo Thurman was unavailable Saturday so that is one glove Mexico didn’t have in the outfield, but the team consistently ran down balls. Brooke Teel reached out to snag a ball down the right field line, trapping the ball in the fingers of her glove. Feger in left field and Lexie Willer in center field also made several catches and even some almost catches.

“(Teel’s catch) was awesome,” Riley said. “We barely missed a great catch by Maddy out in left field. She hit a gulley out there and stepped down, and it kind of threw off a little bit. The kids were wanting the ball hit to them to make plays. I think that’s when you start making really good strides, and we did that today.”

Lady Bulldogs shut out Boonville 6-0, sweep triangular

Mexico shut out one team in their first 17 games this season. Then it shut out two teams in one day.

The Lady Bulldogs shut out Boonville 6-0 on Saturday afternoon hours after defeating Winfield 7-0. Emma Cunningham and Eboni Mayfield shut down the Winfield and Boonville offense, respectively, despite each of them averaging around seven runs per game this season.

Mexico scored five runs in the first inning on six hits, receiving RBI hits from Hannah Loyd, Karlee Sefrit and Brooke Teel. Sefrit picked up two RBI on a triple, and Loyd, Teel and Lexie Willer each drove in one run. Abby Bellamy finished 3-for-4 with a double.

Head coach Curt Riley said the defense was great all day for Mexico, only committing two errors between the two victories. The Lady Bulldogs’ infield turned a double play in two straight innings to support Mayfield, who allowed seven hits and struck out three in seven innings. Riley said she and Cunningham performed well as each player went the distance while pitching to their defense.

“I thought our pitchers threw the ball really well,” Riley said. “Defensively, we were probably as good as we have been. Offensively, we were putting the ball in play and getting some big hits. We just put it all together this weekend.”

Mexico (10-9, 2-2 NCMC) hosts two North Central Missouri Conference games in as many days as Marshall and Moberly are coming to town on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Community R-6 takes fourth in Cairo Tournament

After quickly losing ground in a 12-4 for the last meeting, Community R-6 thought that it had Cairo’s number this time.

The Lady Trojans lost to their Central Activities Conference foe 9-7 in eight innings for their second round game, which bounced them to the third-place game Saturday at the Cairo Softball Tournament. Community defeated La Plata 6-3, then lost to Cairo and finally dropped a 9-1 game to New Bloomfield to finish fourth in the tournament.

Community had a 4-3 lead against Cairo in the seventh inning before it allowed four straight Lady Cats to reach base after the second out. Paige Painter came through with the RBI single to send the game to extra innings, but she couldn’t hold back Cairo in the top of the eighth inning.

Painter pitched in all three games, amassing 17 innings with 22 hits and nine earned runs — allowing more runs thanks to 17 errors by the Lady Trojans. In all three games, Brooklyn Glasgow finished with four hits, four RBI, and three extra-base hits, and Olivia Kuda was 3-for-8 with four RBI and two extra-base hits. Kuda finished 0-for-3 against New Bloomfield but gave Community its second varsity home run of the year in the Cairo game, tying the game at 2 in the fourth inning.

Community (6-9, 3-2 CAC) hosts Central Activities Conference foe New Franklin (7-5, 2-0 CAC) on Monday before welcoming Madison (0-2 CAC) on Thursday.

Ladybird defense erases leads, eliminates North Callaway from Cairo Tournament

North Callaway has played better defense this season.

The Ladybirds committed 12 errors in the two games they played Saturday at the Cairo Softball Tournament, losing 6-3 to New Bloomfield and then 7-5 to South Callaway to exit the bracket early. The miscues allowed nine unearned runs to cross the plate and for North Callaway’s opponents to come back after the Ladybirds scored in the first inning.

Freshman Kymorie Myers led the offense, finishing 3-for-6 with four RBI and a two-RBI home run in the first-round game against New Bloomfield. Ella Slater was the only Ladybirds with a hit besides Myers in the New Bloomfield game, and Faith Cash had two hits in the South Callaway game.

Lauren Speight allowed four hits in three innings against New Bloomfield, having four of her five runs go as unearned. Olivia Knoepflein allowed seven runs (two earned) on 10 hits 3⅔ innings against South Callaway in what was the freshman’s first varsity start. Ellie Bedsworth relieved both starters, allowing three hits and one run in 4⅓ combined innings and holding South Callaway hitless and scoreless in 1⅓ innings.

North Callaway (3-6) hosts two Class 3 schools with Hallsville coming to Auxvasse on Monday and California visiting on Tuesday. The Ladybirds (3-2 EMO) then host Eastern Missouri Conference foe Montgomery County on Thursday.

Cross country

Centralia boys first, girls second at Fulton Invitational

The Centralia boys packed the top 30 Saturday in Fulton.

The top 20 in the Fulton Invitational took home a medal, but four Panthers finished in the top 30 to help the Centralia boys win the team title. The girls also had four in the top 30 to take second place in the team standings. Overall, Centralia had five medalists.

The boys finished with 98 points to best second-place Hannibal’s 121 and were led by JR Lesher’s sixth-place time of 18:00.25. Carter Moss medaled with an 18th-place time of 18:40.31. John Holiman and Landon Moss rounded out the top 30 in 27th and 30th place, respectively.

The girls had 97 points, which only trailed St, Charles West’s 76 points. Jozelynn Bostick led the team with a ninth-place time of 21:07.63, Kenedee Moss finished 17th with a time of 22:27.84 and Shelby Lewis rounded out the medalists with a 19th-place time of 22:41.37. Annie Robinson finished in 29th place.

Mexico’s Peuster places in top 5 at Fulton Invitational

Thomas Peutster finished not too far behind his home meet time.

The Mexico senior finished in the top 5 of the Fulton Invitational on Saturday, taking fifth place with a time of 17:57.07. Peuster ran to a time of 17:55.7 in his fourth-place finish at the Mexico Cross Country Invitational earlier this season.

He led a boys team that finished seventh in the standings as Guy Fairchild was the next best finisher in 39th place.

The girls secured a top-five team finish thanks to the efforts of two top-25 finishers and three in the top 40. Maggie Ramsey led the team in 24th place with a time of 23:11.92, Kalea Henneberry was right behind her in 25th place with a time of 23:14.65 and Sidney Turlington finished 35th with a time of 23:57.49.

Powell medals for MMA at Fulton Invitational

Missouri Military Academy’s Bryson Powell didn’t finish under 18 minutes Saturday like he has this season but came home with hardware.

Powell ran to a 13th-place time of 18:15.87 in the 5,000-meter race to give MMA a medalist. 

Malachi Imrie was the next best finisher in the varsity race, taking 102nd place with a time of 22:07.08.

Kamil Sanchez had the middle school’s best time in the 3,200-meter race with a 33rd-place mark of 14:18.71. Joshue Miller wasn’t far behind in 36th place with a time of 14:29.02.

Chapman medals for Paris at South Callaway Invitational

Landen Chapman was one of three Coyotes that ran in the 5,000-meter race Saturday in Mokane but still finished near the top.

Paris’ Chapman finished ninth in the South Callaway Invitational with a time of 20:10.43 to bring home a medal. 

Brayden Deornellas was 19th at a time of 20:42.47, and David Elzea finished 32nd with a time of 22:47.41.

For the middle school, Ava Crain was the runner-up in the girls two-mile race at a time of 15:40.65. She was only behind the time of 15:08.82 that was run by Blair Oaks’ Emily Pickett. Gretchen Crusha finished 17th with a time of 18:50.64.

Hayden Deornellas was Paris’ best finisher in the boys two mile run at a time of 15:37.89. Jackson Mikel wasn’t far behind in 12th at a time of 16:41.52.

Schmauch leads North Callaway in Fulton Invitational

North Callaway’s Pressley Schmauch was just a touch behind her medal-winning times earlier this season.

Schmauch ran Saturday in the Fulton Invitational, taking 32nd place with a time of 23:42.49. The top 20 finishers earned a medal, but Schmauch has won two medals previously at meets in Mexico and Linn. At the Mexico meet, she finished 14th with a time of 23:39.00.

Grace Rasmussen was the next best Ladybird finisher with a 61st-place time of 25:50.23. Tristan Young had the boys’ best time with a 37th-place time of 19:42.44.

Volleyball

Lady Bulldogs win one match at New Haven Round Robin

Mexico lost to the champions twice before all was said and done.

The Lady Bulldogs played in the New Haven Round Robin on Saturday, going 1-2-1 in the four games they played. New Haven won the event, defeating Mexico twice on its road there.

Mexico had one victory on the day, defeating Belle 25-11 and 25-17. Jessica Stephens led with nine kills and was one of three Lady Bulldogs to have six digs. Ali Walotka and Ally Wilson were the other two, and Aleigha Jackson followed close behind with five digs.

In its match against Bowling Green, Mexico won the first set 25-17 but couldn’t close out the Lady Bobcats by losing the second set 25-23, earning a tie. Stephens led with eight kills, Lizzie Joiner had seven assists, and Stephens and Wilson each had four digs.

In the first loss to New Haven, Mexico dropped the sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-15. No Lady Bulldog finished with more than two kills, but Wilson had seven assists and six digs. The second match with the Lady Shamrocks was lost 25-22 and 25-14, with Stephens finishing with 11 kills and six digs. 

The first match against New Haven was the only time Mexico finished with a hitting efficiency under 1. 

Mexico (3-6-1, 2-2 NCMC) has a rematch Monday at North Central Missouri Conference rival Fulton before another conference rematch Tuesday at Kirksville.

Look for the full stories in the Sept. 21, 2022, edition of The Mexico Ledger or on the website on the same day.