Community Sports

The most prestigious golf tournament in Southeast Missouri returns this weekend. Joshua Rhodes kicked off last year’s tournament as No.1, and the Kentucky native will look to raise the trophy once again as the winner of the Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational...

Capaha Field is the jewel of Cape Girardeau sports. Nestled in the middle of Capaha field, it is home to the oldest amateur baseball team in America, an NCAA Division I baseball team, an exciting collegiate summer baseball team, numerous high school baseball games, and most recently, the Babe Ruth World Series. This old but enduring ballpark is active from mid-February through August...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Ten years ago, Lane Below was named the Southeast Missourian Player of the Year in boys basketball and helped the Advance Hornets make it to the Class 2 quarterfinals. Wednesday, Below got his first head coaching job in the college ranks when he was named the coach at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City...

One thing coach Jessie Walker-Luce is passionate about is showcasing the talents of the local gymnastics team. The Xtreme Gymnastics program hosted the 2024 Ozark AAU District Championships in Poplar Bluff at the Black River Coliseum on Saturday and Sunday for an opportunity to head to the national tournament...

For a guy who became a multimillionaire playing baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals at a legendary level, Adam Wainwright’s music resonated more with the humble lifestyle of his venue. The former pitcher performed as the headliner of a country music concert on Monday, April 8, in Chaffee, Mo., as hundreds of spectators converged at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Drive-In to witness a total solar eclipse...

The Solar Sprint 5K helped kick off Monday’s Eclipse Day activities, with racers taking off from Broadway and Vine streets at 8:30 a.m. The race wound through the hills and brick streets of Downtown Poplar Bluff. The overall winner was David Mincemeyer, with a time of 17 minutes, 8 seconds...

For the first 10 years of its existence, the Wolf Creek Trail Run was held the day before Easter. But with an historic solar eclipse slated for the weekend after Easter this year, the event’s organizers decided to capitalize on it and hold it a week later than usual...

Three-time MLB All-Star and member of the 2025 Hall of Fame Ballot, Curtis Granderson is returning to Cape Girardeau for ‘Swing into Spring with Curtis Granderson’ on Saturday, April 27, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex. The event, hosted by People Organized to Revitalize Community Healing (PORCH) and the Cape Girardeau Parks & Recreation Department, will feature a night of stories and autographs with the former major leaguer...

When the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships begin on May 25 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, two local golfers will be participating. Todd Obergoenner and Blake Driskell are both graduates of Cape Central High School where they were teammates on the golf team...

If you watched the Cape Catfish a season ago, you would notice there wasn’t a shortage of local talent. From Caden Bogenpohl to Lane Crowden, the Catfish took the field with players that have ties to the area. Things are trending that way for the 2024 season as well with the recent announcement the Catfish have signed Jackson alum Henley Parker...

The Cape Catfish often speak of possessing a “championship culture” in every aspect of the organization, and so bringing in a player who has first-hand experience of winning the ultimate baseball championship, a World Series, only makes too much sense.

Sikeston native Gavilan Bland won the middleweight title when he defeated Tavae Lewis by TKO in the second round at Cage of Honor 91 on Saturday, March 9, at the AC Base Arena. Bland went 39-5 as a high school wrestler in Sikeston, finishing his career with a fourth-place medal at the 2008 state championships. He went on to wrestle collegiately at Missouri Baptist...

A lot was going through Danielle Thomason’s mind during her bout at Cage of Honor 90 on Nov.. 4, 2023. She was not only fighting in the local promotion’s first-ever female title fight for herself but for her adopted hometown and for all women in mixed martial arts. With each “first” representing a butterfly in her stomach, she pounded the pressure and her opponent to become Cage of Honor’s first female champion...

There is a level of expectation that comes with signing up to be a part of the Cape Catfish baseball organization, and Phil Butler doesn’t find that intimidating, he embraces it.

Duane Ludwig, a former UFC fighter and award-winning coach, arrived at Cape Girardeau on Saturday, Feb. 17, to teach a Muay Thai seminar at the Peak Performance Training Center. Ludwig had a 21-14 record in MMA including one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history. He was also voted coach of the year during the 2013 and 2014 World MMA Awards...

Crossroads Ministries, 416 S. C St., will be the site for a free Super Bowl party and everyone is invited, organizers said. The event will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs play in the annual National Football League championship game in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada...

If you want to go ahead and put a date on your calendar for the future, in the summer of 2039 (or so), the Southeast Tropics will be battling the Charleston Fighting Squirrels (probably at Hillhouse Park, and it will more than likely be a doubleheader), and the game will feature starting pitchers Callen Minner for the Squirrels while Jovi Schwartz will be throwing for the Tropics.

Regardless of what team the fans root for, the one group everyone seems to have a problem with is the referees. Whether it’s a foul they called or one that they missed, fans and coaches alike seem to always have a reason to be mad at the officials. But sanctioned sports wouldn’t exist without the referees and even they get awards. And this time it went to a local high school athlete...

SIKESTON — Month after silencing bats from around the globe at Capaha Park, the Southeast Tropics finally got their bling. The 2023 Babe Ruth 18U World Series champs celebrated with a ring ceremony, adding a permanent sparkle to their legacy. “It was a great ceremony,” said Mason Adams. ...

The St. Louis Cardinals have traded Charleston native James Naile to the KIA Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) in a move that benefits both parties. The Cardinals received $250,000 in cash considerations for the 30-year-old pitcher, while Naile secured the strongest contract of his career to date...

At just 17-years old, newly drafted St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Tink Hence made the decision to turn pro out of high school rather than going to college. Now, four-years later, that decision has proven to be a good one by Hence. “The biggest thing for me was that I knew my plan was to play baseball,” Hence said when the annual Cardinals Caravan stopped in Cape Girardeau on Monday. “I wasn’t going to go be a doctor. My love was baseball.”...

Baseball fans from all over the area got a chance to see some of the hometown MLB team players when the St. Louis Cardinals Caravan stopped in Cape Girardeau. The event was held at the Osage Center on Monday, Jan 15. Members of the caravan included both current and past players: Alec Burleson, Drew Rom, Tink Hence, Sem Robberse, Xavier Scruggs and Jason Simontacchi along with Polo Ascencio who was the emcee of the event...

A local trap team is looking to add more members to their roster. The SEMO Youth Shooters trap team will open for signups for their 2024 season on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Poplar Bluff Gun Club. The SEMO Shooters extend their invitation to new members from the fourth grade to collegiate students in Poplar Bluff and surrounding areas...

For the second consecutive year, the Poplar Bluff Trails Coalition is gearing up for three trail runs, with the first coming on Feb. 10 at the Asher Creek Trail at Lake Wappapello State Park. Trails Coalition member Brock Littles said past participants hailed from St. Louis, Cape, Springfield, Jefferson City as well as other states...

Have you ever wanted to learn how to camp and fish with an “elite tent camper,” who also serves as the head football coach at Southeast Missouri State (Tom Matukewicz)?

You can’t plan events in life to a great degree. You can have dreams and hopes, but how the story unfolds is often unknown in the beginning.

Editor’s Note: This is part one in a two-part series about local businessman and world-record holding boat racer, Slug Hefner There are many words or phrases that could be used to describe Slug Hefner. Some could even say he’s got a screw loose for wanting to defy physics...

Neelyville native Joshua Miller continued to represent his country recently as the archer competed in the 2023 Pan American Field Championships in Iguana, Argentina. It was a grueling competition with varying conditions and high temps but when the dust settled, Miller finished with a bronze medal in the men’s lowbow division...

For 40 years, Cindy Gannon has played a massive role within the sports landscape of Cape Girardeau. However, after doing some soul searching, the longtime coach and administrator, initially with Southeast Missouri State, and most recently the Cape Catfish, is stepping aside to “get to know me again.”

Everyone was on their feet in respects to Kyle Kurtz as the local legend made his final walk to the cage. The Jackson native was supposed to go out with a bang and retain his middle weight title belt at Cage of Honor 90 on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the AC Base Arena. Instead he went out with a whimper, tapping out to Tavae Lewis after being caught with a rear-naked choke hold...

Jackson native Kyle "The Hurtz" Kurtz fought professionally since 2015. He's compiled a winning record of 12-10 and has been to Bellator and back, but when he enters the cage as the main event in Cage of Honor 90 on Saturday, Nov. 4, in the AC Base Arena, he will do so for the last time as a fighter...

ELLISINORE – Tons of smiles and laughter took over Brodie Gargac Memorial Field on Friday. The Ellsinore Family Career Community Leadership of America (FCCLA) organization hosted its inaugural Star Ball game. The event welcomed anyone with special physical or mental disabilities to participate in a fun game of baseball...