Oran rolls past St. Vincent for first win of the season (08/27/08) PERRYVILLE -- The Oran Lady Eagles started the season on a positive note Tuesday afternoon, defeating St. Vincent 14-0. Oran was held scoreless for the first three innings before breaking through for six runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Lady Eagles added three more in the fifth and five in the seventh...

Offenses rule on fall baseball's opening day (08/26/08) By DAR STAFF The Doniphan Dons got three runs in the first frame on the way to a five-inning 11-1 win over Van Buren. Travis Moe and Ethan King each had two RBIs for the Dons while Zack Swindle had one. "We scored runs, we kind of took what the pitcher gave us," Doniphan coach Jason Rose said. "I was pretty proud overall of how we swung the bats."...

Pitching depth has East Carter ready to defend district (08/20/08) By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer ELLSINORE -- The East Carter softball team literally has mounds of talent. The Lady Redbirds have four pitchers heading into the season -- sophomore Mariah Randazzo, senior Bethany LeGrand, sophomore Courtney Newman and freshman Molly Freeze. All four are able to bring something to the mound, East Carter coach Angie Bowman said...

ROUNDUP: Sixth-seeded Greenville advances (05/13/08) By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer The Greenville Bears didn't pay attention to the seeds of the Class 2 District 3 tournament. Behind ace Joey Morey, the No. 6 seed Bears scratched across two runs and beat No. 3 seed Alton on Monday at Raider Field, 2-0...

Pitching dominates OFC softball field (05/04/08) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer When the Ozark Foothills Conference softball tournament gets underway Monday at Three Rivers' Rains Field, there is no telling what may happen. With rain wiping out a good portion of the season, teams enter the tournament with little in the way of actual game experience. That could be a factor, especially in the first round, as opponents may face each other for the first time since last fall...

ROUNDUP: Neelyville, Twin Rivers softball roll (05/02/08) By DAR STAFF Chelsea Lane held the Lady Tigers to three hits, and the Lady Eagles used their speed and baserunning to overwhelm Clearwater 11-0. "They're one of the best-hitting teams around," Clearwater coach Shannon England said of the Lady Eagles...

ROUNDUP: Greenville rallies, walks away with victory in eighth (04/15/08) By DAR STAFF The Greenville Bears rallied from a three-run deficit to force extra innings and scored the winning run on a bases-loaded walk to defeat Naylor 8-7 in eight innings Monday. D.J. Robinson went 3-for-5 and scored three times while Joey Morey went 3-for-4 and also scored three times for the Bears...

Doniphan players lead OFC selections (03/27/08) DAR Staff The All-Ozark Foothills Conference was led by three Dons and a pair of Lady Eagles. Charles Wilson, Chandler Wilson and Tyler Collins led Doniphan to the OFC title while coach Jason Andrews was named Coach of the Year. Clearwater, Naylor and Twin Rivers each placed two players on the team. Luke Hillis and Kyle Randolph qualified from Clearwater, while Eagles Travis Thomas and Caleb Johnson and Royals Kenny Johnson and Dylan Stockton were also honored...

ROUNDUP: Greenville holds off Bell City 2-1 in baseball (03/26/08) By DAR STAFF The Greenville Bears picked up a pair of runs in the first inning and held on for a 2-1 road win Tuesday at Bell City. Leadoff man Nick Wren reached on an error to start the and came around to score game on a double by Robert Abernathy. Jacob Wood then drove Abernathy home with a single...

PREVIEW: Twin Rivers softball wants another title shot (03/17/08) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer The Twin Rivers Lady Royals have a bitter taste from the fall softball season. After winning 16 of their first 17, the Lady Royals suffered an 1-0 loss to East Carter in the district championship. Now they are looking to turn their fortunes around as they begin their drive for a conference title...

Lady Bears advance with defensive gem (02/05/08) Greenville jumped to a big lead in 82-20 win against East Carter.

Twin Rivers finds mark from long range vs. East Carter (02/05/08) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer BROSELEY -- East Carter took host Twin Rivers by surprise at the start of Monday's first-round game in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament before the Royals' speed and depth overtook the Redbirds, resulting in an 86-47 win...

A game-by-game preview of the OFC tournament (02/01/08) Here's a game-by-game look at the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament, which starts Saturday at Twin Rivers. BOYS (1) Doniphan The defending champion Dons have a first-round bye as the top seed and will face the winner of the Clearwater-Neelyville matchup on Tuesday. ...

Ellington rallies, beats Liberty 61-60 (01/27/08) BY DAR STAFF Ellington overcame a 14-point first quarter deficit and then dodged a bullet in the end to hold on Friday night for 61-60 victory over Liberty. The Eagles had the ball down four with four seconds left and got to within one on a 3-pointer before time ran out...

Puxico faces Cubs in Stoddard County final (01/25/08) By DAR STAFF Puxico will get another shot at the state-ranked Bell City Cubs. The Indians will face Bell City in the championship game of the Stoddard County tournament at 8:30 p.m. tonight. The Cubs won the last meeting between the two teams, a 69-62 overtime game at Puxico...

Doniphan boys, Naylor girls have top seeds in OFC brackets (01/24/08) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer Doniphan and Naylor took the top seeds in the upcoming Ozark Foothills Conference boys and girls tournaments, which will take place Feb. 2-7 at Twin Rivers. The championship games will take place Feb. 8 at Three Rivers Community College...

Puxico shakes slow start at Stoddard County tourney (01/22/08) By DAR STAFF Puxico overcame a slow start Monday night to beat Richland 55-45 in the Stoddard County Tournament. "They got off to a 6-0 start and we started pressing and we established ourselves," Puxico coach Josh Dowdy said. "I felt like it turned the game around."...

ROUNDUP: Greenville beats Van Buren; Twin Rivers pair tops 1,000 points (01/15/08) By DAR STAFF VAN BUREN -- Sara Woodgeard scored 26 points and Lindsay Henson added 14 as Greenville earned a 60-44 road win over Van Buren on Monday. The Lady Bears (11-2) got out to a quick start to keep the host Lady Bulldogs from gaining any momentum from the crowd. Keyed by their defense, which resulted in a slow start for Van Buren, Greenville built a 15-4 edge by the end of the opening quarter and stretched it to 29-11 by halftime...

ROUNDUP: Bell City sinks Puxico with OT 3s (01/09/08) By DAR STAFF Ethan Watkins hit two 3-pointers in overtime Tuesday night to lead Bell City past host Puxico. "We didn't do a good job closing out on him and the kid stepped up and made the shots," Puxico coach Josh Dowdy said. Watkins finished the game with 22 points and teammate Nick Niemczyk added 21 in the win...

ROUNDUP: Jackson girls surge past Doniphan for 45-39 win (01/04/08) By DAR STAFF Jackson overcame a one-point halftime deficit and outscored the Doniphan Donettes 8-2 over the final 2 minutes to break a tie and come away with a 45-39 win. "We had our chances," Doniphan coach Jimbo Blackwell said. The Donettes (6-3, 1-2 SEMO) got the game off to a good start and held a five-point lead after the first quarter before the Jackson defense turned up the pressure...

Royals hold on; Van Buren gains another upset (12/28/07) Twin Rivers holds off East Prairie

Upsets claim Bernie, Bloomfield (12/28/07) BLOOMFIELD - Upsets are becoming as common as the opening tip-off at the 51st Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament with the number of higher seeded teams to fall reaching six after Thursday's second day of action. Defending champion Malden pulled off the biggest shocker when the No. ...

Twin Rivers' comeback falls short vs. South Pemiscot (12/27/07) By DAR STAFF BLOOMFIELD -- Twin Rivers erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit Wednesday night, but couldn't overcome an upset in the first round of the 51st Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. Caleb McIntyre scored with 16.6 seconds remaining to give 11th seed South Pemiscot a 64-62 win...

Donettes rebound at Lady Royals Classic (12/18/07) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer BROSELEY -- After a disappointing showing in the first round of the Lady Royals Classic, No. 4 seed Doniphan rebounded Monday to put away No. 12 seed Senath-Hornersville 63-33. In other consolation games, Sikeston beat Charleston 51-40, New Madrid knocked off Kennett 52-20 and Malden beat East Carter 67-35...

Despite weather, tourney starts and top seeds roll (12/16/07) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer BROSELEY -- The day got off to an ominous start as the nasty weather outside produced a leak in the gym ceiling. The 12 hours of hoops was on track to finish Saturday night with the threat of snow. At presstime, half of the eight games were completed...

Defending champ Dexter is top seed in Lady Royals Classic (12/14/07) By Brad Hurt ~ DAR Sports Writer If you ask Dexter coach Chad Allen how his Lady Bearcats got to be the top seed heading into the Lady Royals Classic, which begins Saturday in Brosley, the answer is simple. "My girls work well together," he says. Allen and his team sit in the precarious position of being labeled the best in a field of 16 teams, meaning they will get everyone's best shot, beginning with No. 16 seed East Carter when the tournament starts at 9:30 a.m. Saturday...

Malden girls overcome illness to beat South Pem (12/11/07) By DAR STAFF With several players showing their perseverance by playing through illness, the Malden girls used a big third quarter to overtake South Pemiscot for a 57-52 win. "I had three or four girls playing through a stomach virus," Lady Wave coach Chris Hicks said. "There were two starters that were fighting fatigue, sickness and fever throughout the game."...

Williamson's 38 leads Bloomfield past East Carter (12/07/07) By DAR STAFF Kyle Williamson scored a game-high 38 points and capped off the night with a one-handed slam as the Wildcats pulled away from East Carter in the second half for a 81-59 win. Williamson also connected on four of Bloomfield's six 3-pointers...

Dons win OFC opener; Ellington beats Greenville (12/05/07) By DAR STAFF Doniphan used a 29-6 first quarter spurt to cruise to a 78-30 win over East Carter in Ozark Foothills Conference play Tuesday night. "I thought we came out really intense and got after them defensively which generated offense," Doniphan coach Jason Andrews said...

Defense, fast break helps Donettes roll past East Carter (12/04/07) Five Doniphan players scored in double figures in 68-16 victory.

Meadow Heights boys collect pair of victories (11/25/07) The Meadow Heights boys basketball team bounced back from a season-opening loss to Leopold to beat Winona 87-81 in overtime Friday and then post its second win Saturday, beating East Carter 74-58. "It felt good to win. We're starting to slowly get back in the swing of things," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said after the first victory...

Bernie, Bell City advance to SCAA volleyball final (10/12/07) By DAR STAFF PUXICO -- Jenny Eubank and Kristin Eaves led the way with 10 kills and five solo blocks each and Jessie Alexander added eight as Bernie swept Woodland 25-23, 25-20 in the semifinal of the SCAA Tournament. The Lady Mules (16-10-1) face top-seeded Bell City tonight in the championship game...

Kelly bunts its way past East Carter (10/11/07) By BRAD HURT ~ Sports Writer Armed with their "small ball" style of offense, the Kelly Lady Hawks overcame a sluggish start to overwhelm East Carter 9-2 in Wednesday's MSHSAA Class 2 sectional playoff. "Once they got started on their bunting and running, we didn't know how to handle it," East Carter coach Angie Bowman said. "We don't face teams that do that. That was the key to the game."...

Kelly uses 12-hit effort to reach quarterfinals (10/11/07) POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Armed with their small ball style of offense, the Kelly Hawks overcame a sluggish start to overwhelm East Carter 9-2 in Wednesday's Class 2 sectional playoff. "As long as I've been coaching, you can't take the small ball away," Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge said...

East Carter softball team has come a long way (10/09/07) By BRAD HURT ~ Sports Writer ELLSINORE -- Before the biggest game of the season, the East Carter softball team found itself stuck indoors Monday, forced to practice in the elementary school gym by a steady rain. "We need the rain, but the team really needs to be out on the field," said assistant coach Robert Eudaley...

Red October: East Carter sinks Twin Rivers for district title (10/07/07) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer East Carter's Mariah Randazzo and Carlee Vancil of Twin Rivers kept getting out jams Friday as the pitchers dueled at Rains Field for the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 title. The two teams combined for 10 hits but Randazzo and the Lady Redbirds pulled out a 1-0 victory for their first district title in three years...

East Carter rallies late to oust Greenville (10/05/07) By ALEX ABATE ~ Sports Writer Up to the fourth inning of the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 semifinal, the East Carter offense was nearly silent. It all changed in that frame as Courtney Saffle and Mariah Randazzo both reached on errors. With two outs, Nicole Neidenberg hit a double that knocked in Saffle and Randazzo to make it 2-0. A single by Tiffany Baker made it 3-0...

East Carter, Greenville, Malden take care of district business (10/04/07) By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer East Carter softball coach Angie Bowman always tells her players to never take an opponent lightly. The Lady Redbirds took their coach's advice Wednesday and left nothing to chance as they rolled past Clearwater, 11-1 in five innings, to start the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 tournament at Raines Field...

Royals try to defend district crown (10/03/07) By ALEX ABATE ~ Sports Writer Many local softball teams have aspirations of making it to state competition, and for many of them the road will start at the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 tournament which is set to kick off today at Three Rivers Community College...

Wild, wacky OFC openers: Naylor upsets Bears; Dons edge Tigers (10/02/07) By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer Last year's surprise team in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament has a few more tricks up its sleeve. The No. 6 seed Naylor Eagles have come to this year's tournament eager to prove that they are better than their three wins might suggest, upsetting third-seeded Greenville 12-7 in the first round Monday...

Sikeston softball wins big on the road against East Carter (09/26/07) Andrew Powell ~ Standard Democrat EAST CARTER -- Tuesday afternoon the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team traveled to East Carter taking on the Lady Redbirds. The Lady 'Dogs had a solid performance as they came out on top 8-2. Sikeston came out and set the tone early as they showed flash with both their bats on offense and their gloves on defense...

West's inside-the-park homer highlights Poplar Bluff's softball win (09/18/07) By DAR STAFF KENNETT -- Poplar Bluff's Alex West did what Kennett coach Laurie Vaughan would like to see her Lady Indians do. West drove a hit into the gap and used her speed to turn it into an inside-the-park home run Monday capping a three-run third inning as the Lady Mules took a 9-1 win...

Naylor beats East Carter; Vancil whiffs 20 in Twin Rivers' win (09/18/07) Naylor and Twin Rivers will square off this week.

East Carter trims winless Clearwater 5-4 in eight innings (09/14/07) By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Staff Writer ELLSINORE -- Even though Clearwater had lost eight games going into a tilt against East Carter, the Lady Tigers showed no signs of a team that was struggling. With the game tied 4-4 in the eighth, Clearwater loaded the bases with two outs, but Tesha Swafford grounded out to third base to end the threat...

Vancil leads Twin Rivers softball past East Carter (08/31/07) Carlee Vancil struck out 17 and held East Carter to two hits to lead Twin Rivers to a 7-1 win over the Redbirds on Thursday. Vancil, Samantha Leutert and Bethany Keirsey each collected a pair of hits for coach Barb Cunningham.

Twin Rivers baseball stomps East Carter (08/31/07) DAR staff Freshman Cole McBroom went 3-for-3 at the plate in his Twin Rivers debut as the Royals trounced East Carter 26-1 on Thursday. McBroom hit a grand slam in his first at-bat and added a two-run double and a three-run home run for a total of nine RBI...

Twin Rivers blanks East Carter on Vancil's no-hitter (08/24/07) Twin Rivers 4, East Carter 0 It was just another game for the most dominant pitcher in the area. Junior Carlee Vancil put on yet another dazzling pitching performance in Twin Rivers' season opener on Thursday, recording a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts in a home win...

East Carter issues "longterm" suspensions from hazing incident (08/23/07) By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH ~ DAR Associate Editor ELLSINORE -- East Carter County Superintendent Tim Hager has issued what he described as "longterm" suspensions to the students involved in an alleged hazing incident at a summer basketball camp. "The high school principal has done a 10-day suspension," Hager said. "The discipline slips were forwarded to me...

Kelly softball opens with win at East Carter (08/21/07) The Hawks needed only five innings for the season-opening victory.

East Carter coach Stahl resigns; Winona coach hired (08/16/07) By DONNA FARLEY ~ DAR Staff Writer An East Carter School District coach has resigned in the wake of a hazing scandal involving the school's junior and varsity basketball teams. Benji Stahl, a 1997 graduate of the district, had been a coach at the Ellsinore school for five years. His resignation was officially accepted by board members during a special meeting Friday night...

East Carter dad speaks out (08/14/07) By Michelle Friedrich ~ Associate Editor ELLSINORE -- With the status of hazing charges against East Carter County basketball players uncertain at this time, one father is angry over what he feels is the wrongful suspension of his son. Randy Robertson described his son as the "protector" for some of the younger players, not one of the alleged perpetrators...

CHARGES EXPECTED IN EAST CARTER HAZING (07/03/07) By Michelle Friedrich ~ DAR Associate Editor BATESVILLE, Ark. -- Charges are expected to be filed in an Arkansas juvenile court later this week against three East Carter County basketball players accused in a "hazing incident" involving younger players...

Camp 'incident' discussed at East Carter board meeting (06/27/07) By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH ~ DAR Associate Editor About 30 parents of East Carter County basketball players met behind closed doors with school officials Monday night to discuss their concens over an "alleged incident" that occured while their sons attended a summer camp in Arkansas...

ALL-STATE BASEBALL (06/26/07) The all-state team from the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association:

East Carter basketball allegations being investigated (06/21/07) By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH ~ DAR Associate Editor ELLSINORE -- Details are sketchy at this time but East Carter County Schools Superintendent Tim Hager confirms an "alleged incident " involving several basketball players occurred last week at an Arkansas summer camp. The incident is being investigated...

FINAL TRACK HONOR ROLL (05/29/07) Top 10 performances in each event as reported in the five newspapers that are media partners with Semoball.com, through the state meet May 26: (Note: Performances in preliminaries and by individuals in relay meets are not included; only events where an individual is eligible to score points for his or her team.)...

Top-seeded Clearwater survived opening district scare (05/16/07) By TANNER KENT ~ Sports Writer BROSELEY -- During Clearwater's 2-1 Class 2 District 3 opening-round win against East Carter, seven total players were hit by pitches. During their matchup a month ago -- in which Clearwater won 13-2 -- 10 players were hit by pitches...

BASEBALL, GIRLS SOCCER DISTRICT BRACKETS (05/11/07) Check out the schedules for the upcoming tournaments.

BASEBALL, GIRLS SOCCER DISTRICT PAIRINGS (05/11/07) BASEBALL Class 4 District 1 (at Hillsboro) Monday, May 14 -- First round: (4) Seckman vs. (5) Fox, 4 p.m.; (3) Hillsboro vs. (6) Poplar Bluff, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15 -- Semifinals: (1) Cape Central vs. Seckman or Fox, 4 p.m.; (2) Jackson vs. Hillsboro vs. Poplar Bluff, 6:30 p.m...

Track honor roll (05/10/07) BOYS AND GIRLS top performers through May 9

East Carter tops Neelyville in OFC baseball action (05/09/07) By DAR STAFF A big third inning carried East Carter to a 9-7 Ozark Foothills Conference win against Neelyville on Tuesday. Already leading 3-0 in the third, Derek Joplin followed a leadoff walk with a single. Josh Seib smacked a two-run single and, three batters later, Jordan Reynolds recorded another two-run single...

Neelyville's Parish comes through in clutch (05/09/07) The fifth-seeded Tigers beat fourth-seeded East Carter in the Ozark Foothills Conference semifinals.

Poplar Bluff beats rain, East Carter in baseball home finale (05/09/07) By BRIAN ROSENER ~ Sports Editor With the Poplar Bluff Mules leading by eight runs in the top of the third inning Monday, the distant sound of thunder threatened to spoil Senior Night. Cameron Pickard struck out the side in the fifth and finished with 11 strikeouts just before the dark cloud moved over Strenfel Memorial Field...

East Carter's Stephens to play softball at Lindendwood (05/04/07)

MSHSAA members vote to expand football playoffs (05/04/07) By BRIAN ROSENER ~ Sports Editor There won't be a separate playoff for private schools, but the postseason bracket for football will expand in 2008. Missouri State High School Activities Association member schools voted 321-92 against a proposal to split the public and nonpublic schools into separate playoffs for every sport except football...

Semoball Girls Track Honor Roll (05/03/07) Top 10 performances in each event as reported in the five newspapers that are media partners with Semoball.com, through April 29...

Vancil pitches no-hitter for unbeaten Twin Rivers softball team (05/02/07) In baseball, Campbell edges Bernie 5-3

Raiders split weekend four-game baseball series (04/30/07) DAR STAFF Three Rivers turned a triple play, got no-hit and split a four-game weekend series at Maple Woods. Jamie Petty's completegame, seven-strikeout effort led to the Raiders' 6-2 win on Sunday and a 3-for-4 performance at the plate by Daniel Mullis led Three Rivers to a 10-8 win Saturday. On Saturday, the Raiders lost Game 1, 7-6, and also fell in Game 2 on Sunday by the score of 3-0...

Clearwater baseball rallies to stay unbeaten (04/20/07) DAR STAFF Thanks to a late rally, the Clearwater Tigers remained undefeated with a 13-5 victory against Ozark Foothills Conference foe Neelyville on Thursday. Behind two RBIs from Caleb Dockins, Neelyville led the game 5-4 when Clearwater came to the plate in the sixth inning. But Clearwater exploded for nine runs in the bottom half of the frame to improve its record to 11-0 on the spring...

Naylor freshman Lane fights illness, twirls no-hitter (04/13/07) DAR STAFF Naylor freshman Chelsea Lane overcame sickness and threw her first no-hitter of the season Thursday as the Lady Eagles rolled past Bernie, 10-0, in six innings. Lane finished with five strikeouts and four walks despite missing significant time earlier in the week because of an illness...

Green Wave roll past Puxico into title game (12/29/06) BLOOMFIELD -- Malden had little trouble with Puxico in Thursday's semifinal round of the 50th annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, as the Green Wave showed that they deserved the top seed with a 71-46 decision over the fourth-seeded Indians that vaulted them into tonight's championship game...

50th annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament (12/28/06) Puxico is lone SCAA representative in the hunt

50th annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament (12/27/06) Trio of SCAA teams advance

Lady Eagles allow only eight points (11/29/06) By DAR STAFF The SEMO News Service provided information for this story. NAYLOR -- The following is not a typo: The Naylor Lady Eagles really did defeat Eminence 80-8 in the Naylor Invitational on Tuesday. Led by Hailee Deckard's 29 points, the Lady Eagles did not score less than 15 points in any quarter and held the Lady Redwings without a point for the first five minutes of the game...

Bell City falls in opener (11/25/06) The Bell City boys basketball team lost its season-opening contest, falling to Memphis (Tenn.) Central 72-38 on Friday afternoon in the Riverbend Classic at New Madrid County Central. The Cubs, who were runners-up in Class 1 last season, had problems against the Warriors' pressure defense and committed 23 turnovers...

Doniphan looks to dominate Ozark Foothills Conference (11/22/06) OFC BOYS At the beginning of the season, the Daily American Republic sports department sends out a short preseason questionnaire to area coaches. Included among the questions is one asking about that particular team's conference outlook. The coaches' answers pertaining to the Ozark Foothills Conference boys' season were telling...

OFC girls have star power (11/22/06) OFC Girls Warning to all Southeast Missouri basketball players, fans and coaches: This story may cause extreme jealousy, upset stomach and, in some advanced cases, intense defensive discomfort. After last season in which three area underclassmen were named to All-State girls basketball teams, the secret is undoubtedly out of the closet. The film footage has been reviewed and the stat sheets have been tabulated...