Sports

This is the first in a series of stories on the lifelong friendship of two of the more successful baseball coaches in Southeast Missouri. BERNIE – When Portageville hitter Carson Bradley drove a pitch off Bernie pitcher John Nimmo in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 baseball semifinal in May, Bulldog coach Tyler Trover could hardly contain his emotions – both good and bad...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Ben Bledsoe signed a national letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at St. Charles Community College during a ceremony at Hillhouse Park in Charleston, Mo. on Tuesday, June 28. Bledsoe was an All-Scott-Mississippi Conference and All-Class 3 District 1 selection this past season for the Bluejays while batting .300 with 12 RBIs and 20 runs scored. On the mound, Bledsoe had a 3-3 overall record with 45 innings pitched, 84 strikeouts and a 3.11 ERA...

SIKESTON — The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs are in the process of hosting an All-American Volleyball Camp that began on Thursday, June 30 and will conclude on Saturday, July 2. It’s the first year the program has hosted the three-day All-America Camp for the high school team at the Sikeston Field House...

Comedian and former America's Got Talent contestant Mike Goodwin will headline the Semoball awards Friday night, bringing his brand of clean and highly entertaining comedy to the premier high school sports awards show in Southeast Missouri. The Camden, South Carolina native appearedon the 16th season of America's Got Talent where he was eliminated in the deliberations before being invited back to the wild card show...

Free Agent forward Otto Porter Jr. has reached an contract agreement to join the Toronto Raptors on a two-year deal with the second year being a player option. Porter Jr. leaves the Golden State Warriors after helping the team capture the 2022 Larry O’Brien Trophy by defeating the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals...

DEXTER, Mo. — A Rib City Classic Volleyball Tournament was held at the Bearcats Event Center at Dexter High School on Monday, June 27 and Tuesday, June 28. Tournament games were the best of three sets. Games started with a 4-4 score and concluded when one of the teams reaches 25 and led by two points. There was no scoring cap on any of the games...

Cape Catfish pitcher Hunter Ralls has been looking for a “break,” as in his breaking ball being more effective against Prospect League hitters, and he just may have found it.

As if the Cape Central High School boy’s basketball program needed a boost after winning its second MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 championship in four seasons this past spring, the Tigers were unexpectedly blessed to receive another talented student-athlete to the program earlier this month.

It was ironic that the Cape Catfish utilized a base on balls to win their Prospect League game on Wednesday at Capaha Field, 5-3, over Clinton. That is because Catfish manager Steve Larkin actually wants his players “being aggressive” at the plate, rather than sit back and hope for a walk.

DEXTER, Mo. — More than 60 teams from five different states competed at a Rib City Shootout at Dexter High School on Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24. The event is designed to provide athletes and coaches with an inexpensive, organized and competitive setting for a beneficial, offseason development opportunity. Teams competed in two 15 minutes halves and sudden death overtime if necessary...

James Naile couldn’t stop smiling after the St. Louis Cardinals’ 9-0 win over the Miami Marlins Monday night. And who could blame him? Naile, a Charleston native, made his major league debut in front of a large contingent of family and friends at Busch Stadium, pitching a scoreless eighth inning...

There are any number of walk-up songs that would be fitting for Cape Catfish second-year player, Kolten Poorman, as he strides to the plate. He could go with the classic country tune by Toby Keith, “I should’ve been a cowboy.”

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has continually handed Luke Berblinger more and more responsibility in his three-plus years with the Redhawk program.

If you really want to know the origins of Joe Baldwin passing judgment on pitchers’ accuracy throughout Southeast Missouri, you’d have to go all the way back to the dusty dirt fields of the Marston Little League in the early 1960s.

After snapping a 7-game losing streak with a victory on Friday, the Cape Catfish broke a two-game skid on Sunday evening, by taking the second game of a doubleheader at Quincy 8-1.

On Sunday night, Charleston native James Naile received the call he’s been waiting for. On Monday, Naile will report to the St. Louis Cardinals and don the jersey of his favorite team since childhood, according to sources close to the pitcher. The Cardinals have a number of pitchers injured, including ace Jack Flaherty who was pulled on Sunday after just two innings...

Recently-hired Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball assistant coach J.R. Reynolds proudly embraces the adage that “You are known by the company that you keep.”

The Cape Catfish drew three bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday, which resulted in a 6-5 win over the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp at Capaha Field.

SIKESTON — The Sikeston football team wrapped up its summer program with a busy week of activities. The Bulldogs’ hosted the second annual Sikeston 7-on-7 and Big Man Tournament on Tuesday, June 21 and held a contact camp on Thursday, June 23 at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium...

SIKESTON — Charleston was one of 10 teams to compete in the second annual Sikeston 7-on-7 and Big Man Tournament on Tuesday, June 21. The Bluejays were joined by Kennett, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Perryville, Portageville, Dexter, Chaffee, Scott City, Hayti, and East Prairie...

The Cape Catfish are in dire need of some positive mojo right now and there has been no player in the brief history of the franchise that exudes positivity more so than Ellison Hanna II.

As the Cape Catfish has become the most successful franchise in the Prospect League over the past couple of summers, putting together any extended number of losses has been a non-thought, and no one knows that more so than Kolten Poorman, who has been a fixture in the Catfish lineup for over a year.

CHARLESTON, Mo. — The McDonald’s Fighting Squirrels recently added another memorable milestone. The team recorded its 500th win in program history with resounding victories in a doubleheader at Poplar Bluff on Thursday, June 16. “Picking up win No. 500 is a great accomplishment for our program,” said MFS coach Michael Minner. ...

DEXTER – If the Alday guys have learned anything over the past few years, it is that you can’t plan life.

The Cape Catfish find themselves in a peculiar position – last place in the Western Conference Praire Land Division.