A relatively-light slate of competition for the county’s high school golfers last week saw Brookfield in action last Thursday at Boonville and Marceline have dual matches at Shelbina a week ago and at Kansas City against larger schools’ junior-varsity contingents.
As much as it could have been, last week was a successful one for the Marceline and Brookfield high school baseball teams. It was just a little more so for MHS’ Tigers.
With sophomore Samantha “Sam” Sharp leading the way with a sweep of the individual middleand long-distance races and two relay squads also winning, Brookfield High School’s track-and-field Lady Bulldogs handily topped an 8-teams field in the Trenton Early Bird Meet, Brookfield’s first scoring meet of 2023, at C.F. Russell Stadium last Thursday.
Marceline High School’s golf Tigers had mixed results from their first dual-match action of 2023 last week, while Brookfield’s Bulldogs came up empty in two outings. After being without its top two players as it fell decisively to both host Macon and Kirksville March 27, with its normal quintet, Marceline recovered to tie Moberly and defeat New Bloomfield in action at Moberly’s Heritage Hills course last Thursday.
Although Macon County R-4/ Bucklin began this week hoping to finally get its first 2023 high school baseball game played at Meadville today at 5 p.m., Linn County R-1’s Mustangs and Meadville’s Eagles did get two games each in last week, generating one triumph. Linn County R-1 used a 6-runs third inning to set up a 9-7 road win at Marceline last Thursday after dropping its opener at Brashear 12-8 on March 28.
Heavily-damaged by graduation after having five state medal-winners and a top-10 team finish at the state meet last May, Marceline High School’s girls’ track-and-field squad managed only a sixth-place team finish in its opening 2023 scoring meet – the Fayette Relays – last Thursday. The Lady Tigers, minus multiple- times state champion high jumper Ramzee Bruner and other standouts, did produce two event wins – both the 400- and 3,200-meters relays – on the Central Methodist University track.
The opening days of the 2023 Major League Baseball season provided contrasting, if not entirely unexpected, performances for Missouri’s teams. On the heels of a torrid offensive spring during exhibition play in Arizona, fans nudged toward cynicism by the club’s only-briefly-interrupted absence from serious, sustained postseason contention for more than 30 years likely expected the Kansas City Royals to have difficulty scoring runs when they returned to the cooler Midwest climes.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has announced it will host a free Conservation Family Night in Chillicothe tomorrow night (Thursday, April 6) from 5-7 o’clock at the Grand River Area Family YMCA. The event will feature fun activities, nature exhibits, and an opportunity for visitors to talk with MDC biologists and conservation agents.
While Major League Baseball was getting its new season underway late last week with improved ingame pace of play, the pace of high school baseball action also picked up in the county, even if results were not that favorable for the Brookfield and Marceline teams. Brookfield did outlast Carrollton 14-13 at home last Thursday, three days after its delayed season opener saw it drop a 12-3 decision to visiting Ewing: Highland.
Four outstanding Class 1 high school basketball players from Linn County or neighboring teams have been accorded All-State status for the 2022-23 season by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, the organization announced at mid-week last week. Of the four, only one is a senior this school year – Hayden Harms of Mendon: Northwestern.