Baseball at Woodland a new fall fixture

There's not much more exciting than Cardinals baseball in the fall.

That's been known for years around St. Louis and it appears that knowledge has filtered south to Marble Hill, Mo.

In a season when most high schools are playing football and soccer, the Woodland Cardinals have been on the baseball diamond.

Woodland completed its maiden fall baseball season Saturday, becoming the first area school to offer the sport this time of year. Previously the school offered basketball and spring baseball for the boys, but the fall was a sports vacuum. The only sports alternative for boys was watching the girls' volleyball team.

Baseball has always been a popular sport at Woodland, so why not play it in the fall?

"Our goal was to offer our athletes sports in each season -- fall winter and spring -- and now we can accomplish that," Woodland athletic director Curtis Finley said.

The Woodland school board paved the way by approving 10 games and a tournament.

Since many schools they play in the spring don't offer fall baseball, a little more travel was involved. Along with playing fellow Stoddard County schools Puxico and Bernie, the Cardinals played Greenville, West County, Twin Rivers, East Carter County, Kingston and Arcadia Valley.

Rick Kindhart, communications director with the Missouri High School Activities Association, said member schools always have had the option of playing baseball in the fall, but most choose to offer other sports.

"A lot of small schools don't offer football and soccer, so a lot of times baseball is the only fall opportunity for boys to play," Kindhart said.

Leopold athletic director Derek Urhahn said his school is considering the addition of fall baseball.

"We're looking at it right now, but it's not a definite," Urhahn said.

Woodland would welcome the addition of Leopold and others.

"We've already started the scheduling process for next fall and encourage local schools to pick it up," Finley said. "We'd rather play them than go south and west."

An upside to playing in the fall is drier weather. Area teams endured a sloppy spring season last year that played havoc with schedules.

While Woodland wasn't quite as hot as the St. Louis Cardinals in the month of September, they didn't fare too bad. First-year baseball coach Jason Crane led the Cardinals to a 6-5 record.

Let's see if it floats

On the topic of sports additions, Poplar Bluff is adding varsity swimming this year. The Mules will make their debut this winter with the boys and the girls will follow in the spring.

Poplar Bluff's Piranha Swim Club will finance the program and the school board agreed to give it a trial for two or three years.

Changes of note

Perryville will have a new boys' basketball coach this year when Steve Taylor takes over the program. Taylor replaces Jeff Steffens, who stepped down after three seasons to accept the job of athletic director.

Taylor, who teaches biology, coached at the junior high level for two years at Perryville before leaving for graduate school at Southeast Missouri State University. Taylor also did some basketball officiating during the span.

Ted Hahn is the new boys' basketball coach at Woodland, replacing Jennings Wilkinson. Wilkinson, who led the program for nine years, resigned to become middle school principal. Hahn previously was at Hayti.

Kelly Engert has replaced Joe Dandridge as the girls' track coach at Perryville. Engert was formerly an assistant in the track program.

Around the bend

The school year may be young, but playoffs are almost here. District softball tournaments begin next Thursday.

jbreer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 124