KELLY CLIPS CLOPTON, RETURNS TO STATE

ST. LOUIS -- It was a pretty good weekend for Kim Riley.

Behind Riley's clutch hitting and excellent pitching, Kelly High's softball team, which finished second in the Class 2A state tournament last year, will return to the state tournament this season.

Kelly beat Clopton 2-0 Saturday at the Bellefountain Neighbors softball complex.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth, Riley singled to drive in both runs.

On the mound, Riley earned the shutout, allowing just two hits, while striking out three and walking one.

Kelly (16-4) totaled three hits. Marissa Essner went 2-for-2.

"It was a very good game," said Kelly coach Rhonda Evans. "It could have gone either way.

"We needed (Riley's) hit, and she threw and excellent game."

Kelly's defense, which committed seven errors in the district championship game, was taut. The Lady Hawks committed no errors.

Kelly will face an opponent yet to be determined at 11 a.m. Friday in Columbia.

SOCCER

Cape Central 3, Springfield-Glendale 2

ST. LOUIS -- Cape Central continued to shake its season-long scoring slump with three first-half goals in a victory over Springfield-Glendale Saturday at St. Louis Soccer Park.

The victory was the fourth in a row for Central, which improved to 7-11-2.

After Glendale took a 1-0 lead, Mike Stone tied the score 20 minutes into the game by depositing his own blocked shot.

Four minutes later Josh Miller put Central ahead for good by heading in a head-ball pass from Bryan Welker.

Nathan Gibbar ran the lead to 3-1 one minute before halftime when he scored off a free kick from just outside the penalty box.

Glendale closed the scoring on a goal with seven minutes left in the game.

"We're starting to gel a little bit and score a little bit," said Cape Central coach Tom Doyle.

Glendale won the JV game 3-1. Daniel Turner put Central's JV (3-5-3) ahead 1:30 into the game, but Glendale retaliated with three unanswered goals.

Notre Dame 3, Borgia 1

WASHINGTON -- Zach Miller scored two goals Saturday to lead the Notre Dame Bulldogs to victory over St. Francis Borgia.

The victory improved the Bulldogs to 12-2-3, with their next match at home Thursday against Marion, Ill.

Miller scored both his goals in the second half -- the first on an assist from Jason Garner and the other off an indirect kick by Oliver Sanders.

Rob Cuba scored the first goal for Notre Dame off a head ball on a corner kick by Jonathan LeGrand in the first half. The score was tied 1-1 at halftime.

The JV Bulldogs lost 1-0, dropping their record to 8-2-2.

CROSS COUNTRY

Potosi Invitational

POTOSI -- Several area teams competed well at the 21-team Potosi Invitational on Saturday.

In the boys varsity event, Perryville placed third -- behind De Soto (55) and Potosi (80) -- with 93 points. Central followed in fifth (119) and Kelly sixth (125).

For the girls, Central took second with 62 points, Kelly seventh and Perryville eighth. Medals were awarded to the top 30 finishers, with all five Lady Tigers earning medals. All five members of Perryville's boys team also came away with medals.

For the Lady Tigers, Tobie Bittle took second (20:17), Myka Bohnsack eighth (21:30), Kristen Tallent 11th (22:12), Leanne Lee 13th (22:15) and Elizabeth Meyr 28th (23:23).

For the Tigers, Rory Kipper was seventh (17:31), Mark Stone 17th (18:07), Jeff Haycraft 30th (18:34), David Stahr 31st (18:39) and Matt Hawkins 34th (18:51).

For the Pirates, Tyson Brown placed fifth (17:60), Nathan Davis 13th (17:54), Ryan Hohenadel 18th (18:09), Jared Tanz 28th (18:31) and Nathan Moore 29th (18:34).

For the Lady Pirates, Jen Hadler finished 15th (22:17), Andrea Weibrecht 21st (23:04), Cara Steffens 26th (23:26), Dawn Berkbigler 70th and Susan Tilley 83rd.

For the Kelly Hawks, Michael Riley was sixth (17:26), Russ Mothershead 22nd (18:12), Nathan King 25th (18:24), Denver Stuckey 32nd (18:41) and Chad Felter 40th (19:09).

For the Lady Hawks, Amy Arteme took third (21:08), April Cousins 29th (23:34), Megan Nelson 40th, (24:46), Melissa Garner 53rd and Beth Glueck 65th.

Notre Dame's Susan Judd finished 23rd in 23:21.

For the second year in row, Kelly's boys won the junior varsity event. Kelly had 60 points followed by North County with 76 and Cape Central 82.

Four of Kelly's JV runners won medals for placing in the top 20. Lucas Choate was second (19:01), Jobi Berry fourth (19:11), Jamie Essner 11th (19:52), C.O. Scheffer 20th (20:21) and Bandit Thorne 23rd (20:30).

Placing for the JV Tigers were: Justin Hawkins third (19:04), Gabe Austin 12th (19:54), Jamie Higgins 14th (20:03), Jared Keller 26th (20:39) and Morgan Maki 27th (20:41).

Central's junior high completed its season with the boys winning first and the girls sixth. For the junior high Tigers Arthur Pilsner took second, Elliot Swoboda fifth, Patrick Dempsey eighth, Clint Hoffman 31st and John Higgins 33rd. Brittney Ballard medaled in 14th place for the junior high Lady Tigers.

Perryville will compete in the Jefferson County Conference Tournament at Festus on Tuesday. Cape will travel to Benton for the SEMO Conference meet Thursday hosted by Kelly.

Marshall County Invitational

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ky. -- Jackson's girls took second and the boys ninth in the "A" Division of the 22-team Marshall County (Ky.) Invitational on Saturday.

Three Lady Indians earned medals for placing in the top 25 of the 4,000 meter race. Western Hill (Ky.) scored 68 points to top the Lady Indians (86).

For the Lady Indians, Julie Wunderlich placed second (15:26), Sarah Schilck 11th (16:27), Jennifer Brown 12th (16:30), Sarah Strock 32nd (17:38) and Sarah Stiegemeyer 33rd (17:39).

The boys ran 3.1 miles with no Jackson runners placing in the top 25.

For the Indians, Mark Sanders took 44th (18:52), Steven Adams 60th (19:20), John Shearon 71st (19:38), Blake Popp 72nd (19:39) and Zach Friedrich 77th (19:40).

The tourney field was also broken into a "B" and "C" Division. The Lady Indian placed second in B and first in C. The Indians took sixth in B, with Robert Bauer earning the only individual medal.

All five members of the B team won medals for the Lady Indians. Members were Christy Thoma, Jodi Brunke, Annie Stoverink, Amanda Lowes and Diane Gross.

Of the Lady Indians 18 runners competing, 16 won medals at the event.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Sikeston JV tournament

Jackson and Sikeston both completed Sikeston's round robin tournament with 5-1 records, but the host Lady Bulldogs won the title on a point-spread tie-breaker.

In head-to-head competition, Jackson split with Sikeston 15-7, 7-15. Jackson (12-3-3) swept New Madrid 15-7, 15-11 and beat Scott City in both sets 15-3, 15-6.