Mules advance to next round with win over Festus, Baseball roundup

The Poplar Bluff Mules tennis squad survived and advanced in the Class 2 District 1 Tournament opening round on Monday at Poplar Bluff High School.

The No. 2 seeded Mules faced off against the No. 7 Festus Tigers for a spot in the semifinals. The Mules wouldn’t have any trouble against Festus as they defeated them 5-0. With a hot start to the tournament, head tennis coach Michael Sowatzke hopes it can continue through the next round.

“We had a good showing to start districts,” Sowatzke said. “We had to play with one of our players out, so we had to adjust. It’s going to be a long road to get him back, but hopefully, we can still do what we need to do to keep advancing.

The Mules kicked off the doubles play with a clean 3-0 sweep. Tavian Towns and Kurt Rosson defeated their opponents 8-0, William Sherrill and Beau McCormack won 8-4 and Matthew Penn and Manuel Riveros won 8-3. The Mules carried the same energy over into singles with another clean sweep of 2-0.

The Mules will host the winner of Mehlville and Cape Central on Tuesday. The location is scheduled to change due to the possibility of inclement weather.

BASEBALL

Liberty 10, Neelyville 8

The Neelyville Tigers lost to the Liberty Eagles 10-8 on Monday at the Tiger’s den to close out their last home game of the regular season.

Zak Cowley stepped on the hill first for Neelyville. The righty gave up two hits and three runs (one earned) over four innings, striking out four and walking three.

Bradon Rideout and Owen Conner each collected two hits for the Tigers. Cowley led Neelyville with two runs batted in. The switch hitter went 1-for-4 on the day, while Hixon Layton led Neelyville with two walks.

Twin Rivers 9, Caruthersville 2

Greenville 7, Doniphan 1

Farmington 9, Dexter 1