Turnbull homers, Farrington gets go-ahead RBI in Pittsburg’s win over Carl Junction

WATCH: Pittsburg tops Carl Junction 4-3 Friday night.

Jackson Turnbull hits a two-run home run in the 1st inning and Cale Farrington gets the go-ahead RBI single in the 4th for the Purple Dragons.

Carl Junction took a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st before Pittsburg scored the final 4 runs of the game.

“They came out and they had a really good start. We told our guys that it’s a long game. It was the first inning and we have 7 more at-bats,” says Pittsburg head coach Keith Matlock, “Our guys have been pretty good lately of staying up in the dugout, even if we get down early. They understand there’s a lot of baseball left to play and it’s a sport where a lot of things can happen over the period of a game. They just did a nice job of just staying within what we want to do.”

Joplin boys take 1st, Camryn Ledford breaks record at Joplin Invitational

JOPLIN, Mo. – Joplin High School hosts its annual varsity track and field invitational. Local schools from southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas compete today.

Joplin’s Donovyn Fowler wins two events. In the long jump, his first jump of the day is his best. Fowler wins with a mark of 23 feet 7 inches.

“I knew a lot of my family and friends were going to come out to support and I just really wanted to make them happy,” Fowler says. “I didn’t get 24 today but 23.7 is not bad for a decent meet. I definitely feel like I’m on track. I feel like with the right coaching staff, I think amazing things are going to happen by state.”

Fowler also wins the triple jump with a mark of 14.40 meters. The Joplin boys take first place as a team. Webb City comes in third.

On the track, Camryn Ledford (Joplin HS) competes in the 1600 meter run. She places fourth and hits a new personal record with a time of 5:37.69 seconds.

“My mile has not been that great in the past so it feels really great to PR,” Ledford says. “I knew at practices I had been focusing on distance a little more so I knew it was going to be a good one.”

Ledford also breaks a national record today in the javelin. Her best throw reaches 13.62 meters.

The Carl Junction girls pick up a few first place finishes. In the 100 meter hurdles, Ally Montez blows out the competition. She crosses the finish line in 15.02 seconds.

“It feels good to know that even though I didn’t have a good race I still won,” Montez says. “It’s is very encouraging. It makes me super excited for when I do have a good day so I win by even more and it’s very encouraging considering state is coming up.”

The Carl Junction girls 4×100 meter relay team wins today. The Bulldogs take first place with a time of 51.39 seconds.

As a team, the CJ girls finish in third place. The Webb City girls place one spot above the Bulldogs in second.

Click HERE for final results from the meet.

Pitt State hosts 33rd annual Jock’s Nitch Gorilla Relays

PITTSBURG, Kan. – (WATCH) Pittsburg State hosts the 33rd annual Jock’s Nitch Gorilla Relays on Friday afternoon.

In early action, Joplin’s Donovyn Fowler wins the boys long jump with a mark of 23 ft., 7.5 inches. Olivia Vediz (Carl Junction) takes second in the girls long jump with a distance of 16 ft, 9 inches.

Click HERE for live results from the meet.

Carl Junction gets by Mt. Vernon to stay undefeated at Bill O’Dell Tournament

WATCH: Carl Junction battles past Mt. Vernon 5-4 in day 3 of pool play at Bill O’Dell Tournament. Drew Massey hits a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to score the game-winning run.

Carl Junction is back in tournament action on Thursday at 2pm against Seneca.

Diskin throws complete game, Carl Junction pulls away from Nevada

CARTHAGE, Mo. – (WATCH) Shane Diskin throws a complete game with 6 strikeouts, leading Carl Junction to a 10-3 win over Nevada in the opening game of the Bill O’Dell Tournament in Carthage,

McDonald County tops Carl Junction in first game on new home turf

McDonald County tops Carl Junction 2-0 in the Mustangs first game on their new turf field. Levi Helm hits a solo home run.

McDonald County wins their second game of the day 4-3 over Camdenton to improve to a 5-1 record.

Carl Junction aims for 7th straight district title

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. – The Carl Junction girls have a history of postseason dominance. They’ve won six straight district titles and on Saturday, the Bulldogs begin their hunt for title number seven.

“I’m sure teams are wanting to end our tradition of winning districts, so I think it definitely puts a target on us,” says senior Ellie Lawson.

“We’ve had a target on our back for awhile and it’s a piece we’ve grown accomustomed to,” says head coach Brad Shorter. “We like that, I guess. It means were successful right now, but we try to be humble with it.”

The Bulldogs finished the year with another great regular season record (20-7). They’ve earned the number one seed in the district tournament. Now, it’s time to make it count.

“I’m really excited,” Lawson says. “We’re really hoping to do some big things in the postseason. We’re hoping to keep building upon what we did in the regular season.”

“Teams like Nixa and Ozark have pushed us to work harder and have showed us what a really good team is,” says sophomore Kylie Scott. “Playing them has shown us what we’re going to be up against once we start playing some really hard teams.”

“I think we can score in multiple ways and we have two or three really good scorers,” Shorter says. “We have really been rebounding really well lately and I think other teams are going to look at that and think that they need to get us off the boards. A lot of that’s due to Kylie Scott and Anna Burch. They’ve done a tremendous job.”

The post season is full of pressure, but the Bulldogs have experience.

“You can’t say enough about experience,” Shorter says. “Our kids have been in the postseason and been in what we call possession basketball and that has really benefited our team. They understand that when the crowd gets loud and the situation feels like it could be unbearable, they’re able to relax and take a deep breath and know that we’re prepared and we can do this.”

Carl junction opens the district playoffs on Saturday against Hillcrest. The game is scheduled for 10 am at Willard High School.

#4 Nixa outlasts #7 Carl Junction; Conway leads Eagles with 23

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. – (WATCH) #4 Nixa outlasts #7 Carl Junction 70-59 in a top-10 battle Monday night.

Macie Conway leads the Eagles with 23 points, while Norah Clark adds 17. Ali Kamies (15 pts) and Rhi Gibbons (12 pts) were also in double figures for Nixa.

Destiny Buerge scores a game-high 27 for Carl Junction. Kylie Scott scores 12, while freshman Dezi Clark adds 11 for the Bulldogs.