From staff reports

sports@joplinglobe.com

PURDY, Mo. — Top-seeded Diamond made four early runs stand up in ousting College Heights Christian 5-3 in a semifinal of the Class 2 District 8 high school softball tournament on Thursday.

Second-seeded Purdy clipped Southwest 7-4 in the other semifinal.

Purdy will challenge Diamond at 5 p.m. today for the championship. It will be their first meeting of the season.

Diamond responded to the Cougars’ two-run first inning by scoring twice in the bottom of the frame and tacking on two more in the third to take the lead for good.

Diamond received two hits apiece from pitcher Ashley Nickolaisen, who bested the Cougars’ Mallory Green, and Cassie Sharon.

CHC, which finished 8-14, got two hits apiece from Green, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and Amanda Sauer.

College Heights eliminated fourth-seeded Pierce City on Wednesday.

Purdy’s Brooke Swadley allowed eight hits, struck out two and walked none.

Swadley, who was backed by Tristan Branch’s bases-loaded triple in the fourth, also had an inside-the-park home run and finished 3-for-4. Branch and Tessa Craig each had two hits for the Eagles (14-7).

Southwest was paced by Stacey Hobbs and Kirstie Ickes with two hits apiece.

Class 3 at Reeds Spring

Aurora outlasted fourth-seeded Cassville 1-0 in eight innings in the first round of the District 11 Tournament.

Third-seeded Reeds Springs trimmed Buffalo 14-5 in the second contest.

Today’s semifinals are Aurora vs. Republic (1) at 4:30 p.m. and Reeds Spring vs. Bolivar (2) at 6:30.

The title game is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Cassville’s Lindsey Turner, a sophomore right-hander, struck out 10 and scattered seven hits. Winning hurler Megan Campbell tossed a five-hitter and Tonya Conn had the only hit in the eighth for the winner.

Cassville finished 7-15 and managed to win just one of eight one-run decisions.

Commerce loses 3-1

OKLAHOMA CITY — The pitching of Hope McLemore and her homer to open the game sparked Ringling to the win in the first round of the Oklahoma Class 2A Tournament at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

In other games: Healdton 5, Stroud 2; Rush Springs 10, Mangum 2; Latta 1, Colbert 0.

Commerce tied the game in the bottom of the first on walks to Kourtney Reading and Courtney Watson and a single by Johna Sharp.

Ringling snapped the tie in the third inning against the Tigers (22-10).

VOLLEYBALL

Camdenton takes down Eagles

CAMDENTON, Mo. — The Camdenton Lakers made quick work of the Joplin Eagles, rolling to a 25-12, 25-12 win.

Jessie McMullen had eight digs for the Eagles while Emilee Dailey had two kills and two points.

Camdenton won the junior varsity game 25-21, 27-25 while Joplin won the freshman game 25-25, 22-22.

College Heights rolls Liberal

Kelsi Bodine had 22 service points and Brittany Eppright had 10 kills as the College Heights Cougars rolled past the Liberal Bulldogs 25-15, 25-8.

Konner McIntire added five blocks and eight digs for the Cougars while Ashley Sauer finished with 15 assists.

Liberal got five kills from Kari Dodson and two aces and a block from Mandy Dodson.

Cardinals sweep past Neosho

WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals grabbed a Central Ozark Conference win over Neosho, topping the Wildcats 25-13, 25-14.

Kaitlyn Jaeger had 14 kills for Webb City while Shayna Crouch had 10 assists and Whitlee Allen added three digs.

Neosho got four kills from Kayln Vlasin and 10 assists from Rhett Rook.

Verona beats Thomas Jefferson

The Verona Wildcats, behind 22 assists from Beth Bigham, 14 kills from Jori Dotson and 18 digs from Tristan Carrisquillo beat the Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers 25-14, 25-15.

Jena Chad added nine digs for the Wildcats while Jessica Smith had nine kills.

Halley Riesemny had four kills and three blocks for Thomas Jefferson while Cheyenne Hill added five points and a pair of aces.

Carl Junction trips Cassville

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — The Carl Junction Bulldogs bounced back from a first-game loss to beat the Cassville Wildcats 19-25, 25-12, 25-19.

Devyn McPherson had 10 points, four aces and seven digs for Carl Junction while Lindsey Gordon had four blocks. Desiree Felker added seven digs and Katelyn Joyner finished with 23 assists and 10 points.

Cassville got six kills and 12 digs from Marti Richmiller while Olivia Cline added eight assists.

TENNIS

Joplin bests Webb City

The Eagles, preparing for today’s district competition, defeated the visiting Cardinals 7-2 at the Joplin Athletic Complex.

Joplin’s singles wins were posted by Rachel Lazenby, Hannah Ingle, Denise Moreno, Ericka Freeborn and Christa Perry. Lazenby-Freeborn and Ingle-Moreno won in doubles.

Webb City wins were provided by Lynsey Setser in singles and Setser and Maddie Jewsbury in doubles.

Joplin coach Sean McWilliams said that junior Lazenby, seeded first, and freshman Siri Ancha will represent Joplin in singles at the Class 2 District 6 Tournament at the Cooper Complex in Springfield.

Ingle, a junior, and Moreno, a senior, are the Eagles’ No. 1 doubles team and seeded sixth. Freshman Lexi Willcoxon and senior Freeborn will be the No. 2 team.

SOCCER

Cards outscore Riverton 6-1

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Jace Cooke and P.J. Armstrong each scored two goals and the Webb City Cardinals beat the visiting Riverton Rams 6-1.

Cooke scored his two goals in the first 12 minutes before Austin Doran found the back of the net in the 19th minute to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

Bob Sell scored for Riverton in the 20th minute, but Armstrong answered a minute later to make it 4-1.

Monett 9, Thomas Jefferson 0

MONETT, Mo. — Mauricio Trujillio had four goals and Jose Lopez a pair in the Cubs’ victory.

Monett, which led 6-0 at the half, also got goals from George Valdarama, Travis Thompson and Humberto Morales.

Thomas Jefferson statistics had the Cubs with a 20-6 advantage in shots. Jordan Leiter had six saves for the Cavaliers (4-7-1).