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Now we’re back to just a week ago and it’s the News-Leader’s All-Ozarks Baseball team. And with a pitching staff of Ethan Mather, Tyler King, Dalton Friend, Landon Jarrett, David Gilley, John McDermid, Grant Gordon, & Timmy Townsend, you wouldn’t need much offense with these guys. Ozark, Nia, & Rolla all land two first teamers. Joplin & Ozark both have three players selected overall. Strafford’s Caleb Barnum is the only player from class 2 to crack the first team. Two class 2 players, Gilley and Caleb Schaffitzel of Fair Grove, made the second team. No class 1 players were selected at all.
2009 News-Leader All-Ozarks Baseball Team
First team
- P – Ethan Mather, SR – Ozark
- P – Tyler King, JR – Republic
- P – Dalton Friend, SR – Rolla
- P – Landon Jarrett, SR – Mansfield
- IF – Casey Goss, SR – Glendale
- IF – Blake Weaver, SR – Nixa
- IF – Kendall San Paolo, SR – Catholic
- IF – Tee Helsel, JR, Branson
- C – John Neill, SR – Ozark
- OF – Barrett Noirfalise, SR – Joplin
- OF – Tyler Sinnott, SR – Rolla
- OF – Caleb Barnum, SR – Strafford
- OF – Michael Bingham, SR – Kickapoo
- UT – Patrick Chandler, SR – Nixa
Second team
- P – David Gilley, SR – Blue Eye
- P – John McDermid, SR – Joplin
- P – Grant Gordon, SR – Salem
- P – Timmy Townsend, SR – Branson
- IF – Seth Conner, JR – Rogersville
- IF – Patrick Drake, JR – Webb City
- IF – Dane Kolkmeyer, SR – Joplin
- IF – Byron Richardson, SR – Forsyth
- C – Sam Adams, SR – Forsyth
- OF – Tom Wagaman, SR – Ozark
- OF – Joel Harrington, SR – Catholic
- OF – Caleb Schaffitzel, JR – Fair Grove
- OF – Justin Cobb, SR – Willard
- UT – Ollie Kadey, SR – Glendale
That is why the News-Leader is a joke. They will not cover small towns that are in the surrounding area. I know our area has quit carrying their paper at local establishments. Joplin Globe is farther away and cover our area better. Why? Because Anvil and his crew care!!!!
I know it’s tough economic times for the newspaper business. But by catering to people in metropolitan areas and alienating rural folk they’re only making it worse. Most small towns are still somewhat reliant on the the paper and most residents, I think, still enjoy reading one. Whereas people in cities such as Springfield tend to lean on technology more, and the good old American paper less. The net result being that newspapers are quite likely to disappear soon.
And you’re right, the Globe does a much better job of reaching out to the smaller areas and finding the stories there.
I get ticked that they don’t even cover the Frisco League. Seriously, I saw nothing on Laquey until the day of the Harrisburg game…do they not consider us part of the Ozarks? That’s obviously not the case, though, since they cover both Rolla and Waynesville.
I just don’t understand.
That is one issue that is not due to economics at all. For as long as I remember the Frisco League has been absent from the News-Leader except for a few examples.
And as far as Rolla & Waynesville, that’s only due to them joining the Ozark Conference a few years back. Before that, they were as absent as the Frisco League.
I guess that makes more sense. It’s still annyoing. It’s like this whole area of Mid-Missouri that Pulaski, Phelps and even Leclede County (and all their cities and schools) are in this media blackout area where no one really covers us that much.
If I had my way, however, I’d cut all ties with the Springfield area althogether (as far as sports go, anyway). The Ozark Conference is way too spread out. I’d much prefer if Waynesville, Rolla, Lebanon and Camdenton split off to join a conference with Jeff City, Helias, Rock Bridge and Hickman. The first four schools are bigger rivals with each other than they are with any of the SGF schools, and I’m pretty sure Waynesville played both Helias and Jeff City in every sport last year in the regular season. MSHSAA seems want the districts that way, too.
That way, we’d have to nice big conference: whatever we call this one, plus the new, improved Ozark Conference. The five city schools, plus Joplin and most of the COC large schools (at the very least, Branson, Nixa, Ozark, Republic).
I feel like that would save on travel costs. Maybe not. But I like that idea better. Plus, I personally like covering games in Jeff City and Columbia better than I like going to SGF, but that’s just me being selfish.
That would be a fantastic move for the Camdenton, Lebanon, Rolla, & Waynesville. Less travel costs, more natural rivalries, and what a football conference that would be. Not as big of a media market to play too in Jeff City & Columbia, but the trade off would be worth it.
The flip side is that it would be very bad for the OC. It would remove most of their football credibility, remove a couple of good baseball schools, weaken them in other sports too such as wrestling & girls soccer, and I don’t see those teams you mentioned ever leaving the COC. Just too much tradition & history there.
Well, the media market thing probably isn’t as big of a deal anyway, since the News-Leader only sporadically covers them anyway.
I didn’t realize that the COC was so old/ had so much tradition with those teams. It just would seem to make sense to me since Branson and Nixa and Ozark are a lot bigger than a few of the schools they play in their own conference. And I get the impression that they, too, play the Springfield schools all the time out of conference. So I dunno. I guess it would weaken football and wrestling quite a bit, but they wouldn’t lose too much in basketball, I wouldn’t think. Or girls soccer— none of those four teams I suggested made it out of districts this year (and again…it was those four plus Jeff City in the district), while Glendale went to the semis.
But then I’ve only been here for less than a year, so I really have no idea and I’m just spouting some BS, in all likelihood.
Perhaps Ozark and Republic might not want to leave the COC, but wasn’t Nixa in the Greene County League well into the 80′s?
Personally, I’d like there to be a Springfield Metro Conference, which would have the five SPS schools in one division, then Nixa, Ozark, Republic, Willard, and ??? (Rog or Strafford I guess…Branson is too far away) in another.
I believe you’re right on Nixa. And with them & Ozark reaching the sizes they have, the Springfield are a better fit competition wise.
I think the Springfield Metro Conference idea would work. Log-Rog would have to be the fifth area school & they’re still on the small side of the other schools. The other problem I see would be what would Joplin, Carthage, Neosho, & Webb City do? Joplin would be left totally twisting in the wind without a conference. And the quality conference competition the other schools were after would consist of Bolivar, Buffalo, Catholic, Reeds Spring, Marshfield, etc. Good schools but not exactly what they were after.
Maybe Joplin could go back to two high schools and they could reform the Southwest League. Joplin, Parkwood, Neosho, Carthage, Webb City and get Carl Junction to move from the Big 8. That’s a good league. Then McDonald County could move to the Big 8 to bring them back to their full number.