Cor Jesu, Lutheran South Win District Tennis Titles

Seckman freshman Maddy Strickland started the season on the Jaguar junior varsity softball team.

But the first baseman was brought up to the varsity and found herself in the most crucial of situations Thursday in the Class 4 District 2 semifinals against Lindbergh.

The Jaguars had come back from a 5-3 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game on a two-run single by Alison Szydlowski. The bases were loaded with one out when Strickland stepped to the plate. She lined a single up the middle for a walk-off winner.

"I was never even expecting to be on the varsity this year," said Strickland, who is the female South area Patch player of the week. "I was so nervous when I came up but I was able to line the ball right past the pitcher. It felt awesome."

Strickland and another freshman, Madalyn Cooksey, were also catalysts in a 10-6 win over Northwest Friday in the district championship. They had back-to-back RBI doubles in a three-run third inning, which broke a 2-2 tie. The Jaguars never trailed as they won their first district title since 2007.

Cooksey had an outstanding game against the Lions as she also had an RBI single, a sacrifice fly and made a great play in center field.

"I couldn't be more proud of these girls," Seckman coach Steve Bonastia said. "We are playing great right now."

The Jaguars take a 20-6 record into Wednesday's sectional game against Hillsboro. Seckman has won 17 of its last 19 games. Hillsboro defeated Seckman during the regular season 5-4.

Northwest had a memorable district tournament, which featured a 6-5 semifinal . The game was tied 2-2 going into the seventh. The Lions scored four in the top of the inning. Oakville scored three and had two runners on with no out but could not score again.

The Lions also made things interesting in the championship game after trailing 8-2. They had the tying run at the plate when the game ended against Seckman.

"I was proud with how hard these girls fought," Northwest coach Dan Davison said. "It was really symbolic of how we played all season. We always fought until the very end."

The first five hitters in the Northwest order (Brittany Fortner, Jamie Doggendorf, Taylor Fortner, Alex Snow and Kim Cormier) each had two hits in the district championship game.

The district featured some exciting games, even a first round game in which Doggendorf had three hits and two RBI in a 5-3 win over .

But two of the other first round games were stopped early by the mercy rule. Brittany Stevens and Abby Nestor each had three hits, including a home run, and combined for seven RBI as Lindberg defeated Fox 16-5 in six innings.

Seckman needed just three innings in a . Madi Leonard, who struck out 14 against Oakville, struck out six and pitched a no-hitter for the Jaguars, who scored 10 runs in the third inning.

There was also some drama in the Class 3 District 3 Softball Tournament. scored . Brooke Tiehes did not allow an earned run for the Lancers while Jenny Schaper and Gracie Niebling had two RBI each. Mallory Pappert had two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI for the Cougars.

Lutheran South scored three in the seventh to tie the championship game with DuBourg. But the Cavaliers scored one in the eighth for . Claire Wernig had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and scored three runs for Lutheran South.

GOLF

Rockwood Summit golfer Lindsey Eisenreich enters the state tournament with a lot of momentum. The senior dominated the Class 2 Sectional 1 Tournament at Aberdeen. She shot a one under par 71 to win the tournament by 10 strokes.

Eisenreich will be joined at state by teammate Abby Teague, who shot an 89 to qualify.

The Cor Jesu golfers also qualified from the sectional: Angela Moro (87), Rachel Dean (88) and Melanie Book (89).

TENNIS

Two area tennis teams qualified for sectionals in the team portion of the district tournament.

Cor Jesu won the Class 2, District 2 Tournament with wins over Webster Groves (5-0) and Nerinx Hall (5-2). The Chargers will have a huge challenge in the sectional round Saturday as they face Ladue. The winner of that 9 a.m. match will face the winner of the Lafayette/Jackson match at 1 p.m. with a spot in the state team tournament in Springfield on the line.

Lutheran South also won a district team tennis title. The Lancers beat Potosi 5-0 and North County 5-2 in the Class 1 District 2 Tournament. They will face Rosati Kain Saturday morning in one sectional. Crossroads and Kennett meet in the other with winners matching up at 1 p.m.

CROSS COUNTRY

A pair of Oakville cross country runners had strong runs in the Suburban West Conference Meet. Melissa Brown finished second in the girls’ race while Jake Best was third in the boys’ race. Lindbergh finished third as a team in both races. Marquette won the boys event while Eureka was the girl's champion.

Cor Jesu won the girls division of the Affton Invitational Saturday. The Chargers had 47 points. Notre Dame was a distant second with 87. Hancock won the boys meet.

FOOTBALL

Mehlville and Lindbergh had huge football wins over the weekend. The lead in the first six minutes on a pair of Mike Sulya touchdowns. They never looked back in a 30-10 Homecoming win. Patrick Partee had an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half.

Lindbergh improved to 5-2 with a 42-0 win over Northwest. Blake Beauchamp had a pair of touchdown receptions and Nick Deloch had the other for the Flyers. All three of Simpson's touchdown passes came in the first half.

Boys Athlete of the Week: Lindbergh football player Peter Simpson went three for three touchdowns and ran for another Friday night. 

Girls Athlete of the Week: Seckman softball's Maddy Strickland is a freshman who has proved her worth on the varsity team. The bases were loaded in Thursday's district game with one out when Strickland stepped to the plate. She lined a single up the middle for a walk-off winner.