2023 Spring Sports Luncheon Program

Presenting Sponsor:

Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company

Jared Enterprises

Med-Pay, Inc.

NewStream Enterprises

417 Baseball

89.1 KWFC

Abacus CPAs

Advertising Plus

April Appleberry

Bank of Missouri

Black Rain Ordnance

Bryan Properties

Central Bank/Central Trust

Central Hog Market

Chances of Hope LLC

Leon Combs

CPI Technologies

Craig’s Lawn Service

Drury Accounting

Family & Friends of

Dr. Ben Timson

Family & Friends

Dr. Penny Clayton

Family & Friends of Bob Roberts

Family & Friends of John Burgi

Family & Friends of Josh Bade

Family & Friends of Mick Byrd

Family of Hailee Vigneaux

David Coutchie

Will Fischer Distributing

Hiland Dairy

Mediacom

Ozarks Coca Cola / Dr Pepper Bottling Co.

Head Table Sponsors

Ozarks Coca-Cola Dr

Pepper Bottling Company

Signs Now - Branson

Table Sponsors

Family of Jake & Luke Lawver

Fatima Boosters

Fatima High School

Federal Protection, Inc.

First State Bank of Purdy

Wil Fischer Distributing

Great Southern Bank

Grip’N’Rip Baseball

Hiland Dairy Foods

Hollister High School

Debbie Hubbard

Independent Printing

Jack Henry & Associates

Joplin High School

KOLR 10/KOZL Z27/FOX KRBK/ OZARKSFIRST.COM

Landau Pontoons

Greg McNabb

The McQueary Family

Mid-America Safety & Environmental

Mid-Missouri Bank

Miller & Associates

Chris Mitchell

Mis Acros Mexican Restaurant

Special Thanks

Corey Riggs

Coleman Swierc

Program Participants

Video Participants

Cayleigh Berry

Susannah Blackwell

Springfield Sports Commission

Bill & Nydia Rowe

Missouri State Athletics

Modern Advisor Group

Mountain Home Public Schools

Oasis Hotel & Convention Center

O’Reilly Auto Parts

Ozark High School

Eric Parker

Bobbi Huhn Price

Price Cutter

Reliable Superstore

Schilling Sellmeyer & Associates

Second Baptist Church

Shelter Insurance --

Steve Thomas

Springfield Catholic

Lynn & Kaye Stacy (In Memory of Angela Berhorst)

Jon Timson

Vienna High School

Welcome to Springfield

Wendy’s of Missouri - Sam,

June, Mike & Eileen Hamra

Wilson Logistics

Jake Havemeier

Kayli Nimmo

Tanner Oetting

Kylie Smith

Henry Trigg

“Where the Game Lives On”

2023

JOSH BADE

9

PRESENTED BY BJS TROPHY SHOP

SPRINGFIELD CATHOLIC/SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

BOBBY BEVEL

WEST PLAINS/THREE RIVERS CC/XAVIER UNIVERSITY/PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL

PAYTON APPLEBERRY BROWN

REPUBLIC/CROWDER COLLEGE

TONY LEWIS

GLENDALE/MISSOURI STATE/DRURY/PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL

BOLIVAR/ CROWDER COLLEGE/SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE ANESSA ALEXANDER ROLLER

STRAFFORD/CROWDER COLLEGE

DENISE ELSON TUCKER

ASH GROVE/SOUTHWEST BAPTIST

HAILEE VIGNEAUX

OZARK/MISSOURI STATE

KEN WATKINS

EL DORADO SPRINGS/MISSOURI STATE/PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL

2023 Diamond 9 Award Honorees presented by BJS Trophy Shop

The Diamond 9 Award presented by BJS Trophy Shop has been established to recognize individuals who exhibited outstanding talent or made significant contributions at the high school, collegiate or professional levels of baseball or softball.

Josh Bade

Springfield Catholic High School/Saint Louis University

The success of Springfield Catholic High School’s baseball program over the years has been because of players like Bade. He played four years for coach Jamie Sheetz and was twice an All-State selection in addition to being a three-time All-District pick. He also earned three All-Ozarks honors from the News-Leader. As a junior and senior, he was a TPX All-American. He was part of two Final Four teams, helping the team to a state runner-up finish as a senior, batting .549 with 24 stolen bases. Additionally, Bade earned All-District honors in football and basketball. He went on to play for Saint Louis University, and earned a law degree from the University of Arkansas. These days, he is an attorney in Springfield.

Bobby Bevel

West Plains High School/Three Rivers Community College/ Xavier University/ Colorado Rockies

Bevel remains one of the few West Plains graduates who played professional baseball. His journey there was pretty impressive, as the left-hander pitched for Barry Dehart and assistant coach Steve Hunter (MSHOF 2019) and earned All-State as a senior in 1991, when he also was the South Central Association Player of the Year and earned his third consecutive All-SCA selection. He also was a career .360 hitter and was 17-11 as a pitcher in 172 1/3 innings, with 251 strikeouts. He later went to Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff and had a 2.50 earned run average. At Xavier University in Cincinnati, Bevel set the strikeout record his junior (80) and senior seasons (87), with his 8.13 strikeouts per nine innings average ranking fourth in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. He then was a 20th-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies. He pitched nine seasons in the minor leagues, including three seasons in Triple-A and five in Double-A. His final season was 2003. He was a 1999 All-Star for the Double-A Carolina Mudcats of the Southern League, and helped the Jacksonville Suns and San Antonio Missions win Double-A championships in their respective leagues. He is now a teacher at Mountain Home High School in Arkansas.

Payton Appleberry Brown

Republic High School/Crowder College

At Republic High School, the softball program has been pretty consistent since the 1990s. Brown was a three-time AllState selection from 2009 to 2011 before graduating in 2012. She helped the Lady Tigers to two Final Four appearances. As the team’s leadoff batter, she set single-season school records for stolen bases, runs scored and batting average (.594). She later played two years at Crowder College, starting both seasons, including in 2014 when Brown helped the team to a regional runner-up finish. That year, she also earned a NJCAA Regional All-Star team selection. Brown previously played travel ball for the Southwest Missouri Twisters, Missouri Lightning and Midwest Nationals. She works for James River Church.

Tony Lewis

Glendale High School/Missouri State University/ Drury University/ Can-Am League

Lewis played for the Glendale High School Baseball Program (MSHOF 2019) and graduated in 2003. At Missouri State, he was a part of the first game played at Hammons Field. He then made a big impact at Drury University when the Panthers re-started their baseball program in 2007. The Panthers won the 2007 Great Lakes Valley Championship and were two wins away from the NCAA Division II College World Series. That year, his final collegiate season, Lewis earned First Team All-GLVC, and was selected to the All-North Central Regional Tournament Team, Rawlings/ABC First Team All-North Central Region and was a Rawlings Gold Glove recipient. After college, Lewis played three years of professional baseball. He played in Northern France in 2008 and the independent league Toronto Maple Leafs, the Windy City Thunderbolts and the Quebec Capitales, with the Capitales winning the 2009 Can-Am championships. Lewis later founded – and is CEO of – the Grip N’ Rip League, a fall season for former collegians and regular Joes who get to play baseball again. The league enters its eighth season this fall and will highlight 85 athletes from the southwest Missouri area. He is currently the Community Bank President for the Bank of Missouri.

Payton Appleberry Brown

MSHOF Diamond 9 Award

REPUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL

Jordan Payne

Bolivar High School/Crowder College/Southeast Missouri State University

A 2002 graduate of Bolivar High School, Payne was a three-sport standout for the Liberators, playing football, basketball and baseball. In baseball, he earned All-Central Ozark Conference as a shortstop and catcher. He also was a First Team All-State selection as a defensive back in football, and was All-COC as a quarterback, defensive back and punter. He later played two seasons at Crowder, where as a freshman he tied the school’s home run record (16), good for eighth nationally among freshmen, and had 54 RBI, good for 28th in the nation. He also was a First Team All-Region 16 shortstop and was inducted into the Crowder Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. At SEMO, he set the school record with a 6-for-6 single-game performance and earned Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week as a senior, batting .412, with a 1.059 slugging percentage thanks to three home runs, two doubles, seven RBI and seven runs scored. He also played two seasons for the semi-pro Cape Girardeau Capahas (MSHOF 2016). These days, he is Vice President at Mid-Missouri Bank in El Dorado Springs.

Anessa Alexander Roller Strafford High School & Crowder College

For the better part of the past 20 years, one of the most consistent softball programs in southwest Missouri could be found at Strafford High School. The program has long churned out quality talent, and among the standouts was Roller. She was a freshman on Strafford’s 2005 state championship team and later earned First Team All-State honors in Class 2 in 2008 as a junior. While at Strafford, Roller won a state championship in the triple jump at the 2008 MSHSAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and was a state runner-up in the high jump a year later. She later went on to play at Crowder College, where in two seasons she had 57 hits, including 11 doubles, 27 RBI and 45 runs scored. Roller now works for First State Bank of Purdy in Monett.

Denise Elson Tucker Ash Grove High School/ Southwest Baptist University

At Ash Grove High School, Tucker was one of the key players in the fall seasons of 19811984, and in the spring of 1985. Tucker was a four-year starter at shortstop and helped the team win a district championship in the fall of 1982. As a freshman, she hit .382, knocked in 18 runs and led in runs scored (26) and walks (15). In her senior season, she batted .500, scored 21 runs, stole 21 bases and led in walks (21) with zero (0) strikeouts. In basketball, she was All-Ozarks, All-District, All-Greene County League and scored more than 900 points, with the team winning the 1984 district crown. In volleyball, she earned All-District and All-GCL honors as a senior and helped the Pirates win a district title in 1983. At Southwest Baptist University, she was a four-year starter in the 1986-1989 seasons, starting at shortstop her freshman year. As a sophomore, she split time at shortstop and second base and even pitched. She was an All-MIAA selection at second base her senior season. Tucker pitched an eight-inning shutout against Missouri Southern, an NAIA powerhouse at the time, and also helped Jr. Ruble Trucking win Missouri Amateur Softball Association Class A state fast-pitch titles in 1991 and 1992. She later enjoyed a 20-year career in the sports department at the News-Leader and spent the past decade working for Southwest Baptist University.

Hailee Vigneaux

Ozark High School/Missouri State University

A 2013 Ozark High School graduate, Vigneaux was a two-time Class 4 All-State selection, twice named to the All-Ozarks squad and three times was All-Central Ozark Conference, All-District and All Region recipient in her final three seasons as a Tiger. She set an alltime school record with 70 stolen bases and finished her high school career ranked second at Ozark in career hits (151) and runs scored (115). She helped Ozark’s 2012 team finish as a state runner-up. At Missouri State from 2014 to 2018, she played in all four seasons with the Bears. As a senior, Vigneaux was tied for the team lead with 17 stolen bases. Her best season was 2017 when, as a junior, she batted .327 and ended with a career batting average of .282. Vigneaux then transitioned from player to coach as the assistant for the Drury Panthers and is now working as a Patient Education Specialist at Boston Scientific.

We are proud of you and all of your hard work and accomplishments!

We love you, Hailee!

Mom and Dad

Ken Watkins

El Dorado Springs High School/ Missouri State University/Minor League Baseball

Watkins made quite a name for himself at Missouri State, where he was a two-time NCAA Division II All-American (1969, 1970) as the best pitcher on the Bears’ two College World Series teams, with the 1969 team finishing as the national runner-up. That season, he was 9-0. The next year, his pitching guided the Bears to conference and regional titles and a national third-place finish. His honors included All-Region as both a junior and senior, All-America honors in 1969 and First Team All-American honors in 1970, when he was the team’s co-Most Valuable Player. Overall, he was 21-4 with an .840 lifetime winning percentage, which remains the program’s record. When inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, he held career records for complete games and shutouts, as well as season records for complete games, innings pitched, winning percentage, shutouts and consecutive scoreless innings. He also was a four-year basketball letterman, including on the Bears’ D-II national runner-up teams of 1967 and 1969. He later signed with the Boston Red Sox and pitched seven seasons in the minor leagues, reaching Triple-A. He was 12-6 in the Class A Carolina League in 1971.

TONY LEWIS CONGRATULATIONS TO

DIAMOND NINE RECIPIENT

We applaud your passion for baseball and commitment to moving the sport forward. Your impact on the community is worthy of celebration and we’re proud to have you on our team.

Community Bank President Springfield/Republic/Ozark

MSHOF SILENT AUCTION

Travis Kelce autographed football

Isaiah Pacheco jersey

L’Jarius Sneed Super Bowl LVII football

Salvador Perez jersey

Nick Bolton jersey

And more! Register to bid by visiting BidPal.net/MSHOFspring from your mobile device

And check out our merchandise tent before you leave!

In 1996, Bob Roberts was invited to play in a pro-am of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper. Little did he know that the PCCC would become part of his life over the next 26 years.

Or, better put, that the PCCC –which benefits more than 50 Ozark children’s charities annually – would be boosted by Roberts over the past 26 years.

In essence, he became one of the tournament’s go-to volunteers and constants, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to honor Roberts with the 2023 Ace Award during the Spring Sports Luncheon presented by the Ozarks Coca-Cola/ Dr Pepper Bottling Company.

The Ace Award is bestowed on those who make an impact on sportsrelated charity work in Missouri. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame manages the Price Cutter tournament, which has gifted more than $19.4 million to charities since 1990.

Roberts has been involved through Second Baptist Church of Springfield. He has worked among the tournament’s 1,000-person Volunteer Army since 1996, on site each tournament day. He also oversees the Pro Links Dinner on the Tuesday evening of tournament week and coordinates the sunrise worship service on Championship Sunday at Highland Springs Country Club.

“I sincerely believe each of us are put on earth for a purpose,” Roberts said. “Serving others and helping meet their needs is indeed rewarding. I never serve for

Bob Roberts Ace Award

individual award, but to share my faith. Galatians 2:20 says, ‘It is not I that live, but Christ that lives within me.’”

Born seven miles from the Current River in southeast Missouri and having grown up in West Plains, Roberts was influenced by the sport of baseball. The town produced big-leaguers Preacher Roe and Bill Virdon and both shared their stories with him.

Years later, after college – he finished at Harvard University, by the way – Roberts set on a road that would lead to his involvement with the PCCC.

He started a 40-year career in the U.S. Postal Service and was Postmaster in Springfield from 1996 to 2001. He got involved in faithbased organizations and served eight states and internationally. In 2023, he retired after 22 years with Second Baptist Church.

He has held numerous roles, including Coordinator of Community Services and Minister of Missions. In the latter role, he helped coordinate 61 church plants, missionaries and Second Baptist partners around the globe.

Roberts serves on several community boards, including the Good Community Committee and the Mayor’s Commission for Human Rights and Community Relations. He is now in the role of Community Engagement Minister.

“My goodness, to be able to do what you love and engage Community and congregation is a dream come true,” Roberts said. “Using talents provided by the Lord for the Church is extremely rewarding. If you genuinely love people, love Jesus, opportunities are provided beyond your

Sometimes, what seems like a small fun thing to do leads to something that helps change of the lives of so many.

wildest imagination, doors are opened miraculously.”

The PCCC is rewarding. Second Baptist Church became involved in the Tuesday night dinners for the players, through Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a PCCC charity. That’s hours after Game Day with FCA allows for local youths to walk inside the ropes with the pros during their practice round. Coordinating the Sunday Sunrise service is a challenge, especially if it’s questionable weather.

His father, a former minor league baseball manager, used to tell him, “If you work for a man always give him your best.” Father-in-law Loyd Johnson taught him golf.

Roberts also remembers his first boss in the postal service, Alan Howard, who encouraged him to tithe 10 percent. And Dr. John Marshall and Dr. John Edie of Second Baptist Church taught him how to, “Bless others first, so they could be a blessing to others, and that you cannot outgive God.”

His success is because of so many, especially his parents and eight siblings. The Ace Award is meaningful.

“I am overwhelmed by the recognition. It is my prayer that through this process, I will thank those that have poured into my life so I could pour into others,” Roberts said. “I want to thank Second Baptist Church, Jerald Andrews, Byron Shive, the employees of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the Community of Springfield, the communities of Houston and West Plains and many others, but especially my Lord, that has allowed me a platform that could be used to bless others. I would like to thank my family and Second Baptist Church.”

Apparently, you can go home again. Longtime Springfield Catholic girls’ soccer head coach Dr. Ben Timson is living proof of that.

Two years after stepping down as head coach at Springfield Catholic – due in part to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic – Timson returned to the sidelines this season and led the Lady Irish to a 19-6 record and a state quarterfinal appearance.

Timson has carved out a coaching career of success and excellence in his 23 seasons at Springfield Catholic, leading the Irish to 18 district titles, 11 Final Fours and state championships in 2010 and 2011.

He did all of this while serving as a professor in the Biomedical Science Department at Missouri State. For his coaching success and dedication to his athletes, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Timson as a member of its Class of 2023.

Timson, now retired from Missouri State, gives credit to his players and the Springfield Catholic School community for his continued success and his desire to return to coaching after a short break.

“The young women that went through the program over those two plus decades were remarkably dedicated to the sport and to each other,” he said. “They grew up together in the Catholic grade school system and knew each other from the time they were very young. They loved playing the game and worked hard at it. But, more importantly, they enjoyed being with each other, which made practices and

Dr. Ben Timson Soccer Coach

games a joy for me.”

If you looked at a Missouri map of girls soccer powers and dropped a pin in the location of each respective high school, the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas would have more than their fair share of pins. There would only be one pin in southwest Missouri, and it would sit firmly in the middle of the Springfield Catholic School campus. While Timson obviously has a lot to do with that, he is quick to give credit to the outstanding youth programs in the city and his players.

“Our success has been greatly aided by the Springfield club system which came of age during the early years of our program and became stronger over time and remains so today,” Timson said. “The girls began playing in that system at an early age and by the time they arrived at the high school they were highly trained in the technical and tactical aspects of the game.”

After years of getting close, Timson and Springfield Catholic finally broke through for the program’s first state championship in 2010. Another followed in 2011, and both titles came in the midst of a 7-year final four run.

“The first championship came on our fifth trip to the final four and was one the girls had dedicated themselves to winning every day for the previous year after we lost in the 2009 semifinals,” Timson said. “The next year we had much the same team plus the addition of two fabulous freshmen. We were expected to repeat, and we did. The

only emotion I had after that one was relief as we were expected to win.”

Through all the winning, Timson kept bouncing-back-andforth between his duties at Missouri State and his obligation to the soccer team at Springfield Catholic. It wasn’t easy, but his family helped him through it.

“The biggest challenge was shifting gears between working with college students to working with high school students on a soccer field,” Timson said. “My wife, Kathy, and I raised three daughters during the early years of my coaching career and through them I came to better understand the differences between the off field and/or out of classroom issues both high school and college students experience.”

When you’ve coached for nearly 25 years, it’s easy to think of certain key memories and their importance on your journey.

“I love the game and I love the competition,” Timson said. “There are so many moments, both of great joy and great sorrow associated with the game itself. But the moments that stand out the most to me are those when I had the opportunity to talk with the young women about their dreams for their future.”

Despite his successes, Timson is surprised to receive this latest honor.

“I have never thought of myself as someone who belongs in a Hall of Fame alongside the individuals who have been inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame,” he said. “I am incredibly honored and humbled to receive this recognition.”

Insports, we all love stories about the hometown boy making good. Or the veteran coach who calls it quits but wins a championship on his way out the door. Former Vienna High School softball coach Mick Byrd fits into both categories.

A Vienna native, Byrd was a three-sport athlete for the Eagles before going on to pitch for College of the Ozarks. He returned home and spent the next 40 years building a legacy of success and championships, winning softball state titles in 1983 and 1984, then waiting 36 years to win his third in 2020 in what proved to be his final season.

In total, he won more than 500 softball games, capturing 27 conference championships, and 11 district titles in addition to the three state crowns, and impacting countless lives. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Byrd as a member of its Class of 2023.

“It was the only job I ever really wanted,” Byrd said. “The years flew by.”

But coaching softball was not in Byrd’s initial set of plans.

“When I graduated from College of the Ozarks, my plans were to coach baseball and basketball,” he said. “Vienna had an opening for a junior high Language teacher, and several different coaching opportunities. I needed a job and thought living in my hometown would be cool. It has been and still is.”

The next year, he moved to high school and started coaching softball, basketball and track. Success soon followed.

Byrd’s 1983 team defeated Mercer in the state championship game, winning Vienna’s first state title in any sport. The Eagles took the top

Mick Byrd Softball

spot again in 1984, edging state power Westran in the title game for their second straight crown.

And while it took another 36 years to reach the top again, Byrd remained steadfast in his approach.

“Every year is a challenge,” he said. “Every inning is a challenge. Every pitch is a challenge. Every year I told the media that we were cautiously optimistic about the season. Our goals were always the same: enjoy the season, represent our school in the best manner possible, and try to win every game.”

As the years went by, Byrd and Vienna had some good teams and some good years, but they weren’t quite able to recapture the magic of those first few years, though the 1998 team did reach the state Final Four. That is, until Byrd decided the 2020 season would be his last.

He had been wavering for a few years about when he wanted to stop coaching. His daughter, Ellie, was his assistant coach and she was wondering when he’d move on, because she wasn’t leaving until he did.

“Ellie and I had agreed before the season that it would be our last,” he said.

The Eagles responded by storming their way to a 22-4 record, and edged Jefferson (Conception) in the championship game by a 1-0 score, giving Byrd his third and final state title, 37 years after he’d won his first.

“Not too many people get to go out on top,” he said. “It was really fun.”

As with any successful program, community and administrative support is a major key.

“Our school and our Booster Club helped us achieve what we achieved every year,” Byrd said. “Dads and

grandads helped me work on our field. The City of Vienna generously allowed us to play on the city ballfield. People were great to us.”

Once retired, Byrd was able to devote more time to his other passion – music.

“Music really helped me be grounded as a person,” Byrd said. “I don’t think coaches who are totally consumed with coaching do themselves or their players any favors. At the end of the day a game really is a game, isn’t it? My go-to behaviors were, after a tough loss, to come home, go for a long run and pick up the guitar when I was finished. It worked for me.”

Nowadays, the former three-sport coach is a respected musician who plays up to 20 dates per month. He’s toured all over the country and parts of North America. He’s been a regular performer at the legendary Bluebird Café in Nashville for over 20 years.

Through it all, Byrd’s family has played a large role in his coaching and musical success.

“My wife, Debbie, and our kids, Ellie and Curt, were immersed in our community, just as I was,” he said. “I am really proud that both our kids inherited that ‘fire in the belly.’ We will always be Eagles - all of us.”

“Did you know I am kind of a Big Deal?”

for the Memories, Coach Byrd! Vienna High School

“93 percent of all lead-off hitters who walk score”

“The most important pitch you throw is the first one”

Joplin Baseball 2000-2003 Era

Ask baseball folks about the sport’s history in Joplin, and they’re likely to mention Mickey Mantle and the city’s old minor league clubs. Or maybe they’ll point out the dozen Final Fours of its high school teams.

In the early 2000s, all eyes were on the Joplin High School Eagles baseball teams, and what an era it was.

In fact, their success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the 20002003 Era of Joplin High School Baseball with the Class of 2023.

The Kirk Harryman-coached Eagles reached the Final Four three times in Class 4. The 2000 club placed fourth at the state tournament. The 2001 team won it all by beating Francis Howell North 2-0 as Josh Tupper fired a non-hitter, with the Eagles finishing 22-10. The 2003 team finished as the state runner-up.

Nathan Hughes, a senior on the 2000 team, could have been speaking for all of Joplin’s teams of that era when he said, “We weren’t just teammates. We were friends. We knew what each other was thinking without a word being spoken. This team was full of leaders, and that is still evident to this day. These are good men.”

As Jeff Taylor put it, “Many guys played other sports, but we all played American Legion baseball in the summer and worked out in the winter indoors. This group of guys loved baseball.”

The seeds to the success were planted in the summer of 1999. The high school team had a premature exit from the district tournament, and many of those guys went on to carry the local American Legion club to the semifinals of the state tournament.

Upperclassmen filled the 2000 roster, and that club played a beefed-up early schedule that included a trip to Tulsa, Okla. In the district championship, Joplin beat Glendale in extra innings in Joplin. Hughes struck out 20, and Taylor avoided a double play by hustling to first base – with freshman Luke Lawver scoring the winning run from second base.

Wins against Lebanon and Francis Howell North pushed the Eagles into the Final Four.

And then in 2001?

That team watched the movie “Gladiator” on road trips, and “Death before Dishonor” became a team motto.

Said Tupper, “During the year, for some reason we missed our team picture, and I told Harryman we didn’t need one, we would get one at Columbia. That was just the way this team thought. Then losing the Ozark Conference for the first time in 11 years, at home, on a home run, just sent us on a war path.”

The 2001 team beat Kickapoo in the district championship game, and then strung together wins against Lebanon, Eureka and Francis Howell North to win it all. Jason Sullivan’s stout pitching effort in the semifinals and Tupper’s no-hitter are still talked about.

Lebanon pitcher Nick Admire (MSHOF Diamond 9 2019) dominated in the first round, until Joplin’s Kyle Cupp tomahawked a home run that set off a sevenrun seventh inning, with Cupp purposely striking out his next time at the plate in the inning because a storm was moving in.

“A lot of credit is owed to coach Joe Ketchum and coach Mike Wilson who coached us during junior Legion and before,” Kyle Wilson said. “Coach

Ketchum won a lot of baseball games at Joplin High School and his previous teams sort of set the expectation for what it means to play baseball at Joplin High School. Coach Harryman and Coach Eggleston were really great coaches and took it from there and pushed us to be our best.”

The 2002 team might have advanced further if not for facing pitcher Luke Harrell, a future bigleaguer, in the district championship game.

“We had a lot of guys who contributed on the ’00 and ’01 teams, so we had guys who had experienced success at the varsity level mixed with a very talented group of young guys who had won a lot of baseball games growing up,” Taylor said.

The 2003 season featured a 10-inning win against Glendale, a 2-1 win against Hillcrest in the sectional against future minor leaguer Jon Barratt and Lawver’s winning home run in the quarterfinals. In the championship game, Francis Howell edged Joplin 8-7.

Six of Joplin’s seven seniors played in college.

“Some of my greatest memories are from playing ball at Joplin High School during this timeframe,” Lawver said. “And still, to this day, I can call many of these guys best friends or close friends.”

Dr. Penny Clayton Softball

Natural ability mixed with hard work and dedication helped turn Dr. Penny Clayton into one of the finest softball pitchers in Springfield history.

But it took Clayton a while to focus on just one sport. Growing up in the Queen City, Clayton was involved in nearly every activity or sport offered to a young girl at the time. Tap and ballet lessons gave way to gymnastics and piano, baton twirling and lot of “neighborhood baseball”. Finally, around the age of 9, Clayton discovered softball. And the rest was history.

Once immersed in the sport, Clayton blossomed. While Hillcrest High School didn’t have softball, she was busy during the summers in the local Jr. Miss program and later led several amateur teams to state and regional championships. Her teams finished in the top 10 at the Amateur Softball Association of America national tournaments twice, and in 1978, she hurled a perfect game at the ASA nationals at age 20.

At Missouri State from 1976 to 1980, Clayton helped her teams reach the AIAW College World Series three times, as she won 40 games in the circle and finished her MSU career as the program’s all-time leader in strikeouts and ERA (0.72). It’s for those reasons the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Clayton as a member of the Class of 2023.

While Clayton enjoyed being busy growing up, it was her mother who made a key decision which changed the direction of her athletic career.

“I think I was 9 years old when I first started playing

and was immediately put in the outfield,” Clayton said. “Mom decided that it was a bit boring to watch since I didn’t get many balls hit my way, so I quickly transitioned to pitching.”

While Clayton admits to a natural aptitude for pitching –“I never had lessons,” she said – she was a sponge, watching both men’s and women’s teams play and learning how to be better from what she saw. It also helped to have a pair of legendary coaches on her side. Coaches who encouraged her growth and challenged her skill level.

“I grew up playing Jr. Miss Softball,” she said, “where my coaches included Kay Hunter (MSHOF 2022) and Sue Schuble (MSHOF 1998). When I was 14, the better players from the Jr. Miss program were selected by Sue to play on a traveling women’s team. Sue and Miss Hunter played for Foremost – a very strong women’s team. So, we just tagged along and played in the same tournaments.”

Clayton’s relationship with Hunter continued several years later when Clayton joined Hunter’s team at Missouri State, where things seemed strangely familiar.

“We were exposed to toplevel competition at an early age,” Clayton said. “So, by the time I went to college, I had played at a high level. Almost my entire summer team went to SMS so with a few exceptions in terms of recruits, college softball was almost an extension of our summer team.”

But more than just the winning and losing, softball

helped shape the rest of Clayton’s post-athletic life. She recently retired after 30 years as an accounting professor at Drury.

“Softball allowed me to fine-tune my character,” Clayton said. “I learned how to handle pressure given many pitching situations. I learned the importance of teamwork and hard work. I tried to pass along these same characteristics to my accounting students.”

Even her contemporaries at Drury took note of her teaching methods, and results.

“Other Drury professors would often say that I seemed to ‘coach’ my students,” she said. “I guess that’s true. I think we could all use a little life-coaching from time to time and the approach seemed to work for me. I was ‘rah rah’ and supportive at times but always challenged them to be better.”

Clayton cites many influences in her life as she looks back at her career, including Hunter and Schuble, but none have made the impact members of her family have.

“In terms of people who have had an influence on my life besides teachers, it naturally started with my parents and their never-ending support of my various interests,” she said. “Currently, my husband, Stu Dunlop, has the biggest impact on my life. It sounds cliché but he is also my very best friend. We ‘get’ each other and even though he’s a much more accomplished athlete than me, we have also shared similar athletic experiences. As a trained engineer, he is also analytical which makes communicating with an accountant a tad easier.”

Part of the Missouri State Legacy

Now Members of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

Penny Clayton

Shaun Marcum Ben Timson

2002 & 2015 Webb City Little League World Series Teams

In the display case of Webb City Junior High School, you’ll find an interesting display: memorabilia and jerseys of Little Leaguers.

That’s by design.

Walking those hallways, of course, are boys who could be the next to take the city’s youth team to a quaint hamlet in Pennsylvania called Williamsport.

In other words, the 2002 & 2015 Webb City Little League World Series Teams continue to inspire, and their success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct them with the Class of 2023.

Only three teams from Missouri have ever reached the prestigious Little League World Series, and two are from Webb City. Its 2002 team finished 13-3 by going undefeated in four games at the district tournament, the state tournament and the regional.

Playing as the Midwest representative, Webb City came incredibly close to expanding on its Williamsport, Pa., trip, as its losses were only 1-0, 2-1 and 2-1.

Players were Darren Aggus, Caleb Powell, Brett Richardson, Jerick Swarens, Alan Pink, Preston Walker, Chance Sossamon, Dakota Miller, Landon Zerkel, Jordan Hickman and Jayrd Gregory. That team was coached by Craig Powell, Matt Sossamon, Kenny Zerkel and Burle Sossamon.

The 2015 team was 15-4, including 7-1 in districts, 3-0 at the state tournament and 4-1 in regionals. Webb City lost to Pennsylvania (the eventual LLWS runner-up to Japan) and Rhode Island but beat Canada and was awarded the Jack Losch LLWS Sportsmanship Award.

The team included Jaxson Cartright, Kamdyn Culver, Mekhi

Garrard, Cole Gayman, Eli Goddard, Brett Graham, Cale McCallister, Noah Mitchell, Treghan Parker, Blake Smith, Jaystin Smith, Devrin Weathers and Matt Woodmansee. Coaches were Eric Parker, Jason Woodmansee and Tyler Burgess.

Overall, their collective story is one of young ballplayers converging at King Jack Park in the summers, former all-star teams and competing in the official Little League.

Little League is a national organization that encompasses 6,500 communities across the country that includes baseball and softball teams and holds its baseball World Series in Williamsport every August. Webb City has been affiliated for several decades.

In 2002, the town was abuzz about its 11- to 12-year-old boys on the all-star team. That team advanced to the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis, went 4-0 in pool play and then beat Grandview of Des Moines, Iowa 2-1 to advance to Williamsport.

Caleb Powell’s lined double scored Darren Aggus in the bottom of the sixth inning was the difference that day, marking Webb City’s sixth consecutive win. Aggus pitched six innings.

“This is the best day of my life,” Powell told the Joplin Globe. “It’s awesome to be going to Williamsport.”

What a trip it was. Players and coaches still talk about hopping on a 3:30 AM flight from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh, and then taking a puddle-jumper to Williamsport.

The close losses only reinforced that Webb City belonged on

the big stage. The team allowed only five runs.

“Five runs in three games is nothing to hang your head about,” Coach Craig Powell was quoted as saying. “We very well could have been 3-0.”

In 2015, a new group of Webb City Little Leaguers surged their way to Williamsport, this time with a 10-0 victory against Minnesota in the Midwest Regional final.

Cale McCallister, Devrin Weathers, Blake Smith and Cole Gayman – the team’s top of the order – were a combined 36for-66 (.545) and drove in 27 of the team’s 34 runs. McCallister threw nine innings in three games, striking out 10, and Weathers also worked nine innings, striking out 15 batters.

To reach Williamsport, Webb City bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Nebraska by rallying for a 11-3 win against Iowa, thanks to Jaystin Smith’s pinch home run breaking a 1-1 tie. They then beat Nebraska 15-4 in the regional semifinals, and Canyon Lake of South Dakota 13-2.

It was a tough go in Williamsport, but Webb City went out with a victory, an 18-6 victory aginast White Rock, British Columbia. That team will always have the LLWS Sportsmanship Award.

“It’s very, very special because all 16 teams vote on it,” Webb City manager Eric Parker said at the time. “Our team uncle (host) said it’s very rare for a U.S. team to win it. … I’m more proud of that that any win. It exemplifies the way we teach the boys to act and have them play the game the right way and how to conduct themselves. It’s pretty special.”

John Burgi Baseball Coach

He had left his hometown of Carthage in 1975 to play college baseball and figured he would see where life would take him. And then the phone call came in. From his old high school coach.

For John Burgi, returning home to coach? There were good reasons and understandable reservations, but mostly good.

“I just kind of fell into it,” Burgi said. “We were really, really good every year. We thought we had a chance to get to the Final Four.”

Burgi soon took over for his mentor, boosted Carthage High School baseball’s fortunes and, thus, kickstarted a fine coaching career that took him to success at the collegiate level and into Arkansas, too. That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the ShowMe State native with the Class of 2023.

A 1975 Carthage High School graduate, Burgi led his alma mater for eight seasons (1982-1990), with three teams reaching the state semifinals. They also won five conference championships and seven district championships.

He also coached at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas (1991-2000), where his teams won four conference titles, and Burgi won three Jayhawk Coach of the Year awards. Thirtyseven players were selected in the MLB Draft, with six reaching the big leagues.

He also coached at Valley View High School in Arkansas from 2004-2012, winning two state championships (2008 & 2009), and at one point was the recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State

University. He also led the 2008 local American Legion team to a state title, the Midwest Regional and a fourthplace finish in the American Legion World Series.

All this from a man who came full circle. He was an all-district pitcher on the Carthage’s first ever district title team and later returned to Missouri to serve as baseball coach and athletic director of Hollister High School from 2012 to 2022.

Looking back, his mentor, Carthage and Crowder College coach Gary Roark, set him up for success.

“He made you grow up in a hurry,” Burgi said. “He was the type of coach that, if you were willing to work hard and play hard, you never heard anything out of him. And I saw the influence he had on other kids.”

Burgi’s coaching journey came after he played at Crowder College and Emporia State University in Kansas.

Roark invited him back to be Crowder’s assistant coach in the spring of 1981, and Burgi took over Carthage the next year. His 1982, 1983 and 1987 teams all placed third in the Class 3 state tournament.

“I thought I knew everything (when I started) but I knew very little,” Burgi said. “That first year we went to the Final Four was probably the worst job I ever did.”

He thanks players, parents and the community for making it all such a wonderful experience. And that could be said of his stops after Carthage.

The Hutchinson job came open after the departure of coach Brad Hill, who would later transform the Central Missouri

Baseball Program (MSHOF 2017). Four of Burgi’s teams ranked in the top four nationally, including a 45-9 finish his final season.

Valley View in Arkansas, an emerging school in Jonesboro, recruited him away from Arkansas State.

“The first year I was there, I saw the talent that was coming and said, ‘I’d be stupid to leave this place,’” Burgi said. “They let me rebuild the field and, when you have people supporting you, it makes it real nice”

His 2008 and 2009 teams won state titles, and his 2006, 2007 and 2010 teams made the state semifinals.

At Hollister, his teams gradually kept improving the program, to the point that now it plays on a plush field featuring turf. His final team won the Central Ozark Conference Small Division.

For him, the secret to his success was the way he treated players. Not that he had the touch right away.

“It’s kind of funny,” Burgi said. “I changed when an umpire in Kansas talked to me after a game. He said I needed to treat umpires and players the way I wanted to be treated.”

Burgi thanks so many others for support, particularly his wife, Debbie, and their children, Addy and Kevin. He tips his hat to numerous administrators and assistant coaches, including Mike Siriani, Andy Sawyers, Rick Sabath, Trent Oxenreider, and Hutchinson athletic director Randy Stange.

“I would not change what I did for anything in the world,” Burgi said. “I met a lot of people in my sport. That’s why it was a blast.”

Fatima High School Softball Era

Coaches who cared, combined with a togetherness and friendship that’s still evident years later. Those were the secret ingredients behind Fatima High School’s softball success in the early-to-mid 90s.

Success also breeds more success. And the more Fatima won, the more the players wanted to keep winning. And did they ever.

From 1990-96, Fatima High School softball won three state championships, reached five Final Fours and recorded an overall record of 139-22. Coached by the late Rick Buersmeyer, the Comets were known for a stellar pitching staff and a lethal offense. That dominance is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Fatima High School Softball’s 1990-96 Era as a member of the Class of 2023.

“The goal for each team, whether you were super talented or not, was to make it to state,” said former Comet and daughter of the late head coach Stacey Buersmeyer Rademan. “And we made it to state by making the simple, everyday plays. We didn’t play fancy ball, our signs were NOT complicated, we didn’t have individual superstars on the team.”

Of course, it helps when you’ve all been playing together since you were young.

“We all played together for all of those years. We grew up playing in junior high and summer ball,” Angie Bax Woodruff said. “We all knew our role. We practiced together all the time.”

Rademan agreed, giving credit also to the coaches who helped develop their talents.

“I remember playing town ball with girls two and three years older than me,” she said. “We also played together as a team during the summer. And I think because our coaches cared, we

cared. I felt like our coaches just wanted to make each person that came out to play a better player.”

And no one cared more than Coach Buersmeyer. Though he passed away in 2008, his impact is still remembered.

“I wish so dearly he could be with us today,” Myra Dickneite Verslues said. “He was an amazing coach and so wellrespected by the players. He had a presence about him. He trusted us.”

“He was the leader,” Bax Woodruff said. “He did it in a way that made it fun, but we understood we were there to work. It was a priority. He was very intense. Everything mattered to him. Up by 10 or down by 1, everything was important. Everything was serious on the field, but off the field he cracked a lot of jokes.”

No team or program can be successful over the long term without significant community support. Fatima had plenty of that, as well.

“The sportswriter for our local county paper, Jim Vieth, wrote great articles about those games,” Marla Dickneite Robertson said. “It was like the reader was present. In the 90s everyone read the paper. Neighbors, family, church members followed. They seemed proud of our accomplishments. If we went to state, I felt like everyone would come because they were proud of us.”

The togetherness that began so many years ago still exists today.

“Those players became your sisters and when you see them years later you are generally happy to see them and want to know they are doing well,” Dickneite Robertson said.

“I played softball with a handful of my teammates my entire childhood and even into college,” Buersmeyer Rademan said. “Those are some of the longest friendships and the most meaningful.”

One player who is never far from the hearts of Fatima players is Angela Berhorst, who died just before the start of what would have been her senior season.

“And of course, I think of and miss one of my best friends, Ang, each and every day,” Buersmeyer Rademan said. “My kids know all about her, her passion, her drive and her ability to put a smile on anyone’s face, but still be able to muster up enough anger to throw a bat and helmet against the fence in the dugout after a tough at-bat!”

And while Coach Buersmeyer and Berhorst aren’t here to enjoy the celebration of their successes, the rest of the team will celebrate in their honor.

“These ladies all worked hard, they were committed,” Buersmeyer Rademan said. “They bought into the idea that if you made the simple plays, if you worked hard, if you hustled, if you didn’t hang your head, if you used your glove instead of your chest, it would hurt a lot less. Each and every one of these ladies deserve this honor.”

Shaun Marcum Baseball

Hegrew up in a small town northeast of Kansas City, in a place crazy about sports, known as Excelsior Springs. So it’d be easy to call Shaun Marcum a dreamer.

“I remember when I was 10 or 11 years old and myself and a few others from Excelsior that were on my travel team got interviewed by the paper,” Marcum said. “We said we were going to win a state title (in high school). We fell short, but the memories are still something we talk about with our kids. It pushed me to work even harder.”

Marcum never let his foot off the “hard work” pedal, emerged as a talent at Missouri State and then a long-time big-leaguer. That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct him with the Class of 2023.

Marcum became one of the best pitchers ever to come out of Missouri. At Missouri State, he was a twoyear closer and starting shortstop. In 2002, he helped the team finish as the runner-up in the NCAA Regional at the University of Nebraska and, a year later, Marcum helped the Bears reach the College World Series.

He then was a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003 and spent 12 seasons in professional baseball (2003-2015), including nine years in the big leagues. He started 167 big-league games, made 28 relief

appearances and logged more than 1,000 innings.

He also pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians. In Milwaukee, he helped the 2011 Brewers win the NL Central and come within two wins of reaching the World Series. From 2007-2012, he compiled the seventhhighest win percentage (.628) of all major-league pitchers with over 800 innings pitched.

For Marcum, two places in the Show-Me State will always be near and dear to his heart: Excelsior Springs and Missouri State.

In Excelsior Springs, his older brother was on the 1996 state championship football team, and Marcum later helped the 1999 baseball team reach the Final Four. He played travel baseball and played in the CABA World Series and AAU World Series, winning the CABA at age 11. In the CABA two years later, his 13U team dealt a California team its first loss in three years.

“I thought I had a chance (to play in college) when I was going into seventh and eighth grade,” Marcum said. “I knew a lot of the kids that were a little older than I was and knew we had a chance to be good. Plus our team was really good. We would play up an age group, sometimes two years up, and still won.”

Marcum initially went to the University of Missouri, but transferred to Missouri State.

“It was the best decision of my life,” Marcum said.

There, coach Keith Guttin (MSHOF 2015) and pitching coach Paul Evans (MSHOF 2022) put him in position to have success – Guttin and hitting coach Brent Thomas in his hitting, Evans in his pitching by working on his offspeed pitches and trusting his slider.

The 2002 and 2003 seasons still come to mind every so often.

“I would go to Omaha when I had a break from playing and watch (the College World Series),” Marcum said. “It was even more fun to win at Nebraska in 2003 since they eliminated us there the year before. The 2002 regional showed us we could compete with those guys.”

It was in the summer of 2002 when he became a prospect in the eyes of scouts in the prestigious Cape Cod League. A year later, the Blue Jays selected Marcum in the third round of

the MLB Draft.

“I didn’t think I’d be a thirdrounder. I was just looking forward to the opportunity,” Marcum said.

Marcum made a successful jump to the pros, ultimately focusing on pitching.

Looking back, he thanks all who helped along the way, especially his parents, brother and sister, as well as coaches and teammates.

These days, as he works with Excelsior Springs and Washburn University pitchers, he thinks back and knows how special it all was.

“To be able to play in the College World Series for some of the best coaches in the country, with great teammates, to playing at the highest level against the best in the world was something I dreamed about from the time I started playing baseball and something I will never forget,” Marcum said. “I hope I can help others accomplish (their dreams) now that I’m on the coaching side.”

Shaun Marcum on your induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

Congratulations Coach Mick Byrd

From the 1983 & 1984 Vienna HS State Championship Softball Teams

Penny Clayton, PhD, CPA, CFE not only has a stellar career in sports on her resume, she also is a star at Drury University where she is a full professor of accounting and is the accounting program’s coordinator. In addition, Penny is a partner with Clayton York & Hopp, CPAs. Penny is a lifelong Springfield resident and holds a doctorate from Oklahoma State University. She is a past recipient of the Missouri Governor’s Award for Exellence in Teaching. She is also honored with the Outstanding Educator Award from the esteemed Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants. Penny also was honored with the 2011 ACBSP Teaching Excellence Award. She is a member of the Missouri State University Athletic Hall of Fame and the Springfield Softball Hall of Fame. Penny also enjoys biking, roller blading and drawing. Congratulations Penny!

off First Year Individual Tax Return!