Sports

to PRO The men’s World Cup has awakened the dreamer in me again. As I stated in this newspaper’s June 26 issue, I’ve been touched by the outpouring of love international soccer fans are showing for America while visiting here for the World Cup.

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a twopart series. Excelsior Springs’ Class 4 state championship run this spring in baseball is a hint of seasons to come, according to Coleman Weber.

‘A GOOD CHALLENGE’ Excelsior Springs will be given “a good challenge” next season in varsity baseball, interim coach Cody Vaughn predicted June 22. As The Standard has reported, Excelsior Springs joins the Midland Empire Conference (MEC) this school year after a stint in the Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference-Blue Division.

Aiden O’Dell and Dantin McBee are back playing tennis again. Following the end of the Excelsior Springs high school boys tennis season, O’Dell and McBee each took a break from the sport, they said.

Metropolitan Community College (MCC)-Maple Woods might have three members of Excelsior Springs’ 2026 Class 4 state championship baseball team on its roster next season. Henry Crowley, Cruz Lloyd and Brody Querry each discussed their plans to play for the Kansas City-based school following the Tigers’ championship rally June 4 in the Excelsior Springs High School gym.

I’m not as apathetic as I thought. The “Tartan Army” has convinced me of that.

Ananya Carrel and Olivia Deere got in some more offseason prep work last week for Excelsior Springs’ varsity girls tennis season. Carrel and Deere, who’ll each start their senior year this fall, participated in a high school team camp June 8-12.

Kaelan Bedford finished his high school baseball career at Excelsior Springs as a Class 4 state champion. He’s about to begin his college baseball career with a national champion.

New Excelsior Springs varsity boys basketball coach Doug Burnett and his Tigers got out of town for a few days this week. The Tigers were slated to conclude a two-day shootout Thursday at Warrensburg, hosted by the University of Central Missouri (UCM).

My apathy as a sports fan is growing. A few years ago, after decades of a sometimes passionate, sometimes apathetic, sometimes contemptuous relationship with Major League Baseball, I finally decided I no longer cared about that level of hardball. My apathy is such that I can’t remember the last time I looked for a game to follow.