Sports

COMMENTARY The residents and student athletes of Excelsior Springs are lucky to have fantastic facilities available to them. Over the past several years, the school district has taken pride in building stateof- the-art fields, stadiums and courts.

Hunter Scoma wants to keep a few athletic streaks going when he resumes competing for Excelsior Springs High School in wrestling and baseball in a few months. As a wrestler, Scoma seeks to be a state qualifier for a third straight season.

An Excelsior Springs-based summer softball team brought home the silver twice recently. The Cyclones, a group of mostly 16-year-olds whose core has played together since age 8, placed second at the 18A USSSA State Fastpitch Tournament, held June 21-23; and then at the Dust & Diamonds Tournament, a three-day tournament that wrapped Sunday.

An Excelsior Springs summer league baseball team piled up the runs in taking second in its division at the USSSA A/AA State Championship Tournament. Averaging nearly nine runs per game, the 10-and-under Crushers went 4-2 during the June 21-23 tournament, held at the Capitol Federal Sports Complex in Liberty.

In sports, there are two types of parents. Some parents want their kids to just have fun.

THE STANDARD STAFF For Excelsior Springs varsity baseball coach Aaron Holst, June 16 was a day to give thanks. That evening in the high school commons area, Holst, his Tigers and their families staged their end-of-season awards banquet.

Football training camp is approaching for Excelsior Springs High School graduate and his Las Vegas teammates. Las Vegas announced its training camp dates in a June 18 post on its website.

Kaelan Bedford quieted opposing bats when his summer baseball team asked him to pitch recently in the Perfect Game Midwest Regional World Series. Bedford, who’ll be a junior this fall at Excelsior Springs High School, tossed a no-hitter to lead Competitive Edge Black 2026 to a 5-0 victory over Wisconsin-based GRB STIKS Teal June 20 at Prospect Meadows Sports Complex in Marion, Iowa.

An Excelsior Springs-based baseball club recently brought home a fifth-place finish from the Lake of the Ozarks. The Knuckleheadz, coached by Stephen Crowley, received the honor in the 15/16-and-under division at the 2024 Youth World Series.