The Brown County softball teams calls its home turf the kitty litter field.

While some area teams have struggled to get a game in so far, the Lady Hornets already have six under their belts.

That's the good news.

The bad news is they are 0-6 this season. But the Lady Hornets have only had one rainout.

First-year coach Jenine Seal isn't sure what type of dirt covers the field. But the team never puts a tarp on top of it.

"The dirt is just so absorbent," Seal said. "It's not gritty it's just kind of powdery and it just seems to dry out so quick. ... It's not like clay like a lot of the other fields I've played on."

Last Thursday, the Brown County players didn't expect to be able to play Hardin Calhoun.

"It rained like three days straight and then it cleared up (last) Wednesday morning," Seal said. "We weren't anticipating playing -- the girls didn't bring their uniforms."

Brown County ended up losing to Hardin Calhoun in a heart breaker, 12-11 in eight innings.

Blue Devils tripling their fun

The Quincy High School (2-0) softball team has already surpassed the number of triples it had last season.

And it only took two games and three players to do it.

Sophomore Jordyn Mecklenburg, senior Kelsey Price and senior Lindsay Womack all had a triple in the 8-2 victory over Macomb on March 20. Each member of the trio also tripled in Monday's 5-0 win over Central-Southeastern.

Barb Crist's team tallied four triples in 26 games last season.

Area athletes set for indoor state

Eight Illini West athletes and one Quincy High School runner is headed to this weekend's Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Track & amp; Field Classic at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

The Chargers' boys team is sending senior Sabe Goetz (55-meter sprint), sophomore Dustin Carlisle (high jump) and freshman Cody Carson in the 800 and 1,600 runs.

Five Illini West girls also earned a spot at the meet. Those athletes are Taylor Mitchell (high jump), Tiffany Mohr (high jump, Jaclyn Duffy (shot put), Natalie Northrup (3,200 run) and Danielle Gronewold (55 sprint and 200 run).

Quincy High School's Chris Clarkson is competing in the 400.

Mayes earns first-team all-state

South Shelby forward Erin Mayes received Class 3 first-team all-state honors from the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association after leading the Lady Birds to a second-place state finish.

Mayes averaged 15 points per game.

Meanwhile, two high-scoring junior guards earned Class 3 second-team all-state honors. South Shelby's Matt Patterson averaged 22.9 points and 4.1 assists, while Palmyra's Jonathon Nutt averaged 22.3 points and sank an area-best 80 3-pointers.

In Class 2, Knox County forward Dennis Dent and Canton forward Tori Niemann each earned second-team honors. Dent averaged 16.9 points and 9.7 rebounds as the Eagles won their first district title since 1971, while Niemann averaged 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds as the Lady Tigers lost in the district finals to top-ranked Westran.

WBBA/WJBM all-star game on tap

More than a dozen senior boys basketball players from the area will participate Saturday in the 26th Annual McCartney Real Estate/Midwest Land Sales Senior All Star Classic sponsored by WBBA/WJBM Radio.

The event is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday at Pittfield's Voshall Gym.

The night will include an alumni game for players who participated in the game the last 25 years. The all-star game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. with a slam dunk contest taking place at halftime.

Among the players participating are Pittsfield's Jake McNulty, Garrett Howland and Trevor Miller; Pleasant Hill's Adam Gunterman and Tyler Cox; Liberty's Garrett Huber, Kyle Leapley and Zach Leapley; Western's Gregg Steinman and Calvin Rueb; Griggsville-Perry's Drew DeSpain and Perry Bonds; Payson Seymour's Chad Karch and Jordan Cook and Brown County's Caleb Taylor.

For more information, contact Jack Hull at (217) 473-5151.

Deters signs with Culver

Highland senior Jessica Deters signed a national letter of intent on Wednesday to continue her track and field career at Culver-Stockton College next season. Deters will be a middle-distance runner for the women's track and field team.

-- Herald-Whig Staff