The Class 6 District 6 baseball tournament, hosted by Ozark High School, will be held on May 19, 20, and 22.

The district's competing teams are Branson, Glendale, Joplin, Kickapoo, Neosho, Nixa, Ozark, and Republic.

Nixa (26-8) received the No. 2 seed and is slated to face No. 7 Branson (16-18) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 19, at 4 p.m. The Eagles beat the Pirates in extra innings in the regular season matchup, 3-1.

Other quarterfinal matchups entail No. 1 Glendale (20-14) vs. No. 8 Republic (10-22), No. 4 Ozark (23-9) vs. No. 5 Joplin (19-15), and No. 3 Kickapoo (22-11) vs. No. 6 Neosho (18-13).

Besides Joplin and Ozark, Nixa knocked off each team in the regular season, defeating Glendale 9-2, Republic 8-6, Kickapoo 6-5, Branson 3-1, and Neosho 6-2. The Eagles fell to Joplin 4-3 in extra innings and Ozark 5-4.

Kickapoo is the district's hottest team entering the tournament. The Chiefs have eight straight and are winners of the last 10 games out of 11.

Nixa and Ozark both enter on a four-game winning streak. The Eagles won the last 11 of 14 games, and the Tigers won the last 10 of 12 games. 

All Nixa games throughout the district tournament can be viewed on mshsaa.tv for a $10 pay-per-view. Click here for the broadcast link.

A free audio-only cast can be viewed on Nixa Public Schools YouTube. Click here for the audio-cast link.
 

---

Recaps

Quarterfinals
In a pitcher's duel, Nixa prevailed in a late-inning thriller, knocking off Branson 2-1.

The game was scoreless through the first five innings. Branson took a 1-0 lead off a solo HR to right field.

Nixa used small ball and smart base running to eventually win the game. 

With one out, Cam Miller doubled to left field, and Miller McCoy followed with a walk. Miller advanced to third on a passed ball and a sacrifice bunt by Grady Eoff down the first baseline, scoring Miller and knotting the game at 1-1.

James Dirnberger delivered the game-winning run next. On a 1-2 count, Dirnberger hit a fly ball to center field, and the sac fly scored McCoy to give Nixa the lead.

Starting pitcher Wyatt Francis shut the door in the seventh inning and retired the Branson lineup in order, securing his three-hit, four-strikeout complete game.

Nixa plated five hits in the game to Branson's three. Adam McKnight went 2-3 with a double, Miller finished 1-3, and Eoff and Dirnberger recorded the other hits.

The Eagles face Kickapoo in the semifinals. The Chiefs knocked off Neosho 8-2. In the other semifinal, Republic, who upset top-seeded Glendale 3-2 in eight innings, meets Ozark, who won 2-1 over Joplin.

Click here for game photos.