A rugged regular-season slate of games will hopefully have the Dexter Bearcats primed and ready for the season-ending district tournament.
Dexter coach Brian Becker says the 2013 Bearcats schedule if the toughest "we've ever hand in my 23 years at Dexter. In addition to our rugged SEMO Conference schedule, we play state-ranked teams such as Valle, Oran, Cooter, Twin Rivers and Scott City."
Other non-conference games include West Plains, Neelyville, Clearwater, Malden, Portageville, Charleston, Campbell and Doniphan.
Dexter will also take part in the Notre Dame Showcase which will feature such teams as Helias, MICDS and Triad, Illinois.
Dexter lost four starters to graduation in Alex Cliff, Owen Flowers, Daniel Fitts and Josh Overall. Returning for their senior season will by Brad Potts, Jordan Miller and Logan Northern. Juniors returners include D.J. Dowdy and Cody Neldon.
Potts batted .422 last season with 20 RBI. He also supported a 2.76 ERA and along with Miller will anchor the Bearcats' pitching staff. Miller batted .451 with 26 RBI and had a 2.54 ERA.
"Dealing with this tough schedule was made ever tougher with the loss of UT-Martin signee Chase Young (knee)," Becker commented. "Chase has batted over .400 every year including his freshman year when he hit .467. He has also been my starting shortstop the last 2 seasons. Anytime you lose a player of Chase's caliber it's going to hurt your team. "Fortunately, Brad Potts is such a versatile player that I feel that he can step in and do a good job for us at short," Becker continued. "However, moving Brad to short opens holes in other positions. Plus, we will be without the services of center fielder Cody Neldon (knee) the first part of the season. We will definitely need some of our younger kids to step up and meet the challenge in order for us to have a chance at a successful season."
The top newcomers according to Becker will be Nick Noble (Jr), Wyatt Kiger (Jr), Austin Aldridge (Soph.), Jason Mattison (Soph.), Blake Horton (Soph), Sion Pixley (Soph), Chandler Young (Fr).
With MSHSAA opting to go to five classes in baseball this season, the Bearcats find the road to a district championship made even tougher. Perineal powers Kennett, looking for a third-straight district title, and Notre Dame Regional High School are still there while the new entry in the District 1 field will be Sikeston. Rounding out the district field will be Perryville and Fredericktown.
NOTE; Dexter's season-opener Friday against Doniphan on the road has been postponed until Monday (March 18) to allow, players, students and parents to follow and support the Lady Bearcats basketball team which is taking part in the Show Me Showdown in Columbia this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.