WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City High School Cardinals kicked off the 2026 fall sports season Thursday with a softball jamboree, joined by the Seneca High School Indians and the Monett High School Cubs at Webb City.
Each of the three teams played the others in truncated four-inning games.
The jamboree featured Webb City’s Kathy Harris and Seneca’s Mike Howard with their new teams.
Harris served as an assistant to multiple sports teams for three decades at WCHS and took over as head coach this year after serving as an interim coach part of last season.
Howard, a longtime coach at McAuley Catholic High School in basketball and softball (with New Heights), is in his first year at the helm of the Seneca program.
Both coaches weighed in on the benefits of participating in a jamboree.
“The value is in being able to reevaluate kids and see where they are going to fit into the season in order to put all the right pieces out there together to make our season a successful one,” Harris said.
“I think it’s important to be able to see where we are at against competition and to be able to put certain rosters together,” Howard said. “You might have a couple of kids battling it out for one or two positions, so a jamboree against another team helps us to see what you would see in a real game from them, with live action against other pitchers. I think it is good for them early in the year to just kind of see where you are at.”
Howard also shared what his message to the team was before the start of the jamboree.
“Know that this game doesn’t mean anything. We’re out here to learn,” Howard told his team. “If you make a mistake, it’s OK. Just learn from that mistake.”
Webb City came out hot in its opener against Monett, plating five runs in the bottom of the first, including a two-run homer by Addison Burns.
They plated three more in the second, one in the third and four in the fourth to claim a 13-0 win.
Alivia Nieburg and reliever Avery Burns combined for a no-hitter. Nieburg struck out three and walked two in one inning and Burns fanned three and walked one in two innings of relief.
Harris weighed in on her team’s performance in Game 1.
“Overall, I felt like we were good. We were hitting our spots pitchingwise and hittingwise,” Harris said. “We have a few things we need to fine-tune to keep hunting pitches that we can drive.”
In the second matchup of the day, Monett jumped out to 7-0 lead over Seneca with two runs in the bottom of the first and five more in the second.
Seneca nearly erased the deficit after plating five in the top of the third but fell a little short as the Cubs held on for a 7-5 win. Davynn McCullough led Monett at the plate, finishing 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBIs. Emma Velten was 2 for 2 with three RBIs and a run.
Seneca’s Ava Berrey was 2 for 2 with two RBIs and a run.
In the final game of the jamboree, Webb City faced Seneca and beat Seneca 9-0.
A nice-sized crowd braved scorching heat to get a first look at their teams. Harris praised her Cardinals fans.
“We have really good community support,” Harris said. “They want to come out and be a part of what we have going.”
The steamy temperatures Thursday also aided Harris in something she has been trying to instill in her players.
“The girls have been working hard every day in these high temperatures,” Harris said. “We’ve talked about being mentally tough and we are pushing them every day to get tougher.”
Webb City opens its regular season Aug. 28-29 at the Republic Lead-Off Classic. They face rival Carl Junction High School at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at at CJHS. The Cardinals first home game will be at 5 p.m. Sept. 1 against McDonald County High School.
Seneca opens its 2026 campaign Aug. 28-29 at the Aurora Kickoff Classic. They will be on the road for awhile, with five straight away games. Their home opener will be Sept. 14 when they host Carl Junction.
Monett opens its season Sept. 1 at Marshfield High School with a 4:30 p.m. start. They will host Logan-Rogersville High School at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 3.
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