Friday mornings on The Starting Lineup mean one thing: getting the absolute best local sports breakdown in the Ozarks with the Scoreboard Guy himself, Guy Newcomb. Making his incredible 730th appearance on the show, Guy joined us fresh off a memorable conclusion to the Quarterback Tip-Off Leadoff Club’s season on Monday. We kicked things off by celebrating Guy’s well-deserved special recognition award, which brought back a flood of classic local baseball memories—including a legendary story about facing Glendale High School back in the day and seeing an opposing coach kicked back in a leather recliner right inside the dugout.

Thanks to our fantastic sponsor, Play It Again Sports, the Leadoff Club wrapped up another highly successful run by giving away sets of uniforms to local programs. But while one chapter is closing, the local high school sports scene is just catching fire as district baseball, softball, and soccer tournaments shift into absolute overdrive across Southwest Missouri.

The Kickapoo and Ozark Coaching Carousel

We had to get Guy’s take on the massive coaching moves shaking up the Central Ozark Conference. The biggest headline is Bill Voris moving over to Springfield Public Schools to take the reins at Kickapoo High School. Voris has done an outstanding job building numbers and motivating kids at Fair Grove High School, and Guy notes that his love for the challenge of competing week in and week out in one of the state’s top conferences makes this a home-run hire for the Chiefs. This opens up a major vacancy at Ozark High School. While summer camps and sessions are right around the corner, Guy let us in on a fascinating name circulating through the grapevine: Will Christian, a Nixa High School graduate and highly respected coach who could make a massive splash if he returns to the COC.

Why Career Records are Crashing Down

One of the most eye-opening segments of our chat revolved around how modern scheduling is fundamentally altering high school sports history. We saw Riley Schul at Lone Jack break her school record by netting her 136th career goal, and Marshfield High School baseball has already played a max-allowed 36 games before districts even begin! Guy pointed out that today’s student-athletes are playing up to 30% more games in their careers than athletes did just 15 years ago. Because of these extended schedules across football, basketball, baseball, and soccer, local and state career records are going to continue crashing down.

District Brackets: Seeding Controversies and Teams to Watch

Class 6 District 11 at Ozark is shaping up to be an absolute bloodbath starting Tuesday. Glendale High School secured the 1-seed (19-14), followed by Nixa High School at the 2-seed (25-8), Kickapoo at 3 (21-11), and Ozark High School at the 4-seed (22-9). The real wildcard? Joplin High School sits as a dangerous 5-seed despite being the defending champion and having already beaten Nixa, Kickapoo, and Ozark this year. Guy broke down the strategic posturing of the seeds and how pitching depth will decide who survives. Meanwhile, in Class 5, Logan-Rogersville High School and Marshfield High School are on a collision course after splitting their regular-season meetings, and a stacked Willard High School district features heavy hitters like Webb City High School and Carl Junction High School ready to brawl.