Mizzou Baseball raises $12,496 for Joplin Little League

♦ Mizzou Baseball Raises $12,496 for Joplin Little Leagues (komu.com)

Mizzou baseball raised $12,496 for the Joplin, Missouri Little Leagues with its Joplin Relief Games against Iowa over the weekend. The baseball program partnered with Daniel Boone Little League, the Diamond Council, BC Baseball and The Callaway Bank to create a welcoming atmosphere for fans at Taylor Stadium. Large crowds packed the stands and helped raise the money, which will go directly to helping Joplin Little League rebuild its fields, which were ravaged by a tornado on May 22, 2011.

♦ Missouri Baseball steals win over Iowa (Columbia Missourian)

Brown helped lead the Tigers in their 9-1 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, but more importantly he tested out a new style of base running.

His new technique is entertaining.

He shuffles back and forth, sharp on his toes, gracefully yet playfully moving on every pitch.

"People ask me, 'What are you doing out there? Are you dancing?'" Brown said, laughing at his own depiction. "My teammates are just all over me about it."

But there’s a reason for Brown’s new dance.

♦ MU, Iowa pitch in for Joplin (Columbia Tribune)

“It means a lot just to go out there and do something that’s really outside of ourselves,” senior catcher Ben Turner said. “Most of us don’t even know anybody from down there … but it’s something that we want to be able to do just to help them out. The devastation, it left you speechless looking at it.”

♦ Missouri baseball Superfan likes to be heard (Columbia Missourian)

During games, Wyatt likes to stick with the basic chants. He makes fun of certain situations and sometimes picks on individual players. He claims that each year, on the fly, he will come up with a special one-liner that cracks the stadium up.

“For the most part, I feel like I know everything that he’s going to say,” Turner laughs. “Maybe if he breaks out some new material, I might lose it a little bit. But I think for the most part we all know what to expect from him.”

Some of Wyatt’s chants are cheesy, while others are creative, but you can always guarantee they will not be offensive.

“I know where the lines are. I’m loud, and I fully admit it. I’m one of the loudest people around,” Wyatt said.