The Ozark Foothills Conference baseball landscape is changing for the first time in 35 years.
Last October marked the final fall baseball game for Doniphan, which joined the conference in 1982 but scratched the sport in place of its newly rejuvenated football program at the start of this school year.
With the need for more bodies on the gridiron, fall baseball at Doniphan is a thing of the past with little-to-no chance of returning in the near future, according to Doniphan coach Larry Mueller, who said at least four baseball players from last year's team have joined the football team.
"I don't know any school that plays football and baseball in the fall in the state, so it wouldn't have been feasible to have both teams from our standpoint," he said. "When we voted to start football that left us with softball and cross country. We've got a lot of kids playing football this year."
The Dons, the school with the largest enrollment in the conference, will field a team in the spring but the news of their departure this fall left the remaining six teams in the OFC -- Clearwater, East Carter, Greenville, Naylor, Neelyville and Twin Rivers -- wondering their fall ball fates and if the end-of-the-fall tournament would continue.
Following a meeting for all-conference selections at the end of the spring season, the athletic directors and principals from the remaining six schools voted to keep the tournament in the fall.
"At the end of last fall season there was talk that it wouldn't happened and that it'd be moved or scratched altogether," said Twin Rivers coach Jared Stockton, who also played for the Royals.
"So when this decision came down I think we were all very happy with it, because this is the way it's always been in the OFC."
For the six teams that remain, baseball is one of the few or only sports a male student-athlete has the option of playing in the fall. Currently, East Carter and Greenville are the only schools in the conference that offer cross country as an additional boys sport.
"For a lot of these guys this is their only option and you might as well have something to play for since there's no state championship," East Carter coach Scott Henfling said. "It would've been strange to play in the fall and not have something to play towards."
The six-team tournament, which is slated for October 2-5 at Three Rivers College, will also feature a new format. This year the two teams with the best regular-season conference record will receive a bye unlike previous years where one team got a free pass to the semifinals. Quarterfinal winners will face off against the top two teams in the semifinals before third place and the championship are decided Thursday, Oct. 5.
"I think it affects the tournament a little bit, but also it gives you the chance to play for the same thing that I did as a player and many before and after me," said second-year Neelyville coach Tyler Thompson, who played for the Tigers. "If we took it away, you kind of get rid of what you're playing for, so I'd rather have an altered tournament that allows guys to compete."
Regular-season conference games may not be as vital as they used to be with two byes up for grabs, but they will still be significant.
"I think that leaves conference games about the same," Thompson said. "You've still got to win games to win those top two seeds as it is and you still had to win games to get the top seed then. It's going to come down to winning the big games that matter."
Added Stockton, "It could leave you one bad game to lose and still shoot for the 2-seed where before you almost had to go undefeated to get the 1-seed and the bye. But to me it doesn't make them any less important."
There was a discussion of moving the tournament to the spring altogether, but with new pitching-limit rules and district standings more of a concern from February to May, keeping in the fall made the most sense.
"If they would've moved it to the spring, you're now trying to win district games and conference games with a pitch count," Thompson said. "With a small school like us that's very hard to do."
There was also talk of adding another local team to the mix in an effort to keep the seven-team format that has been around since 1982. Teams such as Van Buren, Holcomb and Campbell were mentioned, but ultimately none fit the mold.
"We talked about adding a team but everybody's already in their own little conference," Henfling said. "There's really nobody to pick up and add."
As far as a favorite goes, it's anyone's guess. Greenville has won the last two titles with a 15-3 record against conference teams dating back to the 2014-15 season, but lost its ace, Trey McDaniel, to graduation and returns a young squad. East Carter has reached the last two championships but lost four starters and some pitching depth as did Twin Rivers, which returns seven of the starters that helped the Royals take third place last year.
Clearwater, Naylor and Neelyville each return at least nine players who saw varsity time and lost a limited number of players from last year.
"As of right now it's a flip of the coin as to who can win it," Clearwater coach Cole Sheets said. "It's going to be pretty tight right up until the tournament."