The Webb City Cardinals enters as the No. 1 seed in the Class 3 District 12 baseball tournament starting Monday at Carthage’s Carl Lewton Stadium.

The Cardinals, the Southwest Conference champions, will open against No. 8 seed East Newton at 1 p.m.

It is the first of four games Monday, three played in Carthage and a fourth will be played at Webb City’s Barnes Field.

At 4 p.m., No. 4 seeded Carthage will play No. 5 seed Nevada. The late game at Carthage will feature No. 3 seeded Seneca and No. 6 seeded McDonald County.

It is the second year in a row that the Indians and the Mustangs face off in the first round. Last year, the Mustangs upset the Indians in a game played at Carthage.

The two teams actually played once this year, with McDonald County winning 4-3 in the first game of the season.

“The bottom line is there are three teams with winning records in Webb City, Carl Junction and Seneca and they are very tough teams to play,” said McDonald County coach Lee Smith. “Drawing any one of those teams will be a tough task. Seneca is a talented team and we played them the first game and it was a one-run game. Obviously the season has gone bye and the thing about district is it’s a new season.”

The Mustangs will start Bo Bergen on the mound.

Seneca coach Chris Yust noted that he will counter with his ace, Patrick Bennett, in the game.

“McDonald County is a solid ball club and it will be a challenge,” said Yust. “We will play to play well.”