Our first game of the evening was between Brown Co. and Calhoun.  This game got off to a good start for both sides as the score was tied at 3 after 2 innings of play.  After the 2^nd inning, Calhoun would only go on to score 3 more runs and Brown Co. would score 10 more to give them the win by a score of 13-6.  For Calhoun Connor Gilman had a good night at the plate as he went 2-3 with two base hits and two runs scored.  For Brown Co. Ronnie Coultas had a great game as he made some key defensive plays at catcher by tagging out two different runners at the plate on a couple of very nice plays.

The second game of the evening was between Macomb and Beardstown.  Both team’s pitchers got off to great starts as after 2 innings our score was tied at 1.  In the Bottom of the third Beardstown was able to get 5 runners across the plate and that would be enough for the 6-1 win.  For Macomb, Brandon Bickers had a good night at the plate going 1-2 with a leadoff ground rule double into the right field corner in the second inning.  For Beardstown, Trey Perry went 2-3 at the plate with two doubles, two runs scored, and two RBI’s.  Beardstown will now take on Brown County on Friday night at 6 pm.

Last night the second round of the 9/10 Baseball District Finals got underway with a matchup between Jerseyville and Brown Co.  This game was a tight score the whole way through as the biggest lead was after Jerseyville scored 2 in the top of the 1^st inning and from there no one ever led by more than one run. For Brown Co. Darian Drake went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles an RBI and 2 runs scored.  For Jerseyville their top performer this evening was John Bray as he went 2 for 3 with a double and the 2 run Homerun that put Jerseyville back on top to win the ballgame by a score of 5-4.

 Our second game of the evening saw Macomb and W. Hancock take to the field in highly offensive game.  This game was neck and neck all the way through until the bottom of the 5^th inning when W. Hancock was able to plate 6 runs to give them the comfortable lead to win the ballgame by a score of 17-10. For Macomb, Mason Westen went 2 for 3 with two singles and two runs scored in the game.  For W. Hancock, Kulton Johnson had a good night as he went 2 for 3 with two singles and one double, two runs scored, and 5 RBI’s in the ballgame.

The Junior Baseball championship game was a one sided affair as Brown Co. jumped out to an early lead in the first inning and never looked back.  Brady Long came out with an amazing pitching performance for Brown Co. as he picked up the complete game win by striking out 6 batters, and only allowing 3 hits.  Nathan Mekdara’s grand slam in the 3^rd inning broke the game open as Mekdara finished the game 2-3 with 5 RBI’s.  Brown Co. won the game over Pike Co. by a score of 18-3 and will now play in the Sectional on Saturday night in Salem.  

Our first game saw Pike Co. American take on Rushville who was playing their first game of the tournament.  Pike Co. American took an early lead in the first inning only to see Rushville bring the score to 11-6 in the bottom half of the inning.  Then when Pike Co. American came back up in the second they never looked back as they took advantage of multiple walks and wild pitches to run the bases and built up a comfortable lead.  The player of the game was from Pike Co. as Chandler Hayden had a nice day going 1-1 with a base hit , 5 Stolen Bases, and scored 3 runs in the 24-8 win for Pike Co. American.

 Our next game pitted Pike Co. National against Brown Co.  Both of these teams had big wins on Saturday and both were coming out looking for another win.  Pike Co. National was the first to step up to the plate as they were able to plate 11 runs in the inning and held Brown Co. to just 1 run.  Blair Borrowman had a great day on the mound for Pike Co. National as she went the distance and picked up the win.  Mariah Markert had one of the best hits we may see in this tournament as she hit a hard line drive that went 195 ft to the fence in left field for Brown Co.  In the end Pike Co. National came out on top by a score of 22-6 and will now play Pike Co. American at 8 pm on Tuesday night.

Our second game of the evening gave us our first look at two very good ball clubs as Rushville and Pike Co. did battle.  This game was less about the offense and more about the pitching and defense.  There were only 6 hits, total, in the game for both teams.  For Pike Co., the player who stood out, to me, was Mitch Main as he started on the hill, was removed for rest after a nice outing, and moved to the catcher position.  He did a solid job behind the plate.  For Rushville, Austin Jones scored on nearly every appearance at the plate.  Jones reached 3rd on all of his plate appearances but, the closest he came to actually scoring was when he got caught stealing in the 3rd inning.  In the end, it was a Pike County win 2-0 as they advance to play Brown County at 8:00 pm on Friday night.  Rushville will play Jerseyville in an elimination game at 6:00 Friday. 

It wasn't the type of game the Havana Ducks wanted to play, but they won 49-39 to get to the title game.  While Virginia/AC did not win the game, they played one of their better games of the season, except for the 22 turnovers.  They did hit 15-32 (47%) in the game and 43% from the line.  Bergerud scored 17 points as she led the Redbirds and Vaughn added 10.  Virginia/AC ended their season with 14 wins and 15 losses but they didn't give up as they fought to the end.  Friedrich scored 16 and McClure 11 in the Duck win.  Eakle added 8 and Ellsworth 7, in spite of early foul trouble.  Havana only turned the ball over 13 times while shooting 50% from the free throw line and 20-43 from the field. They will take a 29-4 record into their title game with South Fulton on Thursday.  In their earlier meeting, they were tied with 5 minutes to play, then the Ducks had a 14-2 run to win the game. This will be a real battle for the championship. 

Griggsville Perry defeated Beardstown 46-26 as they earned the right to play Farmington in the consolation losers bracket title game on championship day.  The Tiger's Denise Rawlins scored 12 points in the loss and Beardstown hit 8 of 12 free throws but, it wasn't quite enough.  DeSpain hit 13, Crawford 12 and Witaker 10 and the Tornadoes shot 64% (21-33) from the charity stripe to held secure the win.  G-P is a little up and down this year and are very good when they are on top of their game.

Illini Bluffs is an interesting team and while they didn't win quite as many games as they wanted in the tournament, they show a lot of promise.  They were defeated by a good Canton team 49-43, who scored 16 points in the 3rd quarter to take a lead they never relinquished.  Tingleff and McClintock each scored 10 for the Tigers while Flynn and K. Wall added 7.  Illini Bluffs show 65 % from the free throw line also and basically had pretty good tournament.  Moser scored 17 for the Lady Giants, to lead the way, while Harkless scored9, Martin 8, Conway 5, Joachim 5 and Wilson 5 as Canton spread the ball around nicely.  With the win, Canton would get a chance to face Havana in a game for 5th place on Championship day.

Piasa Southwestern had some difficulty in dispatching Illini Bluffs but, they got the job done as they posted the 42-38 win.  Flynn led the Tigers with 12 points, while McClintock added 8 and Kenzie Wall 7.  Illini Bluffs shot 41% from the field and hit 9 of 16 free throws (56%) and turned the ball over 18 times.  The Birds hit 16 of 48 shots from the field, 4 of 9 in free throws and had 15 turnovers as they played their usual, sound and fundamental game. Darr was sharp with 18 points and Scott hit 9 points as 6 of the Birds hit the scoring column.  With the win, Southwestern improved to 12-0 on the season.

Pleasant Plains and West Central had an expected close ball game with the Cardinals winning 42-41 on a yakel free throw with 1.9 seconds on the clock.  White had 14 and Schaad 10 to lead the Cougars.  King scored 7 in the first half but was held to just 1 point in the second half.  West Central was 15-39 from the field, 8-13 from the free throw line and had 15 turnovers in the loss.  The Cardinals got 18 points from Owens and 10 from Yakel but, Jenkins was not able to play due to an injury in the previous game.  Plains hit 48% from the field, 68% at the charity stripe and had 16 turnovers as they moved to the semi-final round of the championship bracket. 

It was a close game for a while, before West Hancock broke it open to win a 51-32 contest over Canton.  The Lady Giants turned the ball over 19 times as they hit 14-18 (77%) in free throws and only 23% from the field. Moser scored 12 and Martin 8 to lead Canton.  Hall had 22 points and several good passes to lead the Titans to the win.  Bunn hit double digits with 10 and 6 of the Titans scored in the game.  West Hancock shot 47 times in the game and knocked down 19 (40%) of their shots while hitting 10 of 14 free throws.  Their bad number was 20 turnovers in the win. 

Lewistown looked pretty good as they posted a 40-30 win over the Macomb Bombers, which earned them the right to take on Routt Catholic in the next round. Bainter finished strongly in the game with 11 points as 7 of the Indians scored in a well balanced offensive attack.  They were able to hit 14 of 42 shots and 11 of 15 in free throws but they had a high (29) number of turnovers. Macomb turned it over 23 times, hit 40% in free throws and only 25% from the field as they fell to 2-14.  Claudon had 7 points to lead the Bombers. 

Liberty and Griggsville-Perry played a very entertaining game as the Eagles won it 41-40.  Cramsey scored 14 and Neisen 12 to lead the way while Flesner added 9 and Harris 6.  They were 50% from the line and 39% (15-38) from the field.  They did a nice job of taking care of the ball and ended the game with only 13 turnovers. Whitaker had 13 and DeSpain 12 for the Lady Tornadoes as Hobson added 8 and Bradshaw 7.  They wre 5-11 (45%) from the line and 37% (17-46) from the field as they fell to 8-7 on the year. Griggsville-Perry also did a nice job of taking care of the ball with just 14 turnovers in the loss. 

Mendon Unity was too strong for Triopia and beat the Trojans 49-32 behind 16 points from Rush.  Seven of the Mustangs scoed in the game as they hit 42% from the field.  They did turn it over 18 times but hit 50% of their free throws on the way to their 5th win of the season.  Triopia-Meredosia only hit 36% from the field and 38% from the free throw line while they turned it over 22 times.  Meyers and Reither had 9 points each while Huey added 7 in the loss.  With the loss, Triopia will face Rushville in their final game of the Lady Tiger Tournament at 10:00 tomorrow.          

Canton, the #3 seed knocked off Griggsville-Perry 72-45 and will line up against West Hancock at 2:30 on Monday.  Joachim put 16 in the books, as Moser added 13, Wilson 12 and Martin 11 in a well rounded scoring attack.  The Little Giants shot 43% in the game and had 17 turnovers.  The tornadoes shot 22% and turned it over 20 times in the loss.  Canton shot 14-21 from the free throw line and Griggsville-Perry hit 5 of 15.  Bradshaw led the Tornadoes with 18 points and DeSpain hit 13 as they were outscored in all 4 quarters.  Griggsville-Perry will take on Liberty Monday at 11:30.

In game #7, it was the biggest upset of the day as Illini Bluffs defeated #7 Pittsfield 57-39 as they put 4 players in double figures.  H. Wall scored 14, McClintock 13, Russell 11 and Flynn 10.  The Tigers hit only 28% from the field but converted 17-28 from the free throw line.  Willard recorded 18 points, Newingham 8 and O'Brien 7 as Pittsfield hit 8-11 from the free throw line. The Saukees will face Beardstown at noon on Monday, in the consolation bracket

West Hancock and Liberty were tied at 2, after the first quarter.  Then the Titans opened it up to 14-6 at half time and out scored the Eagles 13-1 in the 3rd and put them away 41-17. Flesner was the high scorer for Liberty with 9 points as they hit 3 of 7 from the free throw line and 6 for 28 in the game. West Hancock was led by Yager with 14, then Bunn hit for 11 and Hall 10 as they hit 3 of 6 from the free throw line to help secure the win.  Hall, who was the MVP in last year's tournament stayed outside most of the game and didn't use her inside game the bulk of the time. 

Beardstown got off to an early 9-2 lead over Triopia-Meredosia and never looked back as they posted the 45-28 win.  Riddle had 5 treys for 15 points as Hoenes scored 10, Rawlins 9 and Harris 7.  Reither scored 14 points with 2 treys and 2-2 free throw shooting and no one else had more than 4 points in the loss. 2 for 6 free throw shooting wasn't helpful and Triopia will take on Mendon Unity at 10:00 Monday in the High School Gym.

In the opening game of the 28th annual Beardstown Lady Tiger Classic, Griggsville-Perry beat Mendon Unity 53-42, behind Whitaker and Bradshaw who each scored 12 points. Moore added9 while Despain scored 8 and Hobson 6. 18 of 25 free throws helped the Tornadoes and they forced the Mustangs into 33 turnovers in the game. Mendon got 12 points from Begeman and 10 from Moore as they hit 8 for 20 in free throws. The Mustangs will take on Triopia-Meredosia Monday and that may prove to be a pretty good match up. 

The Minutemaids of Bunker Hill are tall and athletic and are going to cause some problems for most teams they play this year. They won an easy 46-18 game last night at Mt. Sterling as they improved to 3-0 on the year.  The Hornets have some difficult times scoring, at times, and last night was no exception. They tried to get inside and were rejected on numerous occasions, and just didn't hit the outside shots to loosen it up a little. Kerley played well with 9 points and Koch added 4 with a trey and a free throw. Gragg (2), Kunkel (2) and Babb (1) rounded out the scoring. It didn't help matters when Brown County was only able to hit 3 of 12 free throws and turned the ball over 30 times. This is a young team that shows good potential, but they will have a hard time competing with the upper echelon of the WIVC. The Minutemaids are a physical team and may hurt themselves with fouls in big games.  They committed 20 fouls last night and had to set some of they key players down early in the game. Brooklyn Hlafka led the scoring with 12 and Amy Golike scored 11 while playing a solid game at both ends of the floor.  Lovejoy hit for 9 points and Paul knocked down 6.  Paul got in some early foul trouble, as did Hlafka and that slowed down the interior pressure for a time.  Ivester and Johnson added 3 each and Michaela Hlafka rounded out the scoring with 2.  Free throw shooting was pretty good with a 10-15 effort (66%) and as big as Bunker Hill players are, they only gave up the ball 11 times. This is a good team with a real up-side and it will be interesting to see how the better teams play them. 

In game one this evening from the Turkey Tournament in New Berlin, the 2-0 Williamsville Bullets and 2-0 Girard Big Red met to see who would play in the championship game on Saturday night. It turned out to be a good game that the Bullets won 56-46.  They were up by 19 points at one time but the Big Red kept fighting back and got as close as 4 points in the 2nd half.  Hays had 13 points to lead Girard as 6 players got into the scoring column.  Sutton had early foul trouble as did Burton and they both fouled out in the 2nd half.  Sutton scored 6 and Burton, who is averaging 24.5 points a game only scored 8. Buck scored in each quarter and finished with 9.  Leonard and Emory each scored 5.  The Big red were 9-18 from the free throw line and gave up the ball 19 times.  The Bullets only had 5 players score in the game and will need to spread it around a little more in their title game with West Central on Saturday. Gentile hit for 18 and Wagner 17 to lead the way. Schultz added 8 while Combs scored 7 and Roscetti 6.  They were 7-16 for 44% free throw shooting and they had 16 turnovers.  While they may beat West Central, I am curious as to whether or not they have the depth to go 4 quarters against the relentless pressure and board work the Cougars will bring to the game.  It should be a nice match up for these 3-0 squads.  

At A-C, Athens defeated Springfield Calvary 25-5, 25,8 while Edinburg dropped New Berlin 25-16, 25-19.  Then Athens beat Edinburg and will play A-C Central/Virginia for the regional title at 5:00 Saturday.  Routt and West Central will play for the Griggsville-Perry championship at 11:00 on Saturday.  The Cougars defeated Pleasant Hill 25-15, 25-11, then defeated the host Tornadoes 22-25, 31-29, 25-12.  It will be the third time this season the Cougars and Rockets play, so it should be an interesting match up.  We will carry the Griggsville-Perry and A-C Central regional championships live on 101.3 WVIL, then move on to the Camp Point Central Sectional with the regional champs.

In the opener, Rushville-Industry just looked like they were about a step slow against the hustling Mustangs of Unity.  The final score was 25-16 and 25-15.  Donley had 13 assists with 3 points, a kill and 3 blocks as she was very active tonight for Unity. Moore had 10 kills and 4 blocks and brown served up 7 points with 3 kills.  Rush was impressive with 4 kills e blocks and 1 assist. Brooks scored 7 points with 1 assist while Deusterhaus and Kelsall had 6 points each.  The Mustangs ended up with 6 service tonight and 7 aces.  Rhoads played well again tonight with 3 points, 3 kills, 5 blocks and an assist.  Kendrick scored 3 points with 6 assists.  Taber had 3 points with 1 kill as Forman had a kill and Ashley had a kill.  Utter had a service point with a kill, so Rushville-Industry got contributions from a lot of players and that will bode well for them as the season goes on.  The Rockets only had 4 service errors this evening but, they also only had 1 ace as Unity did a nice job of returning serve. Rushville will try to pick up their first win of the season when they face Western tomorrow at 5:00. 

Brown County came into today's game with a 1-0 record and a win over Central.  They started off slowly and had to fight their way back on both games before losing to Liberty 25-15, 25-20. The  Hornets were a little inconsistent tonight in their loss. Buss had 5 assists, 1 kill and 1 point while Kunkel had 6 points. Babb put down 3 kills and had a block. Kerley had 2 points and an assist while Jones had a point and 3 kills. Templen played another nice game with 2 points, 4 kills and 2 assists. Brown County had 7 service errors and will take on a very good team from Payson tomorrow at 7:00. For the Eagles, Larson had 4 points, 7 kills and Neisen added 7 points. Vollbracht played well with 9 points, 1 kill and 13 assists.  Cramsey was strong at the net with 6 kills and Wagner played an all around good match with 1 point, 5 kills and 2 blocks.  To round out the scoring, Harris had 4 points as Field had 1 point and 1 block.  There were 6 service errors for Liberty in their win.