Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
July 19, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The trip that began as a family vacation will end with Keeden Orpet-Hulett staring down a monster. The Blue Monster. The Quincy Notre Dame sophomore golfer qualified for the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship, which is being played beginning Tuesday at the Trump National Doral Resort and Spa in Miami. The 15-year-old linkster…
Read Full Article July 19, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
PALMYRA, Mo. — Now a little more than 14 months into his tenure as the University of Missouri athletic director, Laird Veatch finds himself in an enviable position. The school’s two marquee sports — football and men’s basketball — have created a buzz and brought in substantial revenue from donors and supporters. The success of…
Read Full Article July 16, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The caterpillar stole the show. The hog-nosed snake turned out to be a solid opening act, and the building of birdhouses kept the group of elementary-age boys and girls active and engaged for the better part of an hour Wednesday morning. But when they noticed the caterpillar sunning itself on one of the…
Read Full Article July 16, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Click here to purchase digital downloads or prints from this gallery. QUINCY — The pieces fit together like a puzzle. All it took was a little help, drilling out some holes and the power to twist each and every screw into place. The students who participated in the Quincy Park District’s summer nature program built…
Read Full Article July 16, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
WINCHESTER, Ill. — The videos Colin Bigley posts to Facebook make you smile. Seeing the Winchester West Central assistant baseball coach play catch at a short distance with his son, Jacoby, and walk up and down a hallway are signs he is on the path to recovery. Less than a year ago, Bigley ended up…
Read Full Article July 16, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Hunter St. Clair is primed for his final high school golf season. The Quincy High School senior won a 36-hole Gateway PGA Junior Golf event played at Spring Lake Country Club and Quincy Country Club this week, distancing himself from the rest of the field in the boys 16-18 division by seven strokes.…
Read Full Article July 15, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The conversations Griffin Kirn has with representatives of 22 different Major League Baseball teams during the pre-draft allowed him to be fairly confident he’d be selected in the two-day draft. Still, that “what if” still lingered in a small way. Just what if everyone passed and the 6-foot-3, 215-pound left-handed pitcher wasn’t picked?…
Read Full Article July 15, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The University of Arkansas baseball program’s record-setting day in the 2025 MLB draft included a pitcher with Quincy ties being selected. Ben Bybee, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound junior right-hander, was selected in the eighth round Monday by the San Francisco Giants. He was one of 11 Razorbacks selected in the 20-round draft, which tied…
Read Full Article July 14, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Click here to purchase digital downloads or prints from this photo gallery. QUINCY — The rain pushed back the start time an hour, but it didn’t wash out Sunday night’s Prospect League action at QU Stadium. The Alton River Dragons upended the Quincy Doggy Paddlers 12-5. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman hung out down…
Read Full Article July 11, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
FOWLER, Ill. — The ripple spread across the top of the water as Brandon Smithton counted the seconds until it hit the bank. “One, two, three, four,” his grandfather, Charlie Smithton, heard him count. When he got to seven, Brandon stopped as the ripple hit the rocks. “Grandpa, you need to throw it farther next…
Read Full Article July 10, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Although his playing career was officially over, Jonny Bottorff didn’t want to stray far from the game he loved. Coaching keeps him connected to football for now and the foreseeable future. The Quincy Notre Dame graduate, who was an All-Big Sky Conference center at Northern Arizona last season, is headed California to get…
Read Full Article July 8, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Tanner Stuckman’s offseason really isn’t an offseason. Since returning to Quincy following his fourth season playing professional basketball overseas, the graduate of Quincy Notre Dame and Quincy University has been tirelessly preparing himself to play in Hungary, while doing all he can to give back to the community. That included teaming up with…
Read Full Article July 7, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Click here to order digital downloads or prints from this gallery QUINCY — With a clipboard in each of their little hands, the 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds headed off on an adventure to find pine cones, leaves, feathers and nuts. It didn’t take long to cross each item off their treasure hunt list and move…
Read Full Article July 4, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — John Wood Community College — more specifically the bell cow of its athletic department — finds itself at a crossroads. This week’s resignation of Jonny Dahl as the men’s basketball head coach not only leaves the school searching for a permanent replacement roughly seven weeks before students begin returning to campus for the…
Read Full Article July 3, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — For the second time in 15 months, the John Wood Community College men’s basketball program is in search of a new leader. The school announced Wednesday afternoon that Jonny Dahl resigned effective immediately after one season as the Trail Blazers head coach. Austin Banks, an assistant coach with the JWCC program the past…
Read Full Article July 1, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Tim Schrage knows the game. Not only has he been a lifelong golfer and contender in the Quincy men’s city golf championships, but he spent 11 seasons as the head men’s golf coach at Culver-Stockton College. So when Quincy native Luke Guthrie needed a caddy for last week’s Korn Ferry Tour event —…
Read Full Article June 30, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The box smelled like you might expect from something that sat on a shelf in a basement closet for the last 35 years. The white oversized envelopes neatly stacked inside the box aren’t necessarily white anymore, but they managed to keep their contents safe and pristine all this time. The fact nothing inside…
Read Full Article June 26, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
PALMYRA, Mo. — Bennett Stice is getting his chance to show he belongs in professional baseball. The Palmyra High School graduate recently signed a contract with the Gateway Grizzlies of the independent Frontier League and has made two appearances in the past week. A 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher, Stice has thrown 3.1 innings out of the…
Read Full Article June 26, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The roar of the go-kart engines is about to serenade Quincy’s South side. The Grand Prix of Karting returns this weekend with racing taking place Saturday and Sunday on the traditional course that challeges drivers with the twists and turns through South Park. Warmups and preliminary races will begin around 8 a.m. each…
Read Full Article June 24, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — After a 10-year absence, the opportunity for high school softball players to engage in a cross-river rivalry exists again. Kelsey Thompson made certain of it. The John Wood Community College softball coach introduced the idea of resurrecting the Illinois vs. Missouri all-star game back in March, and her plan comes to fruition Wednesday…
Read Full Article June 21, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place Saturday. Here is everything you need to know, the rosters for this year’s event and a look at the history of the event. What: Illinois vs. Missouri all-star basketball event. When: Girls game tips at 2 p.m., boys game to follow at approximately 4 p.m.…
Read Full Article June 21, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The pictures form a rolodex of memories and illustrate the changes and growth of a group of boys who have become young men. Every step of their journey has been together, from second grade to seniors in high school. They take their final step together Saturday as three of the lynchpins of the…
Read Full Article June 20, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place Saturday at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center with the area’s top seniors getting the opportunity to represent their schools, their communities and their states one final time. The girls game tips at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m.…
Read Full Article June 20, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10. MACOMB, Ill. — Kylie Robinson picked up some sage advice from her older sister, Kaitlyn, while…
Read Full Article June 19, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10. QUINCY — When Sage Stratton packed her belongings to move to the Drury University campus, she…
Read Full Article June 19, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10. QUINCY — Since Lauren Hummel was raised in a family that bleeds black and gold, one…
Read Full Article June 19, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10. MACOMB, Ill. — Braden Holthaus figured basketball was his future. Then college football coaches came calling.…
Read Full Article June 17, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10. KAHOKA, Mo. — Harrison Parker openly admits his golf game isn’t up to par. “I’m no…
Read Full Article June 17, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Abram Wiewel’s Tuesday couldn’t have gone much better. Not only did the recent Quincy Notre Dame graduate catch a foul ball while attending a game at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., but he became the third QND baseball player in the past four years named to the Illinois High School Baseball…
Read Full Article June 16, 2025 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10. CANTON, Mo. — Bryson Brewer doesn’t need to follow in his older brother’s footsteps. He needs…
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