Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — A pair of local prep football standouts and a couple of Quincy University recruits have been invited to play in the 50th Illinois High School Shrine Game, an all-star event taking place June 15 in Bloomington. Camp Point Central running back/defensive back Drew Paben and Quincy High School lineman Chris Flachs will represent…
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QUINCY — Tough. It is the first word that comes to mind scanning the roster of the Illinois girls team for the upcoming Muddy River Showcase. From Brilyn Lantz’s scrappiness that propelled Central-Southeastern to a Class 2A super-sectional berth last winter to Taylor Fohey’s willingness to battle on the block in guiding Quincy High to…
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QUINCY — Over the past few days, Muddy River News writer Steve Eighinger has been conducting a countdown of what he considers the best movies from the modern golden age of film, which he categorizes as 1960-1999. In his “Daily Dirt” column, Eighinger lists 10 movies from each decade that he considers top notch. He…
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CANTON, Mo. — Macie Fisher is getting a double dose of all-star activities. Not only will Fisher represent Canton on the Missouri squad for the Muddy River Showcase, which takes place June 15 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center, but she participated in the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association all-star game in…
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QUINCY — The first pitch came at noon from a pitcher I had never seen throw for a team I have never rooted for against a team I had no idea who was on their roster. Yet, I was all-in on the University of Kentucky baseball team. It will be the case when Arizona, UNC…
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QUINCY — Zach Willing is going for four in a row. A recent Quincy University graduate and a Quincy High School alum, Willing has won three consecutive Quincy men’s city tennis singles championships and will chase his fourth title this weekend during the city tournament at the Greeman Tennis Center at Reservoir Park. Willing took…
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LIBERTY, Ill. — Dan Sparrow first had to address the situation as an athletic director before he could look at it as an interested party. Greg Altmix resigned as the Liberty boys basketball coach in mid-May, forcing the Liberty administration to act with a certain degree of haste in finding his replacement in order to…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — Although basketball is the tie that binds the Hull family, pickleball is the game of choice these days, especially when Mason Hull and his dad, Marty, go head-to-head. And there isn’t much room for debate on who is better at pickleball. “Me,” Mason said. Would Marty dispute that at all? “No,” Mason…
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QUINCY — Most nights, while sitting in front of my laptop in my home office searching for inspiration in my writing or working out the kinks on a project or a plan, I’ll play music in the background. It ignites my creativity and brings my thoughts into focus in a way a quiet never does.…
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QUINCY — Austin Simpson’s ability to get on base was as good as anyone in the nation. The postseason honors he’s accumulating reflect that. The Quincy University redshirt junior first baseman was named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association first-team All-American this week, becoming the seventh first-team All-American in program history. Simpson, a native of…
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QUINCY — A pair of former Quincy University men’s basketball assistant coaches have landed new jobs. Troy Potts has joined the staff at Frank Phillips College, an NJCAA Division I school in Borger, Texas, as an assistant coach. Meanwhile, Pat Richardson is headed to Jackson, Miss., to be an assistant coach on the Jackson State…
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Time became Timia Reinberg’s adversary. That’s an unfair fight. Time always wins because you can’t slow it down and can’t you speed it up. It plays at its own pace, which is always the same pace. “It means I had all day to just sit around there and wait,” the Monroe…
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CHARLESTON, Ill. — The work isn’t done, but the remarkable season Eastern Illinois University’s Lucas Loos has put together didn’t go unnoticed by the Ohio Valley Conference baseball coaches. Loos, a Payson Seymour graduate and former John Wood Community College third baseman, earned first-team All-OVC honors, the league announced Tuesday. Loos was named as a…
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QUINCY — A pair of Quincy University baseball players and a Palmyra product earned first-team All-Midwest Region honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Hawks left-hander Griffin Kirn and Maryville left-hander Jacob Kroeger were two of the four first-team starting pitchers, while Hawks first baseman/designated hitter Austin Simpson was the first-team utility player. Simpson…
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MT. STERLING, Ill. — Retirement is coming at the perfect time for both Jeff Bottorff and the Brown County boys basketball program. The vice president of quality and training at DOT Foods since 2006, Bottorff will step away as a full-time employee at the end of May. Although he intends to continue serving as a…
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QUINCY — A window of opportunity opened for Adam Pfeiffer when Alex McCulla’s up-and-down didn’t go down as planned. McCulla slammed it shut just as quickly. After uncharacteristic bogey on the par-3 15th hole Sunday at Westview Golf Course, McCulla made back-to-back birdies and then drove the green on the par-4 18th hole to give…
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QUINCY — Alex McCulla began his weekend by shooting a 6-under 30 on the front nine at Westview Golf Course and ended it by rolling in birdie putts on two of the final three holes to win the Quincy Men’s City Golf Championship with a 13-under 129 total. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman spent…
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CHARLESTON, Ill. — The carryover from the preliminary round of the Class 1A long jump put Mendon Unity sophomore Saylor Barry at the top of the leaderboard with three jumps to be made in Saturday’s finals. She didn’t jump any farther, but no one else did either. In fact, she outjumped the field Saturday at…
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LIBERTY, Ill. — A freshman pitcher’s poise and presence is going to allow the seniors on the Winchester West Central baseball team to thoroughly enjoy the road trip that lies ahead. It should enable Grant DeWitt to have a more casual drive, too. Right-hander Anthony Hance wriggled out of a sixth-inning with a five-run lead…
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QUINCY — From playing baseball at Monmouth College to coaching at Quincy High School and with the Quincy Gems during the Central Illinois Collegiate League days, Randy Mettemeyer has spent enough time on the road to have watched a baseball movie or two. That made him the perfect person to join Muddy River Sports Editor…
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QUINCY — If the postseason is supposed to feel like a series of final exams — Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Thomas described it as such — then Wednesday night’s Class 1A regional championship must have felt like a multi-choice test. How goals were the second-seeded Raiders going to score against third-seeded Auburn?…
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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The swing, the contact and the carry were absolutely perfect. “I felt like it was something out of a movie,” Quinn Thomas said. An ending straight out of Hollywood came with it. Heading to the final hole of the Class 4 boys state golf championships at Dalhousie Golf Club on Tuesday…
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QUINCY — Greg Altmix understood the allegiance his great-nephew had when the Liberty and Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball teams crossed paths. As a parochial school student playing for the Crusaders program, he had to root for the Raiders. “It stung a little seeing my great-nephew down there cheering for Notre Dame and rooting against…
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MARION, Ill. — Hope lasted about six hours. Following Sunday’s 11-1 loss to Maryville in the championship game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, the Quincy University baseball players had time before and after a four-plus-hour bus ride home from Mtn. Dew Park to believe they might still get in the NCAA Division II…
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MARION, Ill. — The steakhouse Austin Simpson and his parents visited Saturday night had a 12-ounce ribeye on the menu. “I ate the whole thing,” the Quincy University first baseman said. He knew he needed to order it when he saw how it was labeled. “It was actually called ‘The champion,’” he said. How fitting…
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MARION, Ill. — Connor Simons hadn’t had an official at-bat in nearly a month as he recovered from a concussion suffered in the final game of the Quincy University baseball team’s regular-season series against Indianapolis. So consider this a little bit of payback for putting him on the shelf. Simons drove a breaking ball on…
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MARION, Ill. — JD Ortiz needs to see a video replay of his diving catch to understand just how catastrophic the play could have been and just how remarkable it truly was. All he knows is he was determined to make the play at all costs. “I’m on the floor and my neck and my…
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QUINCY — Quincy Notre Dame softball coach Eric Orne implored catcher Payton Stupvasky to have a “senior at-bat.” She didn’t disappoint. With runners on second and third base in the fourth inning of a scoreless game Friday at The Backyard, Stupavsky drove a fly ball to right-center field that Camp Point Central’s Claire Huston caught,…
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QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame softball team completed its pursuit of the West Central Conference championship on Friday, beating Camp Point Central 4-0 at The Backyard as Caitlin Bunte tossed a one-hitter with nine strikeouts. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman spent time behind home plate and put together this photo gallery:
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — Carter Reeves did exactly what Mendon Unity baseball coach Tyler McAllister has wanted him to do with an outside pitch. Simply punch it into right-center field. With two outs in the top of the fifth inning Thursday, Reeves smacked the first pitch he saw from Camp Point Central reliever Garrett Neisen…
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