Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
August 11, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — If Blake Arnold can replicate the back nine of his first event of the prep golf season, it could turn out to be a banner senior season. The Liberty golfer posted a 2-under 33 on the back nine Thursday at Westview Golf Course, allowing him to card an even-par 71 and earn individual…
Read Full Article August 11, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — While watching his older brothers enjoy stellar high school soccer careers, Carter Venvertloh dreamed of the moment he’d be front and center in Quincy High School’s attack. That time is now. A four-year varsity player who was an Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association all-sectional selection as a junior, Venvertloh has watched the…
Read Full Article August 10, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
PALMYRA, Mo. — Long before practices began this week, Palmyra football coach Kevin Miles preached trust needed to be the Panthers’ battle cry. Trust the process. Trust each other. Trust the work will lead to the right outcome. Add trust in overcoming adversity to the list of mantras. Before Wednesday morning’s practice, Miles informed his…
Read Full Article August 7, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Brad Gyorkos called it. With the Quincy Gems’ Logan Voth on third base and Hayden Moore on second with one out in the sixth inning Sunday night, the Normal CornBelters summoned left-hander Ryan Weaver from the bullpen before Andrew Fay came to the plate. While Weaver warmed up, Voth turned to Gyorkos, the…
Read Full Article August 6, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Michael Longo kept searching for an edge he couldn’t find. Having played soccer the majority of his life — the former Quincy High School all-stater enjoyed a stellar collegiate career at Lewis & Clark Community College and Millikin University — he found himself missing the drive it provided. About the time he was…
Read Full Article August 4, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
CANTON, Mo. — Upon arriving on the Culver-Stockton College campus, Jase Orndorff heard the stories of the bleak days of the football team. He doesn’t want the Wildcats to ever experience that again. “Now it’s my job as the quarterback and one of the captains to keep us playing at a high level,” said Orndorff,…
Read Full Article August 3, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
ROXANA, Del. — A glimmer of hope is all that was needed. When the Illinois District 17 softball team headed to the Central Regional in Michigan, advancing to the Senior League Softball World Series was still a pipedream, even if a spot in the 10-team field was only four victories away. “I think there were…
Read Full Article August 2, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Noah Harbin didn’t bother with a rebuttal. He just shook his head. Sitting across the table from his older brother, Alex, while listening to him talk about their relationship in baseball terms, Noah rocked back in his chair and nodded in agreement as Alex explained the advice he was imparting in order to…
Read Full Article August 1, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
LIBERTY, Ill. — The signs taped to the front doors of Liberty High School saying “Gym Closed” were a clear indication the administration didn’t want anyone coming around. Even if such warnings were ignored, no one was getting in the gym anyhow. Chains and padlocks on the doors ensured that. There was work to be…
Read Full Article August 1, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Jeff Remington’s 6-year-old son, Noah, noticed the gun case leaning against the cabinet near the garage door and became instantaneously curious. “Is it time to go hunting?” he asked. Not yet, but it was time to get prepped, which is why the Ruger .22 rifle was in the hard travel case. Remington made…
Read Full Article July 30, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Glenn Sanders has been synonymous with the outdoors and the opportunities afforded to youth anglers and hunters his entire life. A retired sergeant with the Illinois Conservation Police, Sanders currently is the president of the Mississippi Valley Hunters and Fishermen’s Association and arguably West-Central Illinois’ strongest advocate for wildlife resources. Sanders and Muddy…
Read Full Article July 29, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
CENTER, Mo. — Austin Leake understood the opportunity to chase his dream of coaching football at the college level came at a rather inopportune time. He wasn’t going to pursue it if anyone within his family, the Mark Twain coaching staff or the Mark Twain administration had serious reservations. The gentle nudge from their overriding…
Read Full Article July 27, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Dami Adeyinka may need to lean on a pair of former Quincy University teammates to bridge the language barrier as she embarks on a professional basketball career. The guard signed a contract with Magectias Contra Violencia Genero, one of 28 teams in Liga Femenina 2 de Baloncesto, which is the second division of…
Read Full Article July 27, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — John Wood Community College athletic director Brad Hoyt’s short list of candidates to consider for the women’s basketball coaching position didn’t change because of the relatively short timeframe in which he had to conduct his search. Lauren Bogle’s name was always there. “Her energy and her commitment while she was here has resonated…
Read Full Article July 26, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Although it’s a birthday generally celebrated without much hullabaloo — Nos. 18 and 21 bear more significance — Lucas Loos made certain No. 20 would be unforgettable. There’s a memento to serve as his reminder of it, too. After the Quincy Gems third baseman watched a series of birthday wishes from family and…
Read Full Article July 25, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Quincy University is bringing an Illinois native home to be its next cross country and track and field coach. Chris Aschemann, who grew up in Carterville, Ill., was officially introduced Monday. Aschemann spent the previous three seasons as the associate head coach for both sports at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D. “I’m…
Read Full Article July 24, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Those who survived Saturday’s sweltering temperatures and conditions in order to reach the finals of the doubles portion of the Quincy Open City Championships were rewarded with near perfect weather on championship Sunday. The threat of rain contributed to that. Cloudy conditions looming over the Greeman Tennis Center in Reservoir Park dropped temperatures…
Read Full Article July 19, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Tim Schrage marvels at his 3-year-old daughter’s ever-present smile. “She’s the happiest kid I’ve ever seen,” he said. Schrage doesn’t want to squander the chance to see that smile as often as possible. That explains why he resigned Monday as the Culver-Stockton College men’s golf coach after 11 seasons at the helm. “I…
Read Full Article July 17, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
HANNIBAL, Mo. — It started with a selfie and ended with a shower. Everything happening in between helped ensure Saturday night’s eighth installment of the Missouri vs. Illinois All-Star Game — the first since 2019 — became a full-tilt celebration of high school baseball. From bunts to bad hops, knee-bending curveballs to wild throws, and…
Read Full Article July 15, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
HANNIBAL, Mo. — Like nearly every other big event during the summer of 2020, the Missouri vs. Illinois All-Star baseball game fell victim to a global pandemic. But Kevin and Aaron Peters, the Monroe City father-son duo who are the braintrust and the legs behind this event, never lost faith the game could return in…
Read Full Article July 14, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Has wiffle ball become the forgotten game? Quiet fields and empty side streets suggest so. Temperatures pushed toward 90 degrees Wednesday afternoon when three kids and two adults cast their lines into the ponds near R.J. Peters Drive running through South Park. Although they hadn’t caught any fish, they had been there for…
Read Full Article July 13, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — If there is a universal truth Norm Rodriguez can take from his nearly three decades coaching women’s basketball at John Wood Community College, it might be this. Even the best laid plans go awry. Rodriguez intended to coach one more season and then join his wife, Anita, at their new home in Tennessee,…
Read Full Article July 13, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — B.J. Wilson understood Quincy University football coach Gary Bass had a vision. That doesn’t mean Wilson shared it. “I did not think I was going to like O-line,” said the 6-foot-6, 320-pound offensive tackle. Bass felt Wilson’s mixture of size and athleticism — he was a 240-pound tight end from St. Louis University…
Read Full Article July 13, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
PIKE COUNTY, Ill. — The road morphs from asphalt to gravel to dirt as it winds between corn fields and through the trees lining the Mississippi River bottoms. You begin to wonder: Where am I? At the moment you start to think the directions are wrong and you consider turning back, you navigate a final…
Read Full Article July 12, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The porch door casually swung open, the way it does five or six times per day or as many times as Buster gets the inkling to go outside. Only this time, our 12-year-old cheagle didn’t follow the swinging of the door by bounding down the three steps leading to the sidewalk. He froze.…
Read Full Article July 8, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
EWING, Mo. — About an hour before Bryce Cooper left his office on a Thursday afternoon, several of his co-workers became disinterested in their daily tasks and started chatting about their weekend plans. It didn’t take long before Cooper found himself sucked into the casual banter. While most of the conversation hinged on bar hopping…
Read Full Article July 6, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
TIMEWELL, Ill. — Elise Bethel jumped out of her dad’s truck and rushed toward the lake, bouncing past some wildflowers and chasing after a butterfly she’d never catch. Jack Bethel smiled. “It couldn’t have been a more perfect moment,” he said. While his daughter dashed after the yellow butterfly, Bethel and his 12-year-old son, Ethan,…
Read Full Article July 5, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Ideally, Quincy University men’s basketball coach Steve Hawkins wouldn’t want to launch his second stint with the Hawks by playing four of the first five games on the road. “I wish there was a way to start our tenure here at home,” the veteran skipper said. This schedule doesn’t accommodate such a wish.…
Read Full Article June 30, 2022 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
CINCINNATI — Evan McGaughey’s passport reveals quite a story. In the five years since his graduation from Quincy University, the Carthage native’s 4.5 x 3.5 inch booklet has been stamped enough times to allow him entrance into 15 countries on two different continents as he pursued a professional basketball career. “I got to see a…
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