Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The inaugural Muddy River Showcase is taking place June 18 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The Illinois vs. Missouri format for senior prep basketball players will feature a girls game at 3 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door and all seating is general…
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QUINCY — Brad Hoyt often has said the John Wood Community College men’s basketball program sticks together like family. How true that is these days. Brody Gronewold, a former standout at Illini West and JWCC, recently was named an assistant coach at Dodge City Community College, an NJCAA Division I program located in Dodge City,…
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QUINCY — The front-to-back, middle-of-the-field trio that carried the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team to a state championship earned some worthy postseason honors. So did Quincy High School’s dangerous sophomore connection. Raiders forward Lia Quintero, midfielder Avery Keck and sweeper Eva Dickerman — they are all juniors — received all-sectional plaudits from the Illinois…
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The inaugural Muddy River Showcase is taking place June 18 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The Illinois vs. Missouri format for senior prep basketball players will feature a girls game at 3 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door and all seating is general…
Read Full Article 
The inaugural Muddy River Showcase is taking place June 18 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The Illinois vs. Missouri format for senior prep basketball players will feature a girls game at 3 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door and all seating is general…
Read Full Article 
The inaugural Muddy River Showcase is taking place June 18 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The Illinois vs. Missouri format for senior prep basketball players will feature a girls game at 3 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door and all seating is general…
Read Full Article 
LINCOLN, Neb. — Jessica Keller continues climbing the coaching ladder. The all-time leading scorer in the history of the Quincy University women’s basketball program is heading to the Big 10 Conference, joining Amy Williams staff with the University of Nebraska women’s basketball program as an assistant coach. Keller spent the previous five seasons on the…
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QUINCY — Carla Passini’s passion to see Quincy University succeed academically and athletically is nearly unrivaled. QU athletic director Josh Rabe is one whose heart and soul for his alma mater runs just as deep. So it makes sense they will work hand-in-hand to push the QU athletic department forward. Passini resigned in May as…
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PEORIA, Ill. — These weren’t Texas leaguers, nubbers or Punch-and-Judy pokes coming off the bats of the Brown County baseball players. “There weren’t a lot of balls hit soft,” first baseman Mason Henry said. “Every ball was hit on the screws.” Too often, though, they were within the reach of the Louisville North Clay outfielders.…
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PEORIA, Ill. — Disappointment lingered, but only for so long. By the time the Brown County baseball players cleaned up their dugout and made their way to the grassy berm in the right-field corner, the green-clad wave of Hornets fans who had invaded Dozer Park on Saturday were ready to fete their conquering heroes. The…
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PEORIA, Ill. — The traffic along Highway 24 between Peoria and Mount Sterling was steady late Saturday afternoon. After all, most of Mount Sterling made the trek to River City in order to watch the Brown County baseball team play for the Class 1A state championship. Although the Hornets lost 12-4 to Louisville North Clay…
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MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — The Brown County baseball team reached historic heights during the 2022 season. The Hornets went 28-5, setting the program’s single-season record for victories. They won the first sectional title in program history and became the first team in any sport at Brown County to reach a state final four. After finishing…
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PEORIA, Ill. — The tension gripping the Brown County baseball team’s dugout and its legion of fans in the stands apparently wasn’t being felt by those on the field. “I was calm the entire time,” shortstop Colby Wort said. “I had my whole belief in our pitchers and our fielders.” Hornets center fielder Gabe Blakeley’s…
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PEORIA, Ill. — After a bunt single loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning, Ottawa Marquette freshman center fielder Julian Alexander thought the Crusaders had put Brown County in a precarious spot. He even told Hornets shortstop Colby Wort so. “I thought it was pretty funny,” Wort said. “He’s…
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PEORIA, Ill. — The Brown County baseball team snared the lead in the first inning, extended it in the third inning and never relinquished it in beating Ottawa Marquette 2-1 in the Class 1A state semifinals Friday at Dozer Park. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman captured the atmosphere and action on and off the…
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QUINCY — Brad Gyorkos sensed something missing during the Quincy Gems’ first full-team workout Tuesday. “There wasn’t a lot of energy,” the first-year Gems manager said. He understood why. “People don’t know each other,” Gyorkos said. “They’re trying to get used to playing next to each other.” He doesn’t think it will take long to…
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MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — The Brown County baseball team will be making the program’s first appearance in the state final four Friday when it faces Ottawa Marquette at 10 a.m. at Peoria’s Dozer Park in the Class 1A state semifinals. Hornets coach Jared Hoots sat down with Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman for an…
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MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — A slow drive down Main Street on Wednesday night — the way the posted speed limit intends it — allowed onlookers and gawkers to witness what community spirit truly is. Outside Hagel 1891, a modern American cuisine restaurant located next to Dorothy’s Market in the historic Hagel building, had green and…
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QUINCY — Jeremiah Talton wanted to play for a college basketball coach he could build a relationship with beyond the court and a program that would help his game mature. He didn’t have to leave town to find the right combination. The Quincy High School all-state swingman signed his national letter of intent with John…
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QUINCY — The lure of an NCAA Division I basketball scholarship led Jeremiah Talton to make a hasty decision. He vows not to make the same mistake twice. The Quincy High School all-state swingman and Muddy River Sports Player of the Year received a release from his national letter of intent with the University of…
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The inaugural Muddy River Showcase is taking place June 18 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The Illinois vs. Missouri format for senior prep basketball players will feature a girls game at 3 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door and all seating is general…
Read Full Article 
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Everyone in the Brown County baseball team’s dugout and those on the field could see Carrollton’s Grant Pohlman looming in the on-deck circle and casting a rather sizable shadow over the Claude Kracik Field grass. “We knew he was coming up and we knew what he had done to us,” Hornets catcher…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Brown County baseball coach Jared Hoots struggled a little to come up with an apt description for Colby Wort’s effort. “He is a competitive animal,” Hoot said. “Whatever adjective you want to use, go for it. The slang would be a dog. Some people say a competitive fire. I don’t know what…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Brown County baseball team made history Monday, beating Carrollton 4-3 in the Class 1A Springfield Super-Sectional at Lincoln Land Community College’s Claude Kracik Field to advance to the state final four for the first time ever. The Hornets are guaranteed to bring home the first state trophy in school history. Muddy…
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QUINCY — Mark McDowell did his best Avery Keck impersonation Sunday afternoon. When opportunity struck, he delivered. The Quincy Notre Dame principal took advantage of the recent addition of a large video board on the west wall of The Pit by having a picture loaded and ready to loom large over everyone during the welcome…
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Muddy River Sports sets a record for most people in the bed of Matt Schuckman’s truck as Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Longo and the whole team join in following the sixth state title in program history.
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Annie Eaton’s tear-filled eyes and ear-to-ear smile told the same story. Her elation over helping the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team win the Class 1A state championship Saturday night was all-encompassing. “It’s every emotion you can think of,” Eaton said while standing in the courtyard outside North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium…
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team won the sixth state championship in program history Saturday night, beating Richmond-Burton 1-0 on Avery Keck’s goal with 2 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in regulation of the Class 1A state title game at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. Photographer Randy Dickerman captured the action and…
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The resolve of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team continues to be put to the test. The biggest challenge awaits. The Raiders will play for a state championship without their leading scorer and all-state candidate. “We try to come in with a good mindset and try to control the emotions,” sophomore…
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Sophie Gramke never figured out why. So she concentrated on the how. How does she get better? How does she regain her knack for scoring? How does she find the spark that seemed to be missing? The rest of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer players showed her how Friday night. “Coming…
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