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QUINCY — After running up and down the court for the better part of an hour Thursday night, the Illinois girls all-stars wrapped up their final practice before Saturday’s inaugural Muddy River Showcase. They weren’t quite done, though. Hallie Ray and Abbie Johnson, teammates at Illini West, asked if they could stick around John Wood…
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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…
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QUINCY — It’s only fitting the final two area baseball teams left standing in the Land of Lincoln were honored with spots on the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association all-state teams. Brown County senior center fielder/pitcher Gabe Blakeley and Quincy Notre Dame junior first baseman/pitcher Dalton Miller were named to the Class 1A and…
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QUINCY — Despite a shoulder injury that now has her prepping for surgery, Eryn Cornwell remained a force in the middle of the Quincy Notre Dame softball team’s lineup. Her production resulted in receiving Class 2A first-team all-state honors from the Illinois Coaches Association. QND freshman Caitlin Bunte was a second-team selection, while five area…
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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…
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ROLLA, Mo. — The lure of Bellerive proved far too tempting for Alex McCulla to ignore. So he withdrew from a qualifier for the Illinois State Amateur, paid to join the Missouri Golf Association and an extra origination fee for a spot in Monday’s Missouri State Amateur Last Chance Qualifier and trekked to Oak Meadow…
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QUINCY — The shift that has taken place within the Quincy University athletic department in the past year so noticeable to those on the inside is becoming more and more noticeable to those on the outside. Cathy Monroe sensed it during the interview process. “I liked the energy I was feeling from the athletic department,”…
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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…
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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…
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QUINCY — University of Minnesota thrower Kaleb Siekmeier’s reaction to Jordan Johnson’s throw made the Quincy native do a double take. Following his final throw in the discus at the NCAA Division I outdoor track and field championships last Friday in Eugene, Ore., Johnson watched the scoreboard for his distance and was admittedly slightly disappointed…
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QUINCY — The final memory was made possible on the final lap of the final race. Sunday had been an excruciating day, in terms of both frustration and pain, for the Scott family. Riley Scott helped wash away all — or at least most — of that with a late charge to the front to…
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QUINCY — Avery Scott may have been the biggest winner at the Grand Prix of Karting. And it had nothing to do with winning a race. The 20-year-old Quincyan survived a tumultuous crash early Sunday at South Park, an accident that red-flagged the event for a considerable period of time. Scott returned to race later…
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QUINCY — Only a father can truly appreciate a day like Saturday. Quincy’s Jeff Scott, son Riley and daughter Avery all finished among the top eight in the Briggs Heavy class of the Grand Prix of Karting on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at South Park. “It’s awesome,” Jeff Scott said. “Being able to race with…
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QUNCY — We’ve reached the equivalent of the one-third mark in the dirt-track season at Adams County Speedway. With no racing scheduled Sunday — the track is off to allow race fans to attend the Grand Prix of Karting at South Park — it’s a good time to sit back and reflect. Here’s one man’s…
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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…
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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…
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QUINCY — Throughout the majority of my sports writing career, when my creativity requires recharging or it’s time to unwind my mind, I jump in my truck and spend some time exploring the countryside on county roads. Thursday, a walk through the woods was needed, so to speak. And as the sun headed for the…
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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…
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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…
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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 — So, how in the world did Austen Becerra win that race? Becerra, with his modified trailored for the night after a series of mechanical issues earlier Sunday evening, asked a friend if he could borrow his ride for the feature at Adams County Speedway. But Becerra wasn’t just asking to borrow another modified.…
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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…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The most fascinating accomplishments in the long and storied history of Adams County Speedway? That, of course, is a topic that might earn a hundred different answers from a hundred different dirt-track fans — myself included. While you contemplate your own responses, here are a few of mine from the 24-plus years I…
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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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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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QUINCY — The streak lives. Robert Cottom continued his early season domination at Adams County Speedway with a scintillating Sunday night street stock feature win. Cottom claimed his fourth straight main-event victory, fueled by a last-lap pass of Jake Powers. Cottom had been the pursuer the first 17 laps of the feature before turning the…
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QUINCY — It was a sunny, calm morning on the final Saturday in May in downtown Quincy. A row of pickup trucks and tents were stationed in the shade along Hampshire on the north side of Washington Park between Fourth and Fifth streets for the Farmer’s Market. Maine Street was barricaded between Fourth and Fifth…
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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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CHARLESTON, Ill. — Jettason Rose fulfilled the promise of his name. The Quincy High School sprinter became the ninth individual state track and field champion in school history Saturday, jetting past the field to win the 200-meter dash at the Class 3A state championships at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium. Rose finished in 22.04 seconds,…
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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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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Missed it by THAT much. The Quincy University baseball team had the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the eighth inning of the deciding game, and it had the tying runs on base in the ninth inning. In each instance, the Hawks couldn’t come up with the biggest hit of the…
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Palmyra’s first year in Class 3 almost resulted in a trophy for the girls track team on Saturday on the final day of the Missouri state track and field championships. The Panthers tied for sixth with 29 points, four points out of a fourth-place trophy thanks to scoring points in four…
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PLEASANT PLAINS, Ill. — With his Quincy Notre Dame baseball team’s season on the line Saturday afternoon, Raiders coach Ryan Oden knew all hope wasn’t lost. The Raiders trailed Maroa-Forsyth by five runs going into the bottom of the seventh inning of a Class 2A sectional championship game at Reiser Field. “I knew we had…
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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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NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team advanced to the Class 1A state championship game with a 1-0 victory over Normal U-High in Friday’s semifinals at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on the North Central College campus. Photographer Randy Dickerman captured images throughout the contest. Check out his work in this photo gallery:
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — It would appear the Quincy University baseball team tore the cover off the ball when taking a first glance at the boxscore from Friday afternoon’s 20-6 victory over Illinois-Springfield in the NCAA Division II Super Regional. Sixteen runs in the first four innings. Twenty hits, six of them for extra bases. It…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Baseball, Lance Logsdon says, can be a humbling game. The first baseman on Quincy University’s baseball team suffered through a three-week stretch earlier this month during which he hit no home runs and drove in just four runs in 11 games. “(Baseball) can come back and bite you in the ass,” Logsdon…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Spencer Walker and Matt Schissel learned the best way to deal with last week’s disastrous ninth inning was to ignore it. Walker, a senior right-handed pitcher from Mapleton, kept one of NCAA Division II’s most prolific offenses in check for seven innings on Friday during the Quincy University baseball team’s 20-6 victory…
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QUINCY — Lying on the turf with athletic trainer Kyle Leapley tending to her right knee, Anna Keck could have had the “oh, no, not again” scenario running through her head. Instead, she focused on “get me back out there” thoughts. “I didn’t want to let my team down,” said Keck, a junior defensive midfielder…
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QUINCY — The newness of the state tournament experience wore off when the youthful Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team didn’t get the opportunity to play in the title game a year ago. “Disappointing,” junior forward Lia Quintero said. “I’d say it was disappointing.” So this time, it’s all business. The Raiders head back to…
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ALTON, Mo. — Walk-off Joe didn’t get the opportunity to end the Quincy High School baseball team’s regional victory in heroic fashion So junior second baseman Joe Schroeder settled for a game-winning hit an inning earlier. Following Noah Harbin’s two-out triple in the sixth inning of Thursday’s Class 4A Alton Regional semifinal at Lloyd Hopkins…
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JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Gabe Blakeley merely said out loud what the rest of the Brown County players were thinking to themselves. When the time arrives for the Hornets to leave the baseball field for the final time this spring, they want to be carrying one thing with them. “The state championship trophy,” Blakeley said. Thanks…
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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…
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QUINCY — The Reaper will always remember Quincy quite well, specifically the dirt track at 8000 Broadway. McKay “The Reaper” Wenger smiles when his No. 42 super late model approaches the flagman’s stand at Adams County Speedway. After winning a feature in Quincy in 2016, and moments after accepting the checkered flag in victory lane,…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Here is a look at this week’s Adams County Speedway leaderboards: Stevie Dirt Dirty Thirty rankings Sport Mods 1. Logan Cumby: That second dominating feature win catapulted him back to the top spot. 2. Adam Birck: He’s the only Missouri sport mod driver in the rankings. Birck also extended his string of consecutive…
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PLEASANT PLAINS, Ill. — The darkening clouds rolling in from the northeast mimicked the situation the Quincy Notre Dame baseball team faced. Ominous, very ominous. “I kept looking over my shoulder and seeing those clouds coming closer and closer to the point you see the line of rain at the right-field fence,” said Jack Linenfelser,…
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PLEASANT PLAINS, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame baseball team ran its winning streak to 23 consecutive games and improved to 32-2 — the second-most single-season victories in program history — with Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Shelbyville in the Class 2A sectional semifinals at Reiser Field. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman captured the Raiders’…
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JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Karsyn Moorman waited, then delivered. The Brown County softball team’s left-handed-hitting first baseman drilled a two-run single after Havana made a pitching change in the second inning to give the Hornets a 5-0 lead in Wednesday’s Class 1A Jacksonville Routt Sectional semifinal. The Hornets were in a position to avenge their lone…
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COLUMBIA, Ill. — The Illinois girls state soccer championships are returning to North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville this weekend for the first time in three years. It’s only fitting Quincy Notre Dame returns, too. As QND coach Mark Longo put it, it is the Raiders’ “home away from home.” Figuring out how to…
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PALMYRA, Mo. — Mark Loman now knows what it’s like to hear one of his speeches and take the uniform off for the final time after a season-ending loss. The Palmyra baseball coach bid a tearful goodbye to his seniors after the Panthers lost 9-3 to Elsberry in a Class 3 sectional game Tuesday night…
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ATHENS, Ill. — Only 13 pitches into the game, Quincy Notre Dame freshman hurler Caitlin Bunte found herself in a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam. Buffalo Tri-City capitalized on it. The Tornadoes erupted for six runs on five hits in the first inning, propelling them to a 13-4 victory in the Class 2A sectional softball semifinals at…
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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…
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QUINCY — The old bully on the postseason playground threatened to derail the Quincy Notre Dame baseball team’s title quest yet again. That was until a tag and swing knocked Beardstown to its knees. A legendary coaching career went down with it. The Raiders escaped danger in the first inning, tagging out the Tigers’ William…
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QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame baseball team kept the good times rolling, winning its 22nd consecutive game with a 6-2 victory over Beardstown in the Class 2A regional championship at Ferd Niemann Jr. Memorial Ballfield. Took a look at how Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman captured the action through his camera lens:
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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…
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QUINCY — Tommy Sheppard Jr. saved his best for last. Actually, the last four laps. Sheppard dazzled Sunday night’s big turnout at Adams County Speedway with a late-race charge that admittedly stunned frontrunners Ryan Unzicker and Jason Feger. Sheppard, who had been a bottom feeder throughout the 40-lap MARS super late model special, spent most…
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QUINCY — As the size of the gallery grew on the back nine of Sunday’s Quincy Men’s City Golf Championship at Westview Golf Course, the same question was being asked over and over. Who is Rilee West? The answer is clear now. He is a champion. A Barry resident who spent his freshman year of…
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QUINCY — The Great Lakes Valley Conference is going to be represented at the NCAA Division II World Series. A best-of-3 series will decide which team it will be. On Sunday, the Quincy University baseball team learned its opponent for the Midwest Region’s super-regional as third-seeded Illinois-Springfield finished off its undefeated run through Midwest Regional…
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CALEDONIA, Mich. — The odds were never in the Quincy University baseball team’s favor. The Hawks suffered a demoralizing 10-5, 12-inning loss to Northwood in Thursday’s opening game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional, squandering a 5-1 lead in the ninth inning. “A lot of people would have probably bet a lot of money…
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CHARLESTON, Ill. — Olivia Campbell discovered twice is nice. The defending Class 1A state discus champion, the Pittsfield senior was the only thrower in the field to break the 42-meter barrier, doing it in both the preliminaries and the finals of the Class 1A girls state track and field championships. Her toss of 42.47 meters…
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CALEDONIA, Mich. — Some might think Alex Pribyl actually enjoys the suspense. “It’s not me if I don’t make it interesting, isn’t that right?” the Quincy University right-handed reliever said. So the fact he allowed a single and a walk to the first two Davenport hitters in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday with…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Marko Cucuk didn’t shift into cruise control just because his spot in the Illinois boys tennis state tournament field was secure. A sectional championship, a better state seed and the momentum from a string of victories mattered just as much as qualifying for the championships. The Quincy Notre Dame junior took care…
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QUINCY — Aly Young couldn’t stop smiling or shaking her head. Her excitement matched her disbelief. “It’s still just really crazy,” said Young, a sophomore goalkeeper on the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team. “I keep saying, ‘What the heck just happened?’” In one sense, the improbable happened. In another, destiny did. Either way, the…
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QUINCY — Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer coach Mark Longo readily admitted Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin controlled the bulk of play Friday. “It was probably 60/40 in their favor,” he said. “It may have been 62/38 or something like that.” Even so, Longo never fully fretted. His stout defense is why. Raiders sophomore goalkeeper Aly Young…
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CALEDONIA, Mich. — Griffin Kirn couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. Last weekend against Lewis in the Great Lakes Valley Conference baseball tournament, the Quincy University left-hander retired the first nine batters he faced without incident. Then in the fourth inning, everything unraveled. He allowed the first six Flyers to collect hits, including four…
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Monroe City’s Emmalee Williams had a comfortable margin but she never felt it. The senior won the Class 2 800-meter run during the opening day of the Missouri state track and field championships Friday at Licklider Track at Jefferson City High School. Williams led from the start and won in 2…
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MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — As usual, Taryn Moorman was in complete control. That should not have come as a surprise, considering what she had already accomplished during her junior season as the ace of the Brown County softball team. “Taryn throws strikes,” Brown County coach David Woodruff said. “She also works quickly and never gets…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — B.J. Fessler was prepared for it to happen. The Liberty softball coach had watched, time and time again this season, his team play well but lose games because of one disastrous inning. So when the Eagles took the lead in Friday afternoon’s Class 1A regional championship game with three runs in…
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CALEDONIA, Mich. — Brock Boynton felt he had to get away. “I actually left the ballpark and took a walk in the woods,” the Quincy University sophomore center fielder said. “It was tough.” With a victory in the opening game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional seemingly within its grasp, the fourth-seeded QU baseball…
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CALEDONIA, Mich. — Jay Hammel never forgot. A year ago, when the Quincy University baseball team was eliminated from the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional with a 22-13 loss to Davenport, Hammel worked one inning of relief and allowed two runs and four hits. That crept into his mind as the right-handed pitcher warmed up…
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CHARLESTON, Ill. — Shannon O’Neil keeps going faster and faster, while Olivia Campbell keeps throwing farther and farther. Saturday, they will have the chance to make a little history. O’Neil, the Liberty senior hurdler, lowered her school-record time in the 300-meter hurdles yet again Thursday during the preliminaries at the Class 1A girls state track…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — Don’t worry about Brooklynn Howell being ready to pitch come Saturday. Fortunately, the Unity sophomore right-hander will have a couple of days to recover from what was a marvelous — albeit taxing — effort Wednesday afternoon at Central High School. Howell pitched the seventh-seeded Unity softball team to a 4-0, 13-inning…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — Jade Blair’s hair was a bit frazzled, and her eyes carried a look that her check-engine light was probably blinking. Still, the Liberty right-hander was able to gather her wits, weather a couple of late-inning storms and pitch the Eagles past Central 5-4 in the Class 1A Central Regional softball semifinals…
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CAMP POINT, Ill. — Photographer Mike Pritchard found himself behind the lens of his camera for two epic softball games Wednesday in the Class 1A Central Regional with seventh-seeded Unity upsetting second-seeded Pleasant Hill 4-0 in a 13-inning marathon and fifth-seeded Liberty outlasting third-seeded Central 5-4. Here is a gallery of images Pritchard captured from…
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QUINCY — Dead red is all Ryan Oden said. It’s all Alex Connoyer needed to hear. After Athens right-hander Davis Ishmael loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday by sandwiching a hit batter between two walks, the Quincy Notre Dame baseball coach told his junior shortstop to look for nothing but…
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QUINCY — It might not have seemed out of the ordinary to any of the Quincy Gems players to have the 9-year-old son of their pitching coach running around the outfield with them shagging baseballs. Those moments, though, turned out to be priceless. Nearly a decade later, everyone sees why. Quincy Notre Dame left fielder…
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QUINCY — This time, it wasn’t so easy, even if it seemed so in the end. After scoring in the first 10 minutes of both regional matches and outscoring those two opponents 13-0, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team discovered scoring on Piasa Southwestern in Tuesday’s Class 1A QND Sectional semifinal wasn’t going to…
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PETERSBURG, Ill. — Uncharacteristic lapses defensively didn’t cost the Quincy Notre Dame softball team a spot in the regional championship game, but it gives the Raiders a focal point to address in the coming days. Top-seeded QND committed seven errors, although none of them resulted in runs, and scratched across enough runs Tuesday to beat…
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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — As the scoring chances continued to pile up despite no change in the scoreboard, Edwardsville freshman Mea Hook said the team wasn’t panicking. “It wasn’t frustrating. We weren’t mad about it. It was more aggravating,” Hook said. The aggravation turned to celebration when Hook scored the game’s lone goal in the 53rd…
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NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. — Quinn Thomas’ chance to keep himself in position for a four-peat as a state golf champion faded away Tuesday. The Hannibal sophomore, who was the defending Class 4 state titleist, struggled navigating the Meadow Lake Acres Country Club course as he shot an 11-over 83 in the final round of the…
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QUINCY — The QUuncy University baseball team is making its seventh straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional this week, the longest such streak in the region. The Hawks open play at 11 a.m. Thursday against Northwood in Caledonia, Mich. QU coach Matt Schissel joined Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman on the…
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QUINCY — Eryn Cornwell’s focus and concentration when she’s in the pitcher’s circle often robs her of the chance to appreciate Lindsey Fischer’s exuberance. Playing third base provides Cornwell an entirely different view of the show. “I kind of like playing third because I can sit there and watch Lindsey do her thing,” Cornwell said.…
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NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. — Quinn Thomas’ pursuit of successfully defending his Class 4 boys state golf championship hit a snag on the closing holes of Monday’s opening round. But he’s not out of the hunt. Thomas, a Hannibal sophomore, strung together three birdies over a five-hole span in the middle of his round at Meadow…
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QUINCY — The expectation exists that on the second Sunday of May the Quincy University baseball team will see its name appear on the NCAA Division II Midwest Region bracket. Yet, until it does, there is always a touch of trepidation. “You really never know with the committee,” QU left-hander Tyler Carpenter said. “But we…
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