Photo Gallery: Jacksonville Routt baseball team captures third straight regional crown

Jacksonville Routt's Jace Lautemann dives headfirst into third base during Saturday's Class 1A Mendon Unity Regional championship game in Mendon. | Shane Hulsey

MENDON, Ill. — The Jacksonville Routt baseball team won its third straight regional championship by beating Brown County 7-1 in Saturday’s Class 1A Mendon Unity Regional title game. Muddy River Sports Writer Shane Hulsey captured these images from Unity High School.

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Gone with the Wind: Routt’s small-ball attack helps eliminate Payson Seymour from Class 1A regional

Jacksonville Routt left fielder Jace Lautemann takes a swing at a pitch during Wednesday's Class 1A Mendon Unity sectional semifinal game against Payson Seymour. | Shane Hulsey

MENDON, Ill. — The Jacksonville Routt baseball team’s death-by-a-thousand-cuts strategy paid off in the form of a trip to the Class 1A Mendon Unity Regional championship game. The No. 2 seed Rockets rattled out 12 hits — 10 of them singles — on a blustery day in Mendon and scored in all but one of…

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Photo Gallery: Brown County’s Maxwell nearly hurls complete game, hits game-tying homer in regional victory

Brown County right-hander Myer Maxwell delivers a pitch during Wednesday's Class 1A Regional semifinal game against Mendon Unity. | Shane Hulsey

MENDON, Ill. — Brown County right-hander Myer Maxwell tossed 6 ⅓ innings while giving up two runs and belted his first home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning, tying the game and setting the stage for Jack Buss’ walk-off single in the seventh as the Hornets beat Mendon Unity 3-2…

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Robertson’s double in bottom of 11th inning lifts Illini West past Jacksonville Routt

Illini West junior Wesley Robertson drove in the game-winning run with a double in the 11th inning of Thursday's 6-5 victory over Jacksonville Routt in Carthage, Ill. | MRS file photo by Shane Hulsey

CARTHAGE, Ill. — The Illini West baseball team is getting used to battling until the end. Thursday’s 6-5 victory in 11 innings over Jacksonville Routt at Jake Burling Field marked the second straight day the Chargers won a game in their last at-bat and the second time this week they’ve played extra innings. This time,…

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Hornets display maturity beyond their years in upsetting Rockets in overtime for regional title

The Brown County boys basketball team and the crowd celebrate beating top-seeded Jacksonville Routt 67-65 in overtime in the championship game of the Class 1A Griggsville-Perry Regional on Friday night in Griggsville, Ill. | Photo courtesy Scott Bemis

GRIGGSVILLE, Ill. — What was it that Roger Daltrey of The Who told us in the early days of what we now refer to as classic rock? Wasn’t it something about, “The kids are alright?” Yes, it was. And yes, they are. The Brown County boys basketball team, dominated by a kiddie corps of 10…

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Smith’s putback dunk adds exclamation point to Palmyra’s overtime victory over Routt

Palmyra's Ryan McKinney looks for space to dribble inside the Jacksonville Routt defense during Saturday's game in the KHQA/American Family Insurance Superfan Shootout. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Hudson Bock’s surprise turned to delight in a blink. With the Palmyra boys basketball team leading Jacksonville Routt 58-57 in overtime, Bock turned a steal into a fastbreak which he figured he’d finish with a left-handed layup. The ball had other ideas, rolling off the right side of the rim. “I saw it…

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Panthers create new Routt to victory, rally past Rockets to remain unbeaten in WIVC North

The Camp Point Central football players react to Jacksonville Routt missing a field goal in the waning seconds of Saturday's Western Illinois Valley Conference North Division battle in Jacksonville, Ill. The Panthers won 22-21. | Photo courtesy Mike Pritchard

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Nate Peters is as perceptive as he is talented. The two-way senior performer for Camp Point Central’s football team admitted he had been quite nervous — and with good reason — in the waning stages of the Panthers’ 22-21 victory Saturday afternoon over Jacksonville Routt. “They have a good kicker,” said Peters,…

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Raiders rally on record-setting day to end regular season with confidence boost and victory

Quincy Notre Dame closer Dalton Miller reacts to striking out the final batter in Saturday's 6-4 victory over Jacksonville Routt at Ferd Niemann Jr. Memorial Ballfield. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame baseball team figured out there’s an immediate need for a sense of urgency with the postseason on the horizon. Another deficit, a lengthy weather delay and a senior-led pep talk brought that into focus. The Raiders stared down history Saturday in the regular-season finale against Jacksonville Routt at Ferd…

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Photo gallery: QND baseball team heads into postseason following another comeback victory

Quincy Notre Dame third baseman Brady Kindhart, left, and catcher Michael Stupavsky, visit with pitcher Tyler Dance during Saturday's game against Jacksonville Routt at Ferd Niemann Jr. Memorial Ballfield. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame baseball team is proving it can overcome adversity. That’s a trait that could come in very handy in the postseason. In Saturday’s final game of the regular season, the Raiders erased a three-run deficit by scoring four times in the bottom of the fifth inning and beating Jacksonville Routt…

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Raiders play home run derby in final regular season game, run win streak to 20 straight

Quincy Notre Dame third baseman Brady Kindhart belted two home runs and drove in four runs during Saturday's 12-2 victory over Jacksonville Routt in Jacksonville, Ill. Matt Schuckman file photo

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Just in case anyone in the Class 2A Pleasant Plains Sectional showed up Saturday at Jacksonville Routt to get a peek at what the Quincy Notre Dame baseball team is capable of doing, the Raiders provided plenty of food for thought. Namely, the Raiders made them ask: How do you stop this…

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