Photo by Keith Stewart
Bryce Farris (left) and Nick Frerichs (right) bump gloves after Farris’ quick lineout grab at third in the bottom of the third.

Redskins get to experience Major League ball park for last game of the year

May 27, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

The Mattoon Green Wave might have avenged a season opening loss by defeating Sullivan 6-3 on Sunday afternoon, but win or no win, nothing was going to take away from the experience of a lifetime that the Redskins were able to receive by playing ball in the St. Louis Cardinals’ Busch Stadium.
“It’s awesome. Playing on a field like this makes every ground ball easier,” said head coach Troy Rogers. “It makes pitching easier. You throw quicker.  The adrenaline is going. You can’t have a better setting. And our pitchers threw well. They went out and threw strikes like they have been all year. Defensively we had a few mistakes, but there was also a bad call at first, which led to a two-run inning. And he apologized to me. He felt bad. That’s baseball. You have to learn from it and go on. But they had a great day. They had fun.”
The game itself was a back-and-forth affair with neither team doing much through three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, the Redskins (or Eagles if one was abiding by the scoreboard listing), fell behind 2-0 thanks to two errors and two Green Wave hits. And until the fifth, Sullivan’s offense had stalled, going three up, three down each of the last four. That goes without saying that the Redskins started the game off with their top three hitters in Alec Ballinger, Dylan Hart, and Nick Frerichs all coming within 15 feet or so of a home run. Read More

Photo by Keith Stewart
Pictured is the Okaw Valley baseball team with their regional championship. The Timberwolves defeated Windsor/Stew-Stras 9-0 Saturday in Assumption.

Defeat Windsor/Stew-Stras 9-0

May 27, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Okaw Valley head coach Andrew Hagerman sort of knew how Saturday’s regional championship was going to go. More than just predicting or hoping for a win, the OV coach actually dreamed of how the final out would come.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Hatchets’ Devon Deremiah took an 0-2 count to third baseman Taylor Coleman, who promptly fielded the grounder and shot it to first base for the winner. Like Hagerman foresaw.
“I actually had a premonition Taylor would get the last putout,” he said. “Peyton is striking the whole town out and then there’s a shot at Taylor, and he’s awake for it. First play of the game he’s seen and he ends the regional.”
The Timberwolves didn’t have to play a ton of defense, however, as senior Peyton Hagerman went off for 14 strikeouts and allowed just one hit and two walks. Read More

Photo by Keith Stewart
Right fielder Jazmine Arnett prepares to throw to the cut-off after tracking down a triple by Bayleigh Tabor in the top of the fifth.

Knock Lady Comets out at home Thursday

May 21, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

It took just one inning Thursday for Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond’s softball team to put enough runs on the board to advance past regional host Windsor/Stew-Stras in the semi-final.
After four innings of shut-out ball by both teams, the Lady Comets struck first in the top of the fifth thanks to back-to-back hits, the first, a double by senior Kendall Knop, followed by a triple by Bayleigh Tabor.
But the Knights, who had just one hit up until that point, strung together six hits following two immediate outs en route to a six-run fifth.
After two straight strikeouts by Knop, freshman Janette Comstock sent a single to shallow right field. Fellow freshman and pitcher Macy Hollingsworth then reached on a walk. Sophomore Logan Kauffman, bringing the top of the order back round, then reached first after beating the throw from third–a moment that Windsor/Stew-Stras’ coach Kyle Knop says was in some ways the beginning of the end.
“ I’m not going to say he missed the call, but I felt that Arthur got a huge break on the lead-off hitter, who slapped it to our third baseman,” he said. “That was huge, because otherwise that ends the inning.”
After a brief meeting at the mound, senior Samantha Landers stepped to the plate with bases loaded and singled to left field, scoring two. But an error on the fielding allowed Landers to second and a third run to score, putting the Knights up 3-1.
Sophomore Mycaela Miller then stepped up and took the first pitch over the center-field fence for the two-run homer. Read More