Photo by RR Best
Pictured is one of two batting cages at Wyman Park. The one above, located near the far north diamond, is in the final stages of being completely renovated, while the second batting cage, located near the Leon Lane baseball diamond is ready for use.

June 18, 2014

Also selling Cardinal tickets as latest fundraiser

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Volleyball warm ups, middle school track equipment, swimming gear, weight room equipment, a softball pitching machine, a tackling sled, an indoor pitching mound, trophies for athletics…

The list goes on and on, and it’s just a portion of what the Sullivan Sports Boosters have purchased in recent years. But more recently, the organization,along with Sullivan Youth Baseball, footed the cost to completely renovate the batting cages at Wyman Park, a cost of around $8,000. Read More

Submitted by Jamie Woodcock
Pictured are Sullivan Middle School’s state track qualifiers, from left to right: Luke Bowman, Logan Pedigo, Ally Elzy, Zoe Ray, Natalie Drury, Brooke Tuttle, Chloe Riley, Haley Rose, Bailey Turnbaugh, Elizabeth Green, Laine Cameron, and Jordan Bassett.

Sullivan’s Bowman atop with 2nd place

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Competing in East Peoria May 23 and 24, the Sullivan middle school and Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond jr. high boys’ and girls’ track teams saw several athletes finish in the top 10 of the IESA state track meet.

Eighth grader Luke Bowman finished highest with a second place medal in the high jump, an event he took first in last year as a seventh grader. Read More

Photo by RR Best
Pictured is the Sullivan varsity softball team with the regional plaque they won after defeating Shelbyville 5-3 Saturday. Front row, from left to right, Paislee Meyer, Makenzie Ruppert, Liz Inman, Heidi Clements, Taylor Gottfriedt, and Allison Miller. Back row, left to right: assistant coach Katie Tate, Kailyn Boyer, Bailee Pratt, Emily Stutzman, Maggie Plank, Brittin Boyer, Christina Brown, Elissa Stewart, Abby Elzy, and head coach Ben Richter.

Defeat host Shelbyville 5-3 Saturday

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

According to Sullivan head coach Ben Richter, Saturday’s regional championship victory over Shelbyville marked the first ever in school history. But that’s just icing on an already overtopped cake.

“Let’s just say many of the girls were in tears or almost in tears,” said senior pitcher Elizabeth Inman. “Our team has never been closer than this year, and it feels so great to accomplish something so big with all of these wonderful ladies.”

Sullivan’s biggest inning came in the second starting with Brittin Boyer’s at-bat where she hit the game’s only triple to left center field. Senior and first year participant Maggie Plank then followed with a double RBI to the same spot Boyer found. Kailyn Boyer then reached first on an error, and freshman lead-off Bailee Pratt hit a double to right centerfield, scoring both Plank and Boyer to put Sullivan up 3-0. Read More

Photo by Keith Stewart
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond senior Karly Goodman earned fifth place in the shot put in Saturday’s finals.

After two years of 8th, senior earns 5th

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

“That number eight, it gets me.”

What Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond senior Karly Goodman is referring to is not only her last two years of finishing eighth at state in the shot put, but even the fact that after Thursday’s preliminaries, the senior was seeded none other than eighth coming into Saturday’s finals.

But Goodman wouldn’t have it a third year. Instead, the senior hurled a throw of 39 feet 3/4 inches for a fifth place finish, just 1 1/2 inches out from fourth. Read More

Photo by Keith Stewart
Kailyn Boyer chases down a ball during Tuesday's sectional semifinal against Fairfield.

Two-run homer in sixth inning deals lasting blow

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

The first three-run homer that Fairfield hit, Sullivan weathered. But the second two run blast in the sixth inning dealt a demoralizing blow from which the Lady Red never recovered, instead falling 7-2 in the sectional semifinal Tuesday. Read More