Players Drive Program for New Varsity Football Coach

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New SOV head varsity football coach Andy Kerley.

•April 12, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

Sullivan-Okaw Valley announced that Andy Kerley has been hired as the new head varsity football coach.

“Sullivan is a community I’ve always had great experiences with as a visiting coach,” said Kerley. “From the other sideline the support levels have always seemed good. The town, the administration, everyone seems to support the programs of the school, and that is a great positive when looking at a place as a potential working environment. The infrastructure is mostly in place already to allow the program to blossom.”

Kerley spent seven years as the Cerro Gordo-Bement Broncos head coach with four playoff berths (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015) and a 42-28 record.

He coached at Shelbyville for a year before taking the Cerro Gordo position.

At Cerro Gordo-Bement, he was selected as the Decatur Herald and Review Macon County Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2013, and he also was named as the ESPN 1050 Decatur Coach of the Year in 2013.

This summer should be very important to Kerley, and he cannot wait to start. Read More

Strong Showing for ALAH Girls at Invite

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•April 12, 2017•

Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond girls’ track team hosted the 12-team ALAH Girls’ Invite April 7.

ALAH had several athletes finish in the top three.

Kenli Nettles high jumped 5-4 for first in her finals section, and Hannah Wallen long jumped 16-7 for first. Read More

SOV Boys’ Track Team Wins at Shelbyville

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Photo by Jason Brown
Josh Ernst tosses the discus.

•April 12, 2017•

The SOV boys’ track and field team won the Shelbyville meet with 88 points Friday, defeating St. Teresa (74), Shelbyville (73), and Central A&M (32).

SOV had several top three finishers.

Isaiah Plank won the 800 meter with a time of 2:14.0, and J.T. Bland ran the 1,600 meter in 5:10.

Logan Pedigo pole vaulted 12’9” for first, and Luke Bowman high jumped 5’7” for first.

Bowman also took second in the 100 meter and third in the 200 with times of 11.46 and 23.44, respectively.

Jadon Nuzzo pole vaulted 12 foot for second place, and Brodie Goss ran the 110 hurdles in 19.08 for second. Read More

OV Softball Starts Strong in Paris Win

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Maddie Perrine watches a pitch against ALAH Friday.

•April 12, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Okaw Valley softball team finished the week 1-2 with a win against Paris and losses to Effingham St. Anthony and Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond.

Saturday against Paris in game one of a double header, the Timberwolves scored three runs in the first inning and two in the third and fourth innings to take a 7-1 lead.

Paris scored two and OV tacked on another for the 8-3 win.

“I was impressed with how we started the game with a strong rally,” said Dave Benning. “We had contributions up and down the lineup and built on our lead throughout the game. I thought we could have added more in the sixth and seventh innings when we left the bases loaded.”

In the first, Grace Harlin led off the game with a double to right center.  Read More

Four Straight Wins for Redskin Baseball

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•April 12, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan baseball team won four straight games this past week to improve its overall record to 7-3.

Sullivan was winning its fifth game Monday against Warrensburg-Latham when the game was stopped after the top of the third inning because of rain.

Saturday, the Redskins bookended two big innings in the first and seven for a 5-3 win over Salt Fork.

Payton Taylor homered and had two RBIs for the Storm.

Sullivan scored three in the first to take a 3-1 lead and two in the seven.

Bryce Farris and Tommy Schibur each had two hits and scored two runs. Read More

ALAH Softball Team Keeps on Hitting

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Photo by Jason Brown
Knight Logan Kauffman pushes off the first base bag as Okaw Valley’s Jess Robinson readies for the pitch.

•April 12, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond softball team finished the week with a 2-1 record.

The Knights defeated rival Okaw Valley and Champaign Central but lost to Windsor Stew/Stras.

Against Okaw Valley Friday, the two teams totaled 33 hits, 33 runs and nine errors in a slugfest.

ALAH scored the first eight runs in the first two innings, but OV cut that lead in half with four runs in the third. Read More

Sullivan Softball Team Tops St. Teresa

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•April 12, 2017•

The Sullivan softball team split a pair of games this week, defeating St. Teresa and losing to Meridian.

Sullivan won its first Central Illinois Conference game by defeating St. Teresa 18-3 Thursday.

Madison Wall pitched four innings for the win, giving up two hits. She struck out five. Read More

OVHS Baseball Wraps Week with Double Win

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Photo by Jason Brown
Tanner Coleman pitches home.

•April 5, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Okaw Valley baseball team finished the week 3-0 with double-header wins against St. Thomas More in extra innings Saturday and a win against Alden-Hebron Friday.

In the second game of the double header, the Timberwolves defeated STM 11-7 in a back-and-forth extra-inning game.

STM scored in the first three innings to take a 4-0 lead, but OV battle back with a run in the fourth inning and four in the fifth to take the lead.

The Sabers answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take back the lead 6-5. Read More

Sullivan Baseball Takes Cumberland in SixInnings

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•April 5, 2017•

The Sullivan baseball team finished the week 1-2 with a win over Cumberland and losses to St. Anthony and Tuscola.

Against Cumberland in the round robin, the Redskins jumped out early with two runs in the first inning but Cumberland answered in the third with a run.

Sullivan blew the game open with seven runs in the fifth inning and three more in the seventh for the 12-1 win in six innings.

Bryce Farris was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored. Read More

Double-header Win for Sullivan Softball

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•April 5, 2017•

The Sullivan softball team finished the week 2-1 with a double-header win against Decatur MacArthur and a loss to Tuscola.

The Redskins swept Decatur MacArthur 12-1 and 18-10 Saturday.

In the first game, Sullivan scored two runs in the third for a 3-1 lead and did not look back.

Sullivan extended that lead to 5-4, then tacked on nine straight runs.

Brooke Tuttle was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Read More