Sports

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Milledgeville/Polo Favored to Win NUIC East Title

Milledgeville/Polo is favored to win the NUIC East baseball championship. Milledgeville/Polo is favored above a host of talented teams, including Orangeville and Dakota.

Orangeville has eight starters back in the mix for the 2009 season.

The Milledgeville/Polo baseball program, under the guidance of veteran head coach Jeff Sands, fields a veteran-laden team. A strong contingent of five starters lead the way for Milledgeville/Polo. Leading starters back for Milledgeville/Polo are Kirk Engelkens, Matt Scholl and Matt VanOosten.

Cougars Outlast Dakota

After holding an early 11-run lead and being on the brink of closing the game out early, Eastland had to fight its way past Dakota on Thursday. But the Cougars got the job done on the Dakota baseball diamond. Eastland held off Dakota 14-11. With the win, the Cougars improved to 7-1.
Following the loss, Dakota dropped to 0-2.

The Cougars led 11-0 at the conclusion of the third inning before Dakota came alive offensively.

Seth Milks led the Dakota rally with three hits and two RBIs. Milks entered in a pinch-hitter role. He finished 3-for-3.

Eastland owned a 13-2 lead in the bottom half of the sixth inning before errors allowed Dakota to creep back into the game.

The Cougars smacked the baseball all over the field in the early-regular-season contest.

Tony Dunlap went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Cougars. Drew Carroll finished 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a walk for the Eastland team. Zach Truckenmiller went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run and four RBIs for the versatile Eastland baseball club.

Ben Delp was the winning pitcher for the Cougars. Ace Tyler Zumdahl came on in relief of Delp. At the plate, Zumdahl finished 1-for-4 with a three-run home run.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

West Carroll Edges Riverdale

The West Carroll High School softball team executed well Friday, March 27 in an early regular-season matchup versus Riverdale. West Carroll managed to slip past Riverdale, nipping its early-season opponent 4-3 in a game that featured numerous highlights for both teams.

Pitcher Jordan Kasbohm led West Carroll past Riverdale, recording seven strikeouts. Kasbohm was strong from the circle, allowing three runs and just eight hits as she recorded the complete game win.

Offensively, Kaiti Mathey led West Carroll with three RBIs.

Chelsey Sipe was another leading offensive player for West Carroll, finishing with two hits and an RBI for the Thunder.

In another area high school softball game, Scales Mound/River Ridge defeated Shullsburg/Benton 8-1.

Missiles Squeeze Orangeville

Keali Engelkens led Milledgeville/Polo past Orangeville on Thursday. Engelkens, a standout pitcher for the Missiles, delivered at the plate in a crucial situation. The junior connected on a home run over the right-center portion of the fence to lift Milledgeville/Polo past host Orangeville. The Missiles prevailed 3-2.

Earlier in the game, when she last faced the Orangeville lineup, Engelkens had give n up a two-run home run to Carley Rote. The Milledgeville/Polo pitcher, however, got the final say.

Katelyn Grobe went 2-for-4 with a home run, double and RBI for the Missiles. Grobe scored Milledgeville/Polo's second run of the game. Engelkens finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs to go along with her game-winning home run.

The Missiles, under the guidance of head coach Rick Lincoln, improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the NUIC East. Milledgeville/Polo handed Orangeville its first loss. Orangeville slipped to 6-1 following the loss.

Orangeville pitcher Katie Goals was stuck with the loss. Nicole Obert led Orangeville offensively, finishing 2-for-3.

Eastland Blanks Stockton

Visiting Eastland grabbed an early advantage and never faltered on Friday in a road game against Stockton. The Cougars won convincingly, shutting out Stockton 8-0.

Two Eastland pitchers shut down Stockton. Eastland sophomore Bricelynn Myers tossed four innings, allowing just three hits en route to the win. Cougars freshman pitcher Marissa Harris pitched three scoreless innings to secure the win for the visiting team. Harris finished the game out strong for the Cougars.

Eastland, under the guidance of Coach Whittney Zumdahl, executed well in the early-regular season matchup.

Numerous players stepped up and contributed offensively for the Cougars. Two different Eastland hitters delivered three hits apiece.

Mandi Landherr went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI for the Cougars. Haylee Endress went 3-for-3 with three singles, a walk, two RBIs and two runs for homestanding Eastland. The Cougars improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 NUIC-West following the win.

Danielle Crandell was 1-for-2 with a single for host Stockton.

Varsity Baseball & Softball Schedule

April 8

(BB) Galena at Eastland

(BB) Milledgeville/Polo at Forreston

(BB) West Carroll at Le-Win

(BB) East Dubuque at Pearl City

April 9

(BB) Milledgeville/Polo at West Carroll

(SB) Forreston at Milledgeville

(SB) Pearl City at West Carroll

April 10

(SB) Milledgeville/Polo at Freeport Tourney

April 11

(SB) Eastland,West Carroll & Pearl City at Prophetstown Tourney

(BB) West Carroll at Morrison

April 13

(SB) Eastland at Stillman Valley

(BB) River Ridge at West Carroll

April 14

(BB) Orangeville at Eastland

(BB) Milledgeville/Polo at Morrison

(SB) Morrison at Milledgeville

(SB) Galena at West Carroll

(SB) Le-Win at Pearl City

(BB) Prophetstown at Pearl City (DH)

Varsity Softball Results

March 30

Rock Island Alleman-0-0-2-3-0-0-0-5-9-0

West Carroll-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-2

WP: Lambrecht (1-0) 7IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 12K

LP: Cole (1-1) 4IP, 5R, 3ER, 7H, 2BB, 3K

2B: RIA: 3 (Friedland, Schwerneker, Swinehart)

April 1

Winnebago-0-0-1-2-0-0-0-0-3-5-3

Eastland-1-1-0-0-0-0-1-1-4-8-5

WP: Harris

LP: Bronkoma

2B: Eastland: 4 (Johnson, Kniss, Koser, Raab)

3B: Winnebago: 1 (Woodard)

Pearl City-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1

Milledgeville/Polo-0-0-3-3-4-10-13-0

WP: Engelkens 5IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 11K

LP: Lawler 5IP, 10R, 13H, 2BB, 4K

2B: Milledgeville/Polo: 2 (A. Herin, Knutti)

3B: Milledgeville/Polo: 2 (Engelkens, Woodin)

West Carroll-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-2-2

Morrison-1-0-0-0-0-0-X-1-4-1

WP: Smith (3-1) 7IP, 0R, 2H, 0BB, 2K

LP: Kasbohm (2-1) 6IP, 1R, 1ER, 4H, 1BB, 10K

2B: Morrison: 1 (Hodge)

April 2

Milledgeville/Polo-0-1-0-0-1-0-1-3-9-1

Orangeville-0-0-0-0-2-0-2-4-0

WP: Engelkens 7IP, 2R, 4H, 0BB, 18K

LP: Boals 7IP, 3R, 9H, 1BB, 7K

2B: Milledgeville/Polo: 2 (Engelkens, Grobe)

HR: Milledgeville/Polo: 2 (Engelkens, Grobe

Orangeville: 1 (Rote)

West Carroll- 1-0-4-2-4-3-0-14-14-2

Scales Mound/River Ridge-0-0-0-0-2-5-0-7-7-6

WP: Cole (2-1) 6 2/3IP, 7R, 5ER, 7H, 6BB, 4K

LP: Steffes 7IP, 0R, 14H, 5BB, 3K

2B; West Carroll: 1 (Sedivy)

3B: West Carroll: 2 (Mathey, Sedivy)

SM/RR: 2 (Kieffer 2)

HR: West Carroll: 1 (Wiersema)

SM/RR-0-1-0-0-0-1-4-4

West Carroll: 11-0-0-1-X-12-10-1

WP: Kasbohm 5IP, 1R, 0ER, 4H, 0BB, 7K

LP: Steffes 4IP, 12r, 10ER, 10H, 2BB, 2K

2B: West Carroll: 2 (Wiersema, Mackey)

SM/RR: 1 (Brant)

April 3

Eastland-2-0-1-0-0-4-1-8-12-0

Stockton-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-3-2

WP: Myers 0R, 3H, 3BB, 4K

LP: Schomberger 8R, 12H, 1BB, 2K

2B: Eastland: 1 (Landherr)

3B: Eastland: 1 (Endress)

Varsity Baseball Results

March 30

West Carroll-0-0-0-1-3-0-0-4-6-4

Stillman Valley-0-0-3-5-0-0-X-8-6-3

WP: Larson

LP: A. Ferguson (0-2) 3IP, 3R, 2ER, 1H, 2BB, 3K

April 1

West Carroll-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-4-2

Byron-0-0-0-0-2-2-X-4-3-1

WP: Larson

LP: Ingersoll (1-1) 5IP, 2R, 0ER, 1H, 2BB, 13K

April 3

Milledgeville/Polo-1-1-5-0-1-2-2-12-10-2

Eastland-2-0-2-0-4-0-0-8-8-8

WP: Van Oosten 2IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 1K

LP: Geerts 5IP, 10R, 7H, 3BB, 2K

2B: Milledgeville/Polo: 2 (Buck, Van Oosten)

Galena-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-1-6-2

Pearl City-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-1-2-5-0

WP: Talbert

LP: Hocking

2B: Galena: 1 (Hocking)

Pearl City: 1 (Hull)

Varsity Track Results

April 1

5 Team Meet at River Ridge

1-Le-Win - 117

2-Galena/E. Dubuque/River Ridge - 96

3-West Carroll - 69

4-Pearl City - 49

5-Dakota - 22

April 3

Dittmar Claasic, Milledgeville

1-Le-Win - 180

2-Polo - 113

3-Milledgeville/Eastland - 88

4-Galena/East Dubuque/River Ridge - 78

5-Fulton - 56

6-Freeport Aquin - 1

LC Ladies Golf League Meets

The Lake Carroll Ladies Golf League sign-up and meeting is set for Wednesday, April 15, at 7:00 p.m. at the Clubhouse.

Ladies may sign up for either the eighteen hole morning, nine hole morning or the nine hole afternoon league. The cost will include handicap service. The first day of play will be Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

The officers for this year will be the following: Darlene Worden (President), Mary Anderson (Vice-President), Joan Frey (Secretary), and Jan Gillfillan (Treasurer).

If you have any questions or concerns call Darlene at .

Illinois, Northwestern Establish New Football Series

The University of Illinois and Northwestern University are collaborating to establish a new trophy for the winner of the football game between the two institutions. The Sweet Sioux Tomahawk Trophy, which went to the winner of the Illinois-Northwestern football game from 1945-2008, was retired following the 2008 contest and both schools have agreed to play for a new trophy beginning in 2009.

"Northwestern and Illinois are looking at a very unique opportunity to establish a traditional series trophy that will last for generations," said Illinois Director of Athletics Ron Guenther. "As the only two Big Ten institutions in the state of Illinois, our game attracts a great amount of attention, which only adds to the pageantry of the trophy. We're hopeful our players, coaches and fans will continue to view this game as a very special tradition in college football."

Both institutions are asking their fans for feedback on the new trophy by participating in an online poll on each of the school's athletics web sites. Four possible ideas, along with the opportunity to offer an alternative, will be provided until April 15. The schools expect to announce the new trophy around each of their spring football games on April 25.

Four possible suggestions for the new series trophy include the following:

The Land of Lincoln Trophy - A replica of Lincoln's stove pipe hat mounted on a piece of White Oak (Illinois' state tree).

President's Trophy - Recognizing the four presidents associated with the state of Illinois - Lincoln, Grant, Reagan and Obama.

The Popcorn Bowl - Named after the Illinois state snack.

Graham-Grange Fire Bell (original series trophy started in 1941 was a fire bell) - Named after two of the greatest players at each school - Otto Graham of Northwestern and Red Grange of Illinois.