PHOTOS

Eastland Lady Cougar Katelyn Janssen attempts a bunt during Firday afternoon action in Lanark against the Dakota Lady Indians. Eastland jumped out to the early lead and cruised to the 4-0 win. (PA photo/Craig Lang)

Softball

Cover Story

Lady Thunder Shut Out Pearl City

West Carroll’s Katy Cook got the scoring started for the Lady Thunder with a second inning home run and starting pitcher Kim Durward tossed a one hit gem to lead West Carroll to the 7-0 win over Pearl City on Thursday in Thomson.

The Lady Thunder posted two runs in the second and added another pair of runs in the third and fourth innings along with a single tally in the fifth to make the final margin of victory.

Pearl City’s lone hit was a first inning single by first baseman Jenna Canon. After that it was Durward who held the Pearl City hitters in check tossing the complete game. She walked none and struck out three hitters enroute to the win, improving her record to ten wins against seven losses.

Pearl City starter Meghan Stichter took the loss for Pearl City, going four innings and surrendering six runs on nine hits. “This was probably our best overall game of the year,” said Lady Thunder head coach Mathey, “Kim threw a one hitter, walking no one. We only committed one error and we had hitters come through in the clutch tonight. We did not do that in our two previous games against Dakota and Eastland.”

(8-12) Pearl City-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-1

(14-8,8-2) West Carroll-0-2-2-2-1-0-X-7-9-1

WP: Durward (10-7) 7IP, 9R, 1H, 0BB, 3K

LP: Stichter 4IP, 6R, 6ER, 9H, 1BB, 2K

2B: West Carroll: 2 (Mathey, Morhardt)

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

HR: West Carroll: 1 (Cook)

Dakota Slips Past Lady Thunder

Despite getting just four hits off two West Carroll pitchers, the Dakota Lady Indians made the most of those four hits to slip past West Carroll 4-3 on Monday afternoon in Thomson. The Dakota squad was also aided by four West Carroll errors in the field. Lady Thunder starting pitcher Kim Durward surrendered just a pair of runs, neither earned, on just two hits. Reliever Allison Thulen took the loss for West Carroll giving up the other two runs, only one earned, on two hits. Dakota starter Aleesha Cleaver went the distance for the Lady Indians, allowing three runs on nine hits while walking none and striking out three. Jen Lane went three for three at the plate for Dakota with a pair of triples.

“Dakota was better able to take advantage of their four hits and our four errors to win this game,” said West Carroll head coach Don Mathey. “We just could not come through tonight at the plate when we had runners in scoring position.”

(7-8) Dakota 1-0-0-1-0-0-2-4-4-2

(13-8,7-1) West Carroll-0-2-0-0-0-0-1-3-9-4

WP: Cleaver 7IP, 3R, 3ER, 9H, 0BB, 3K

LP: Thulen 4IP, 2R, 1ER, 2H, 5BB, 7K

2B: West Carroll: 3 (Taylor Cole, Mathey, Morhardt)

3B; Dakota: 2 (Lane 2)

West Carroll: 2 (Cook, Larson)

Eastland Takes Victory From West Carroll

The Lady Cougars improved their record to 9-0 in the NUIC on Tuesday in Thomson with a 7-1 win over the Lady Thunder. Starting pitcher Marissa Harris threw a gem, pitching all seven innings and giving up a single run on eight hits while walking one and striking out eight West Carroll hitters. She got all the offense she needed in the fourth inning as the Lady Cougars plated a pair of runs. The Eastland squad added four more runs on the fifth and a lone run in the sixth.

West Carroll’s Kim Durward took the loss going six innings and giving up all seven runs on nine hits. She walked one and struck put a pair of Eastland batters. At the plate for the Lady Cougars, Monica Walters went two for three with a triple.

Lady Thunder head coach Mathey said, “We did a good job of getting hits to lead off innings but struck out six times with base runners in scoring position. For the second night in a row we could not come up with the big hit to score runs. Our defense has not been as crisp the past two games either. There was no doubt Eastland was the better team tonight.”

(17-6,9-0) Eastland-0-0-0-2-4-1-0-7-9-0

(13-9,7-2) West Carroll-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-1-8-4

WP: Harris 7IP, 1R, 1ER, 8H, 1BB, 8K

LP: Durward 6IP, 7R, 2ER, 9H, 1BB, 2K

3B; Eastland: 1 (Walters)

West Carroll: 1 (Allen)

F/S Score: Eastland 12 West Carroll 0

Lady Wolves Cruise Past Stockton

Pearl City pounded out nine hits and pitcher Meghan Stichter hurled a three hitter as the Lady Wolves rolled over Stockton 12-3 on Tuesday afternoon. Despite trailing three to one after one inning, Pearl City erupted for eleven unanswered runs in the final five innings to post the easy victory. Stichter went the distance allowing two walking and fanning a dozen Stockton hitters. At the plate, Pearl City got contributions from Korissa Blasing who went two for five with three runs batted in, Laura Melville who went two for four with two runs scored, Jenna Canon who went one for two with three RBI’s and two runs scored.

Pearl City-1-0-2-0-5-3-1-12-9-1

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

WP: Stichter 7IP, 3R, 3H, 2BB, 12K

West Carroll Takes One Out Of Three

The Lady Thunder participated in the Mercer County Tourney in Aledo on Friday and Saturday and took one out of their three games. First up for West Carroll, they faced the ROWVA Lady Tigers and fell by a score of 14-9. ROWVA jumped out to a ten to nothing lead until the Lady Thunder were able to put some runs on the board. ROWVA took a fourteen to one lead into the bottom of the sixth inning before West Carroll managed to tack on eight runs in the bottom of the frame but just couldn’t manage to complete the comeback. West Carroll scored their nine runs on eleven hits but eight fielding errors aided ROWVA in the victory. Kim Durward took the loss for West Carroll, pitching three and two thirds innings. She surrendered ten runs on eleven hits while walking two and striking out two.

Game two on Saturday saw the Lady Thunder facing the hosts Mercer County. The host took an early two to nothing lead before West Carroll battled back to score five runs in the fourth inning and another eight runs in the fifth. Mercer County would counter with five runs in the bottom of the fifth and added another three in the sixth to make the final margin of victory for the Lady Thunder. Allison Thulen took the pitching win for the Lady Thunder in game two.

The final game of the day for West Carroll saw them facing the Cyclones from West Prairie. The Cyclones took a five to three lead after two innings of play and the Lady Thunder were held scoreless the rest of the way as West Prairie tacked on five more runs to take the 10-3 victory. Lady Thunder head coach Don Mathey said, “Our pitchers had a lot of trouble getting them out today. They had hitters one through nine in their lineup. They were simply the superior team today.”

(21-5) ROWVA-0-7-1-2-0-4-0-14-14-4

(14-10,8-2) West Carroll-0-0-0-1-0-8-0-9-11-8

WP: Clear 6IP, 9R, 8ER, 11H, 2BB, 5K

LP: Durward (10-8) 3 2/3IP, 10R, 8ER, 11H, 2BB, 2K

2B: ROWVA: 5 (DeSchepper2, Abel, Johnson, Williams)

3B: West Carroll: 1 (Morhardt)

(15-10,8-2) West Carroll-0-0-0-5-8-0-0-13-11-8

Mercer County-2-0-0-0-5-3-0-10-8-2

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

LP: Weekens 4 2/3IP, 13R, 7ER, 7H, 7BB, 4K

2B; West Carroll: 2 (Cook, Mathey)

Mercer County: 3 (Brooks, Terrill, Weeks)

(15-11,8-2) West Carroll-2-1-0-0-0-0-0-3-7-1

West Prairie-3-2-0-0-2-3-X-10-14-1

WP: Campbell 7IP, 3R, 2ER, 7H

LP: Durward (10-9) 5IP, 7R, 6ER, 10H, 5BB, 1K

2B; West Carroll: 1 (Morhardt)

West Prairie: 4 (Harper 2, Dimmitt, Webster)

HR: West Carroll: 1 (McCombie)

Softball Scores

May 2

Morrison 10 Amboy 0

Amboy 6 Morrison 5

May 4

Morrison 18 Kewanee 0

May 5

Orangeville 11 Milledgeville 7

Morrison 10 Erie/P’town/Tampico/Lyndon 0

Stockton 16 Scales Mound/River Ridge 0

Forreston/Polo 11 South Beloit 1

Dakota 10 Freeport Aquin 0

East Dubuque 6 Galena 3

Baseball

Thunder Cruise Over Forreston/Polo

The West Carroll Thunder traveled to Polo on Monday afternoon and came home with the lopsided 14-2 victory. The visiting West Carroll squad pushed runs across the plate in each of the five innings to roll to the easy win. The Thunder pounded out a dozen hits with Evan Williams leading the way with four singles and three runs batted in.

Teammates Austin Weller and Joey Sullivan each had three RBI’s. Sullivan went the distance on the mound, limiting Forreston/Polo to five hits and two runs while walking nine and striking out nine hitters. Thunder head coach Brian Kamper, commenting on his teams performance said, “We played a good game. We have a tough week with seven scheduled games and anytime we can have a pitcher go the distance it helps lift the team tremendously.”

(10-9,4-3) West Carroll-4-2-1-2-5-14-12-0

Forreston/Polo-2-0-0-0-0-2-5-6

WP: Sullivan 5IP, 2R, 2ER, 5H, 0BB, 9K

Thunder Crush Panthers

A four to three lead after two innings for the Thunder turned into a 12-3 victory for West Carroll against Le-Win as the Thunder exploded for eight more runs in the final four innings Tuesday in Lena. West Carroll capitalized on a fifteen hit performance and rode the five hit pitching of Tyler Brashaw to victory. Brashaw went six innings, limiting the Panthers to three runs on five hits while walking two and fanning four Le-Win batters. Matt LaShelle relieved in the seventh and notched two strikeouts to preserve the win for West Carroll.

Joey Sullivan belted a double and a sole home run and teammate Trey Enloe added a single, double and three runs batted in. Austin Weller added three singles and Evan Williams had a pair of base hits and a double. Thunder coach Brian Kamper said, “A great effort from Tyler on the mound. We hit the ball pretty well.”

(11-9,5-3) West Carroll-0-4-0-5-2-0-1-12-15-3

Le-Win-1-2-0-0-0-0-0-3-5-4

WP: Brashaw 6IP, 3R, 3ER, 5H, 2BB, 4K

2B: West Carroll: 3 (Enloe, Sullivan, Williams)

HR: West Carroll: 1 (Sullivan)

Forreston/Polo Blanks Milledgeville

Forreston/Polo put nine first inning runs on the score board and that would prove to be more than enough as they took the 14-0 win over the Missiles in Polo on Tuesday afternoon. Nick Ludwig pitched a complete game victory for the Forreston/Polo squad, limiting Milledgeville to one hit while walking three and striking out five Missile hitters. Chris Sander went one for four at the plate for Forreston/Polo, blasting a two run home run and knocking in three. The Missiles Devin Biller took the loss for Milledgeville.

Milledgeville-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-7

Forreston/Polo-9-2-1-2-X-14-10-0

WP: Ludwig 5IP, 0R, 1H, 3BB, 5K

LP: Biller 2IP, 11R, 7H, 2BB, 2K

2B; Forreston/Polo: 3 (B. Vietmeier, Bronkema, Osterloo)

HR: Forreston/Polo: 1 (Sander)

Wolves Split With Warriors

Pearl City scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to knot the score at five and pushed across a lone run in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the come from behind win over East Dubuque in the opener 6-5 Tuesday. The Wolves rode the fifteen strikeout pitching of Zach Moyer to the win in game one. Moyer limited the Warriors to six hits enroute to the complete game victory. Keagan Blasing and Nathan Falk both had double for Pearl City in the first game. In game two, East Dubuque took a one to nothing lead in the opening inning and pushed four more runs across the plate in the third to take the 5-0 shutout win. Starter Colton Bastian took the pitching loss for the Wolves in the second game.

East Dubuque-1-0-1-3-0-0-0-5-6-2

Pearl City-0-0-3-0-2-0-1-6-11-2

WP: Moyer 7IP, 5R, 6H, 15K

2B: East Dubuque: 1 (Puls)

Pearl City: 2 (Blasing, Falk)

Pearl City-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-4-1

East Dubuque-1-0-4-0-0-0-0-5-11-1

WP: Duehr 7IP, 0R, 4H

LP: Bastian 7IP, 5R, 11H

HR: East Dubuque: 1 (Theill)

West Carroll Wins A Thriller Against Sherrard

The West Carroll Thunder hosted the Sherrard Tigers on Thursday in Thomson a came back to take the 10-9 win. The two teams battled back and forth throughout the contest with West Carroll taking a five to two lead after three innings of play. The Tigers came back to score three runs in the top of the fourth to knot the game at five before the Thunder responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to take back the lead. Sherrard would score a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth to claim the lead back at nine to eight.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh, West Carroll’s Trey Enloe drew a base on balls to lead off the inning. Joey Sullivan then singled and Matt LaShelle drew a walk to load the bases. Tyler Brashaw was walked to force in the tying run. The number nine hitter Brandon Larson then attempted a suicide squeeze, which he missed, but Sherrard’s catcher dropped the ball allowing Sullivan to come in from third with the game-winning run. The win improves West Carroll’s record to twelve victories against nine losses.

Sherrard-1-1-0-3-2-2-0-9-9-2

(12-9,5-3) West Carroll-2-0-3-1-2-0-2-10-13-1

WP: LaShelle (4-2) 1 2/3IP, 0R, 2H, 0BB, 2K

2B: West Carroll: 2 (Sullivan 2)

F/S Score: Sherrard 13 West Carroll 9

Bulldogs Top Missiles

Freeport Aquin jumped out to a quick five to nothing lead after two innings in Milledgeville on Thursday and cruised to the 10-2 win. The Bulldogs plated three runs in the first and another pair of runs in the top of the second to take control of the ballgame early. Aquin starting pitcher Aaron Scibona threw a complete game six hitter, holding Milledgeville to single runs in the fourth and seventh innings. The Bulldogs pounded out eleven hits in the game with Sawyer Shaw getting things started for Aquin with a three run blast in the top of the opening inning. The Missiles Kyle Groen took the loss for Milledgeville, going the distance, allowing all ten runs, only five of those being earned. He walked none and struck out three Bulldog hitters.

Freeport Aquin-3-2-0-4-0-1-0-10-11-2

(1.15,1-12) Milledgeville-0-0-0-1-0-0-1-2-6-5

WP: Scibona 7IP, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 10K

LP: Groen 7IP, 10R, 5ER, 11H, 0BB, 3K

2B; Freeport Aquin: 4 (Brannick, Martin, Scibona, Zuravel)

HR: Freeport Aquin: 1 (Shaw)

Thunder Take A Pair From Wolves

West Carroll traveled to Pearl City on Friday and came home after sweeping a double header from Pearl City. In game one the Thunder fell behind seven to three after two innings of play but came back to score six fifth inning runs to take the 14-9 victory. Game one as highlighted by a pinch hit grand slam homer by the Thunder’s Zach Whitebread. West Carroll starting pitcher Nick Hughes took the win. Pearl City’s Nathan Falk took the loss for the Wolves.

Thunder coach Brian Kamper said of his team’s performance, “We scored six runs in the fifth all with two outs. We were led by Zach Whitebreads pinch hit grand slam. It couldn’t have come at a better time.” The win improved the Thunder’s record to thirteen wins against nine losses with a six and three record in the conference.

Game two saw West Carroll jump out to a two to nothing first inning lead and pitcher Matt LaShelle pitched five inngs of three hit baseball to earn the victory. LaShelle also aided his own cause at the plate, hitting a solo home run. The Thunder added five third inning runs and tacked on seven more runs in the top of the fifth to take control in the 14-4 win.

(13-9,6-3) West Carroll-2-1-1-1-6-2-1-14-18-2

Pearl City-2-5-0-1-0-0-1-9-13-3

WP: Hughes (1-0) 4 2/3IP, 8R, 7ER, 10H, 4BB, 1K

LP: Falk

2B: West Carroll: 1 (Weller)

HR: West Carroll: 2 (Whitebread, Weller)

(14-9,7-3) West Carroll-2-0-5-0-7-14-8-2

Pearl City-0-0-0-0-4-4-3-4

WP: LaShelle (5-2) 5IP, 4R, 3ER, 3H, 2BB, 8K

LP: Blasing

2B: West Carroll: West Carroll: 1 (Weller)

HR: West Carroll: 1 (LaShelle)

Mustangs Win Tourney, Thunder Split

Morrison Mustang Dylon Smith takes a big cut at a pitch from Orangeville’s pitcher during Saturday morning baseball action at the Morrison Invitational tourney. Dylon pitched a complete game, allowing just two hits while striking out nine in the Mustang’s 14-1 win. (PA photo/Craig Lang)

West Carroll traveled to Morrison on Saturday morning to compete in the Morrison Invitational tourney with River Ridge and Orangeville also playing. The first game saw the Thunder take on River Ridge with the Wildcats taking the 7-0 shut out win. River Ridge put three first inning runs up and added another four runs in the third to take the victory. Thunder starting pitcher Evan Williams took the loss for West Carroll, going four innings and giving up all seven runs on seven hits. Thunder coach Kamper said, “We got home late from Pearl City last night and had to catch an early bus this morning and we just weren’t ready to play. Our bats let us down and we left nine runners on base.”

The second game of the day saw the host Mustangs face the Orangeville Broncos and Morrison pounded the Bronco pitching to take the five inning 14-1 win. The Mustangs put up three runs in each the first three frames and added a four spot in the fourth to take the easy win. Dylon Smith took the pitching victory for Morrison allowing only two hits while striking out nine Bronco hitters. Will Bird went three for five at the plate knocking in five.

The Thunder then got a 10-3 win over Orangeville with Brian Gilbert taking the pitching victory. Gilbert went six innings, allowing all three runs on nine hits and walking two while striking out three. Coach Lamper commented, “Brian pitched a nice game and we got our sticks back.”

Morrison faced River Ridge in the championship contest and pounded the Wildcat pitching to take the ten run 12-2 win. The Mustangs improved their record to twenty two wins against only two losses with Morrison starting pitcher Brandon Neighbor taking the win.

(14-10,7-3) West Carroll-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-8-2

River Ridge-3-0-4-0-0-0-0-7-7-1

LP: Williams 4IP, 7R, 7ER, 7H, 1BB, 1K

Orangeville-1-0-0-0-0-1

(21-2) Morrison-3-3-3-5-X-14

WP: Smith 5IP, 1R, 2H, 9K

(15-10,7-3) West Carroll-5-3-0-0-0-2-10-11-1

Orangeville-1-0-0-2-0-0-3-9-1

WP: Gilbert (1-0) 6IP, 3R, 3ER, 9H, 2BB, 3K

River Ridge-0-0-0-2-0-2

(22-2) Morrison-2-2-0-3-5-12

WP: Neighbor

Baseball Scores

May 4

Forreston/Polo 9 South Beloit 2

May 5

Freeport Aquin 10 Milledgeville 2

Morrison 8 Erie/P’town/Tampico/Lyndon 2

Rockford Christian 19 Forreston/Polo 9

Baseball & Softball Schedule

May 11

(BB) Morrison at Forreston/Polo

May 12

(SB) West Carroll at Milledgeville

(BB) West Carroll at Eastland

(BB) Morrison at Wethersfield/Annawan

(SB) Moline at Morrison

May 13

(SB) Morrison at Lisle Tourney

(BB) Le-Win at Milledgeville

(SB) Milledgeville at Le-Win

(SB) Eastland at Fulton

(BB) Eastland at Fulton

(SB) Forreston/Polo at Pearl City

(BB) Forreston/Polo at Pearl City

May 14

(SB) Eastland at West Carroll

(BB) Riverdale at West Carroll

(SB) Morrison at Lisle Tourney

Class 1A Baseball Regionals

At Amboy

May 16

1-Milledgeville at AFC-4:30pm

May 18

2-Eastland vs. game #1 winner-4:30pm

3-Amboy vs. Fulton-7:30pm

May 21

4-Game #2 winner vs. game #3 winner-11am

At East Dubuque

May 16

1-Pearl City at River Ridge-4:30pm

2-Galena at Warren-4:30pm

May 18

3-East Dubuque vs. game 31 winner-4:30pm

May 19

4-Le-Win vs. game #2 winner-4:30pm

May 21

5-Game #3 winner vs. game #4 winner-noon

Class 2A Baseball Regionals

At Morrison

May 16

1-Port Byron/Riverdale at Prophetstown-4:30pm

May 18

2-Rock Falls vs. game #1 winner-4pm

3-Morrison vs. Rock Island Alleman-6pm

May 21

4-Game #2 winner vs. game #3 winner-11am

At West Carroll

May 16

1-Sterling Newman at Pecatonica-4:30pm

May 18

2-Winnebago vs. game #1 winner-4:30pm

May 19

3-West Carroll vs. Forreston-4:30pm

May 21

4-Game #2 winner vs. game #3 winner-11am

Class 1A Softball Regional

At Fulton

May 16

1-Freeport Aquin at Fulton-4:30pm

May 18

2-Milledgeville vs. game #1 winner-4:30pm

3-Eastland vs. Pearl City-7pm

May 21

Game #2 winner vs. game #3 winner-11am

At Scales Mound

May 16

1-Scales Mound at East Dubuque-4:30pm

May 17

2-Galena vs. game #1 winner-4:30pm

May 18

3-Le-Win vs. Stockton-4:30pm

May 21

Game #2 winner vs. game #3 winner-11am

Class 2A Softball Regional

At Sterling Newman

May 16

1-Sterling Newman at Oregon-4:30pm

May 18

Morrison vs. game #1 winner-4:30pm

May 19

Rock Falls vs. West Carroll-4:30pm

May 21

Game #2 winner vs. game #3 winner-11am

Track Results

May 2

At Milledgeville (Boys)

1-Amboy - 113

2-Milledgeville/Eastland - 14

At Milledgeville (Girls)

1-Milledgeville/Eastland - 72

2-Amboy - 63

At Le-Win (Boys)

1-Sterling Newman - 170

2-Le-Win - 140

3-West Carroll - 109

4-Galena/River Ridge/East Dubuque - 89

5-Dakota - 44

6-Pearl City - 33

May 5

At Hanover (Girls)

1-Galena/East Dubuque/River Ridge - 133

2-Milledgeville/Eastland - 116

3-Le-Win - 93

4-Stockton/Warren - 67

5-West Carroll - 45

6-Dakota - 36

7-Pearl City - 32

May 6

At Milledgeville (Boys)

1-Polo/Forreston - 157

2-Sterling Newman - 142

3-West Carroll - 86

4-Le-Win - 76

5-Milledgeville/Eastland - 40

6-Galena/River Ridge/East Dubuque - 22

Milledgeville/Eastland Finishes Fifth At Missile Invite

West Carroll’s Austin Saunders, Polo’s Felix Romero, Milledgeville’s Brady Kness and the Thunder’s Tanner Meador approach the finish line in the final of the 100 meter dash during Friday’s Milledgeville Missile Invite. The event was won by Sterling Newman’s Nick Rude with a time of 11.16. (PA photo/Craig Lang)

The Milledgeville/Eastland boy’s track team hosted the Missile boy’s invitational on Friday in Milledgeville and took home fifth place honors. The Polo/ Forreston coop took top honors on the day compiling 157 points with Sterling Newman taking second with 142 points. The West Carroll Thunder took third with 86 and Le-Win finished fourth with 76 points. Galena/River Ridge/East Dubuque finished in sixth with 22 points.

The Thunder 400M relay team took third in the event and the Missile relay team finished fifth. West Carroll’s Josue Quintana finished second in the 100M hurdles. The 100M dash final was won by Nick Rude of Sterling Newman with Milledgeville/Eastland’s Kevin Glastetter finishing third with a time of 11.35. Glastetter took first place in the 400M dash with a time of 49.32and finished third in the 200M dash with a time of 22.81. West Carroll’s relay team finished third in the 800M relay.

The triple jump has two Thunder competitors placing in the top three with Tyler French finishing second and Marcus Klein taking third. The long jump has Milledgeville/Eastland competitors Vinny DeVito, Guy Morgan and Daniel Walker finishing third, fourth and fifth. The high jump was won by West Carroll’s Tyler French with a six foot jump.