Facing two standout pitchers who will be pitching in college, the Sr. Legion team on Tuesday was able to split a doubleheader against Effingham.
In game one, Effingham used Nick Gardewire, who will be attending Kaskaskia College, and he allowed just two hits to earn a 3-0 shutout victory.
“We weren’t very good offensively, but they threw a very, very good pitcher,” said Post 95 coach Andy Rincker. “He’s an upper 80s/lower 90s guy who shut us down.”
The Vandalia Field of Dreams committee has sold the naming rights of the high school baseball field to a local insurance company.
Willms and Yakel Insurance Agency has agreed to accept naming rights for the next 10 years. The Field of Dreams committee will receive $4,000 annually, starting with this year.
A sign will be installed above the scoreboard. That will be purchased and installed by Willms and Yakel.
Vandalia Jr. Legion coach TK Kinkead is hopeful that at least one of his hitters will get hot soon.
Post 95 has had trouble getting into a groove on offense, and Kinkead said that if one player gets going, the rest of the team may follow. Then, nights like Tuesday against Teutopolis might not end in 11-4 and 8-3 losses.
“That’s the natural thing with a summer team of guys who know each other,” he said. “It would be huge, but right now, we aren’t getting the consistent play from anyone.”
NEW BADEN – After starting the season by scattering 32 hits in three games, the Vandalia Sr. Legion offense has quieted down, scratching out just 15 hits in three losses at the New Baden Wooden Bat Classic.
In the final two games of the event on Saturday, Post 95 (3-4) fell to Salem, 3-2, in 10 innings and was shut out by Imperial, Mo., 2-0.
“Everybody is pressing,” said coach Andy Rincker. “We have some guys gone, and people are trying to do too much, so we’re struggling a little bit.”
The Fayette County Family YMCA is offering four youth sports programs on Wednesdays and Saturdays this July.
Sports offered for children in grades K-8 are: dodgeball, kickball, flag football and sand volleyball.
Registration is $20 for members and $40 for non-members, and includes a free T-shirt.
For those interested in participating on individual days, the registration cost is $10 per day, but no T-shirt is included.
There were 26 local tumblers who recently participated at a state meet in Pana, with 19 of them qualifying for this month's national event in Madison, Wis.
A towering home run from Brady Huber and a three-run seventh inning pushed the Vandalia Sr. Legion squad to victory against Aviston last Thursday.
Huber, a 2012 Greenville graduate, blasted a solo home run more than 360 feet in the fourth to tie the game at two, and Post 95 used a timely hit and aggressive base running in the seventh to put away the 6-2 win.
“That’s the way we want to play,” said coach Andy Rincker. “We want to be aggressive and force the issue.”
ALTAMONT – South Central struggled during its season-opening Jr. Legion tournament in Altamont on Saturday, losing both games in pool play.
In each of the two games, a 4-1 loss to Newton and a 12-3 loss to Altamont, Post 519 gave up the lead early on and wasn’t able to recover.
Newton left the bases loaded in the first inning, but put a run on the board in the third and then took advantage of three walks, two hits and an error in the fourth to go ahead, 4-0.