.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

School Sports

  • Vandalia, South Central legion teams start season

    Legion baseball will be back on the diamonds in Vandalia this week, with both the Sr. and Jr. Legion teams opening their seasons.

    Between June 1 and June 9, the Sr. Legion team, which is coached by Luke Hohlt, will play seven games, including five at home. The season opened on Wednesday with a home doubleheader against Carlyle.

    The Jr. Legion team, which is coached by TK Kinkead, has its first game on Thursday at Salem and opens the home season on Monday against South Central. Both games are 6 p.m. doubleheaders.

    Click here to read more...
  • Vandalia High School Softball Awards

    The Vandalia High School softball team held its banquet last week, and coach Brian Buscher handed out several awards.

    Click here to read more...
  • Girls basketball camp

    Vandalia High School girls basketball coach Michelle McNary last week held a skills camp for girls in grades K-8.

    Click here to read more...
  • Lady Aces lose sectional title game

    LEBANON — The Mulberry Grove High School softball team lost to Calhoun in the sectional championship game on Monday, 5-4.

    The Lady Aces scored one run in the bottom of the seventh inning, and had two runners on when the final out was recorded.

    For Calhoun, it was the school's first-ever sectional title.

    A full story from the game will appear on Page 1B of the June 2 edition of The Leader-Union, and a photo gallery from both sectional tournament games will be posted on www.leaderunion.com later in the week.

    Click here to read more...
  • Lady Aces to play for sectional title

    LEBANON — The Mulberry Grove High School softball team will play for a sectional championship against Calhoun on Monday after defeating Marissa on Saturday, 4-3.

    That game will be held at Lebanon High School at 1 p.m.

    The Lady Aces never trailed against Marissa, holding, at worst, a tie at two after two innings. Mulberry Grove scored two more runs in the third, and held the Lady Meteors scoreless until the bottom of the seventh.

    Click here to read more...
  • Austin, Bell out of state meet

    Vandalia senior Daniel Bell and junior Quenten Austin did not make it out of the preliminaries at the IHSA state meet on Thursday.

    Both, however, did finish in a higher place than they were seeded in each event.

    Bell, who was seeded last in the 800-meter run, finished in 26th place (of 42) in a time of 2:04.22. In the discus throw, Bell was seeded 37th and placed 34th, with a throw of 115 feet, 3 inches.

    Click here to read more...
  • Mulberry Grove softball sectional game postponed

    The Mulberry Grove High School softball team's game against Marissa at the Lebanon sectional tournament that was scheduled for Thursday at 4:30 p.m. has been postponed until Saturday at 1 p.m.

    The winner of that game will play for the sectional championship on Monday. Any additional schedule changes will be posted here as they become available.

    Whichever team wins the sectional championship will play at the super-sectional in Raymond on Monday.

    Click here to read more...
  • Twice as nice: Vandalia's Bell, Austin each qualify for state meet in two events

    NEWTON – It’s a good thing there are do-overs in life or Daniel Bell might not be going to the state meet to throw discus on Thursday.

    “And in first place, Danielle … (pause) … Daniel Bell of Vandalia,” echoed from the public address system at Newton after the discus throw at last Friday’s sectional meet.

    Bell, who at the time, with arms raised, was basking in the moment of hearing his name called as a state qualifier for the first time, cracked a smile when his name was botched.

    Click here to read more...
  • Senior Spotlight: Cody Allen

    NEWTON – Just 2 1/2 hours before his high school graduation ceremony, Patoka senior Cody Allen was more than an hour from town facing a more intimidating obstacle.

    It was a high jump bar.

    With just a handful of jumpers left in the event at the Illinois High School Association sectional meet in Newton, Allen showed signs of nerves while waiting for his turn to try to clear 6 feet, which was his personal best.

    Click here to read more...
  • Lady Aces slowly build lead to win regionals

    MULBERRY GROVE – It wasn’t the desired approach, but the nine-person Mulberry Grove High School softball team scored in all but one inning to slowly pile up a lead against Ramsey to win its fourth regional championship in six years on Saturday.

    Coach John Barnes said he wanted his team to score a lot of runs early in the game, but the Lady Aces instead used consistent hitting and stellar pitching through the middle innings to wear down Ramsey during a 9-4 victory.

    Click here to read more...