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Today's Sports

  • Vandals run wild on Purple...

    On one hand, the Vandalia football team dominated Friday in a 30-7 victory at Hillsboro, racking up a season-high 417 yards rushing while averaging more than 8 yards per carry.

    But on the other hand, the Vandals' effort was flawed, as there were just enough mistakes to keep VCHS humble despite becoming playoff eligible by improving to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in SCC-East play.

    All told, the combination might be a good thing, as the Vandals look to clinch a program-record third straight playoff appearance Friday against Pana at Mark Greer Field.

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  • Lady Vandals win Pana Tournament

    The Vandalia volleyball team keeps finding ways to outdo itself.

    A little more than a week removed from its first win over Pana in four years, the Lady Vandals made it two in a row over the Lady Panthers in a span of nine days Saturday - doing so under even more ideal circumstances the second time around.

    Not only did the Lady Vandals beat Pana on its home floor - again - they did so in the championship game of the Lady Panthers' own tournament, 25-15, 25-22.

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  • Patoka wins EIC for first time...

    It was one of the few times all game that Drew Baldridge needed some help.

    The junior righty had just recorded his 10th strikeout Monday, putting the Patoka baseball team on the brink of its first Egyptian-Illini Conference regular-season title since 2004.

    But Beecher City still had runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh - and Baldridge admits he was running on fumes.

    Fortunately for the Warriors, catcher Derek Back picked up his pitcher by picking off an unsuspecting runner at third base, closing out a 5-0 Warriors win.

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  • Bushue strikes out 19 in no-...

    A near-perfect outing by senior phenom Tanner Bushue helped the South Central baseball team finish a flawless run through the Midland Trail Conference regular-season slate Friday, as the Cougars wrapped up their 10th-straight MTC title with an 11-0 victory at Noble.

    Bushue's amazing fall continued, as he hurled his first career no-hitter, coming within one strikeout of tying his own school record of 20 Ks.

    Bushue also came within a hit batsman in the first inning of throwing a perfect game, as he allowed no runs on no hits and no walks.

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  • Lady Eagles place 4th at state

    For the first time in the school district's history, state tournament hardware will be on display in Mulberry Grove's trophy case.

    The Mulberry Grove Junior High School softball team guaranteed that in surprisingly easy fashion Friday, rolling to an 8-0 victory over Springfield Christ the King in its IESA Class A State Tournament opener at Champions Field in Normal.

    The only question that remained after the win was how big of a trophy the Lady Eagles would bring home.

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  • Lady Vandals atop SCC-East

    The Vandalia volleyball team took a major step toward a South Central Conference East Division title Thursday night, beating eight-time defending champion Pana on the Lady Panthers' home floor, 25-16, 16-25, 25-17.

    "Pana was a huge win - huge," said Lady Vandals coach Allison Smith of the team's first victory over the Panthers since 2004. "We came out and just played phenomenal."

    The Lady Vandals picked up a similar victory earlier in the season against another team that's had its number of late, topping archrival Greenville at home.

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  • Vandals bounce back, beat '...

    It was obvious to anyone in attendance Friday night at Mark Greer Field that the Vandalia football team was vulnerable.

    All one had to do was look at the Vandals' sideline, where two-way standout Mitch Whightsil was relegated for the entire game against Hillsboro due to a lingering leg injury suffered in Week 4's heartbreaking loss to Greenville.

    What was not so obvious was exactly how vulnerable the Vandals were.

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  • Earnest takes four gold medals,...

    The final tally: four golds and a silver.

    Vandalia graduate Josie Earnest, who will begin another college bowling season at Vanderbilt University in approximately one month, earned four gold medals at the Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships as a member of Junior Team USA. She also grabbed a silver at the competition, which was held in San Salvador, El Salvador.

    The most important - and last - gold was the one awarded for the overall highest pin count. Earnest's total pin count for the five-day tournament was 5,138.

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  • Comets edge Vandals

    The physical toll was evident.

    Blood seeped from Vandalia senior Jake Etcheson's right arm as the final seconds ticked away Friday night at Mark Greer Field.

    And classmate Mitch Whightsil limped gingerly on his injured ankle as the Vandals progressed to midfield for their postgame huddle.

    The emotional toll following the Vandals' 14-7 loss to Greenville was even more transparent, however, as sophomore Cory Bunker clutched his facemask in despair as he stared at the ground, while his teammates' eyes welled up with tears following Vandalia's first loss of the season.

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  • S.C. gets 3rd, VCHS 5th at...

    Doing anything besides sleeping at 8 o'clock on weekend morning is a pretty unenviable task.

    So playing a 14-1 South Central team at that early hour was obviously a tall order for the Vandalia volleyball team in the Lady Vandals' opening match of their own tournament Saturday.

    Vandalia was up for the challenge early, jumping out to a 13-3 lead in the opening set against the Lady Cougars. But South Central proved to be a morning team as well, recovering from a slow start to pull out a 25-21, 20-25, 15-7 win over the host team.

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