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Today's Sports

  • Lady Vandals sweep Greenville in...

    Maybe it was the pink uniforms. Maybe it was the raucous throng of supporters who made the trip down I-70 to support them.

    Or it could have simply been the fact that the Vandalia volleyball team wanted very badly to complete a regular-season sweep against archrival Greenville Thursday.

    Whatever the source of inspiration, the Lady Vandals came up with an effort worthy of the cause they were playing for in their inaugural "Volley for the Cure" breast cancer awareness match against the Lady Comets, rolling to a surprisingly easy 25-14, 25-13 victory on the road.

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  • Bushue fans 19, Cougars with...

    Tanner Bushue's fall season can be summed up in one word - dominating.

    And thanks in large part to the senior flamethrower's latest masterpiece - a 19-strikeout, three-hit shutout Monday night at North Clay - the South Central baseball program's standing in the Midland Trail Conference can continue being described with that adjective as well.

    With a 6-0 win over the second-seeded Cardinals, the top-seeded Cougars (18-3-1) won their 10th straight MTC Tournament championship. They've won at least a share of the league's regular season 10 years in a row as well.

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  • 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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The Leader Union is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Vandalia, Il, and the surrounding area.