School Sports
Sports Roundup – Sept. 9, 2013
Several volleyball teams were in tournament action on Saturday.
At the Altamont Tournament, Vandalia defeated South Central, 27-25, 25-23, in the third-place game.
At the Mattoon Invite, Gabi Moore was named all-tournament, and St. Elmo finished 1-4.
Last Friday night, the Vandalia football team was defeated by Carlinville, 46-0.
Last Friday afternoon, the Brownstown/St. Elmo baseball team defeated Odin, 9-7.
Read MoreVandals rocked by Carlinville
CARLINVILLE – The Cavaliers are among the early favorites to win the South Central Conference, and showed why on Friday night, shutting out the Vandals, 46-0.
Carlinville (2-0) went up 38-0 by halftime, though Vandalia (0-2) did have several promising drives that ended prematurely.
Injuries again plagued the team, as senior Dalton Smith was knocked out of the game with a concussion on the opening drive, leaving the primary running and kicking duties to sophomore Bobby Bradley, who had a strong game in both departments.
Read MoreSpencer Patton added to Class AAA roster for playoffs
South Central High School graduate Spencer Patton has earned another promotion in the Kansas City Royals minor league system.
Patton, a relief pitcher who began the season in Class A, has joined the Class AAA Omaha Storm Chasers of the Pacific Coast League for their playoff run.
Omaha finished the season at 70-74, but earned the American Conference North Division championships to earn its third straight division title.
The Storm Chasers lead Oklahoma City, 2-0, after the first two games of the best-of-five series. Patton has yet to pitch.
Read MoreSports Roundup – Sept. 6, 2013
Reported results of Thursday's games involving area teams.
In Vandalia, the volleyball team struggled in an 18-25, 9-25 loss to Roxana, and the soccer team fell, 6-0, at Effingham.
St. Elmo/Brownstown defeated South Central, 25-18, 25-19, in volleyball action, and the South Central baseball team beat Beecher City, 11-1.
Read MoreSouth Central graduate retires from pro baseball
According to a report from The Times-Union, South Central High School graduate Tanner Bushue has retired from professional baseball.
Bushue, a 2009 graduate and second-round pick of the Houston Astros in that year's Major League Baseball draft, was 3-4 on the season, with a 5.14 earned-run average. He walked 13 and struck out 40 in 49 innings pitched for the Class A Short-Season Tri-City ValleyCats.
Read MoreSports Roundup – Sept. 5, 2013
Recent sports scores from area teams.
Wednesday, Sept. 4
In baseball, Brownstown/St. Elmo beat Mulberry Grove, 16-12, and Patoka defeated Noble/West Richland.
Tuesday, Sept. 3
In volleyball, Ramsey lost at Morrisonville, 22-25, 20-25.
Read MoreTwo Vandals out for Friday’s game at Carlinville
GILLESPIE – The Vandals will be without two players for this Friday’s game against Carlinville.
Juniors quarterback Collin Nestleroad and receiver Codie Jackson will both miss the game due to concussions suffered during last Friday’s season-opening 46-12 loss at Gillespie.
Neither player played in the second half of that game, and Nestleroad was 2-4 passing for 15 yards and his first career touchdown before leaving the game.
Read MoreVandals win first soccer game since 2010
VANDALIA – The Vandals soccer team earned its first win since Sept. 16, 2010, beating Southwestern, 7-3, on Tuesday afternoon, to end a 44-match winless streak.
“I’m happy for the kids, because they deserved that win,” said coach Walt Kinney, whose team last defeated Christ Rock Our Lutheran when this season's seniors were freshmen. “(Southwestern) scored very early, so when we realized we were in a game, we used our strength and aggressiveness to put some goals in.”
Read MoreVandals allow mistakes to pile up in loss
GILLESPIE – The Miners took advantage of Vandalia mistakes on three straight possessions in the second quarter to take a 32-point halftime lead on the way to a 46-12 season-opening win last Friday night.
Following a touchdown, the Miners intercepted a pass and turned it into a touchdown with 4:17 left in the first half, and seconds later followed by recovering a squib kickoff and scoring 43 seconds later.
Read MoreStout encouraged by second half play
GILLESPIE – While the glaring improvement going forward for the Vandals will be to not allow teams to score on several straight possessions, there were smaller improvements that were made during last Friday’s season-opening loss.
And while some of the second half didn’t feature starters from either team, coach John Stout said there were some areas that were improved in the final two quarters while both teams’ starters were still on the field.
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