High School Sports
Both baseball and softball contending for regional championships
Nick Wyatt (right) congratulations Gavin Call (left) after crossing the plate for the baseball team. (Archived photo)
UPDATE: Both the baseball and softball regional championship games slated for Saturday morning have been rained out. They both will be played on Monday, May 22 at 4:30 p.m. in the locations previously listed.
The Gillespie High School baseball and softball teams are regional championship bound with both games scheduled at different locations on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. although weather forecasts predict looming rain. Baseball will play at Citizens Park in Belleville (112 Barney Elser Drive) on the Whitney Herzog Field while softball will play at their home diamond behind Ben-Gil Elementary School.
BASEBALL
The baseball team (17-8) was seeded fourth in the Belleville Althoff Catholic Regional after finishing the regular season with 16 wins and 8 losses. Now the team will face Alton Marquette in the championship bout after Joey Carter’s bat sealed the fate of the Miners with a thrilling walk-off hit in the regional semi-final game against East Alton-Wood River.
Despite leading 6-1 after the second inning, the Oilers scored four runs in the third and another four runs in the fifth inning to take a 9-6 lead after the fifth inning. Gillespie eventually answered those eight runs in the sixth inning tying the game at 9 runs after Daniel Dobrino’s single crossed two runs. The team’s momentum spilled over to the seventh inning when Joey Carter’s RBI walk-off single sent the Miners into the regional championship with a 10-9 victory.
Gillespie accumulated 13 hits in the game with Nick Jarman, Tate Wargo, Dobrino (two RBIs), Carter and Rylee Bernot (two RBIs) each collecting multiple hits. Nick Wyatt also posted two RBIs for the team.
Bernot started the pitching duties for the Miners tossing four and one-third innings before being relieved by Wargo after surrendering eight runs. Wargo earned the win on the mound pitching two and two-thirds innings giving up one run, four hits and striking out one. Wargo and Bernot are expected to throw again on Saturday.
SOFTBALL
The Miners softball team (23-6) will host Hillsboro on Saturday after the number six seed beat Litchfield 5-1 to advance. Gillespie is ranked number one in the regional, has won eight of their last nine games, and ousted Carlinville 3-0 on Tuesday evening to punch their ticket to the regional championship.
Gillespie beat the Cavaliers with Addison Bryant on the mound who held Carlinville to only one hit over seven innings of play. Bryant struck out 12 batters and didn’t surrender any walks in the shutout victory.
The Miners collected five hits in the semi-final victory with Rylee Jarman having a two-hit afternoon. Jarman singled twice – once in the first inning when the Miners scored their first run and again in the sixth inning when Gillespie scored their other two runs. Megan Bray, Rylee Sarti and Mackenzie Kasarda also picked up hits against the Cavaliers.
Gillespie faced Hillsboro earlier this month on May 10 and beat the Hilltoppers 1-0. The pitching duel was a contentious battle with both teams combining for only four hits in the seven-inning battle. The Miners picked up three hits in that game, two from Jarman and one from Kasarda, and only one run which came in the second inning when Mackenzie Mix scored on an infield error.
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Gillespie High School will honor the high school baseball team before the team’s banquet on Wednesday, June 14 with a parade through downtown.
The parade will start at the school at 5:30 p.m. and proceed through downtown Gillespie before heading back to the school so the team can conclude their season with a team-only banquet.
The school invites everyone to come downtown to recognize the team and celebrate this year’s accomplishments. The team ended their season with an overall 32-1 record and won 32 straight wins, a new school record.
The team also won their respective conference and regional.
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Eight athletes of Gillespie High School were named to the 2023 All-South Central Conference softball rosters that were released on Thursday.
Miners being named to the all-conference rosters included Emma Gipson, Regan Bussmann, and Eve Kaduk as first-team; Ava Parish, Megan Rife, Macie Wright, and Sadie Sholtis as second-team; and Delaney Taylor as third-team.
Gillespie’s season ended in the regional semi-final with an overall 25-4 record and 9-0 in the conference. The team loses three seniors including infielder Regan Bussmann, outfielder Eve Kaduk, and outfielder Megan Rife.
The entire list of honorees is below.
First team
- Emma Gipson (Gillespie, junior, pitcher)
- Hannah Gibson (Carlinville, sophomore, pitcher)
- Abby Hendricks (North Mac, junior, catcher)
- Isabella Tiburzi (Carlinville, sophomore, infielder)
- Shelby Ashcraft (Pana, sophomore, infielder)
- Ele Feldmann (Staunton, sophomore, infielder)
- Regan Bussmann (Gillespie, senior, infielder)
- Eve Kaduk (Gillespie, senior, outfielder)
- Olivia Kunz (Carlinville, junior, outfielder)
- Hallie Lomelino (North Mac, junior, outfielder)
- Kylie Lucykow (Staunton, junior, outfielder)
- Anika Camp (Hillsboro, sophomore, utility)
Second team
- Josie Patterson (North Mac, senior, pitcher)
- Grace Strohbeck (Southwestern, sophomore, pitcher)
- Addison Ruyle (Carlinville, sophomore, catcher)
- Makenah Dugan (Carlinville, sophomore, infielder)
- Kennedy Bowker (Pana, freshman, infielder)
- Ava Parish (Gillespie, freshman, infielder)
- Taylor Nolan (Staunton, junior, infielder)
- Gracie Philpot (Vandalia, senior, infielder)
- Megan Rife (Gillespie, senior, outfielder)
- Macie Wright (Gillespie, sophomore, outfielder)
- Maddy Fenstermaker (Southwestern, sophomore, outfielder)
- Sam Anderson (Staunton, sophomore, outfielder)
- Maddie Lupton (Vandalia, sophomore, outfielder)
- Sydney Valdes (Southwestern, sophomore, utility)
- Sadie Sholtis (Gillespie, freshman, utility)
Third team
- Shelby Ashcraft (Pana, sophomore, pitcher)
- Gracie Philpot (Vandalia, senior, pitcher)
- Hallie Gibson (Carlinville, freshman, pitcher)
- Delaney Taylor (Gillespie, sophomore, catcher)
- Bella Roach (Litchfield, junior, catcher)
- Hannah Potthast (Greenville, senior, infielder)
- Braley Wiser (Carlinville, sophomore, infielder)
- Taylor Keirs (North Mac, sophomore, infielder)
- Vivian Zurheide (Southwestern, freshman, infielder)
- Korryn Keehner (Staunton, sophomore, infielder)
- Delaney Kopp (Vandalia, senior, infielder)
- Karly Tipps (Carlinville, junior, outfielder)
- Haylee Clark (Greenville, freshman, outfielder)
- Lilly Troeckler (Staunton, sophomore, outfielder)
- Lauren Johnson (Vandalia, freshman, outfielder)
- Anna Osbourne (Vandalia, senior, utility)
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The top 59 boys’ and girls’ basketball seniors from South Central Illinois played in the 19th Annual Carlinville Rotary Club All-Star Basketball Classic on Sunday, March 26 in Carlinville which was presented by Prairie Farms Diary and CNB Bank & Trust.
Representing Gillespie High School among the athletes on the West teams included Emily Schoen, Jenna Clark, Kam Link, and Bryan Jubelt. Clark posted 2 points in the girls’ contest while Link posted 15 and Jubelt helped with 5 points in the boys’ game. Link also put on a show in the dunk contest scoring 48 out of the possible 50 points to win first place.
The Girls East beat the West 68-51 behind 14 points from MVP Layne Rupert of Hillsboro. The 3-point shootout was won by Paige Henson of Carrollton in a corner shootoff with Natalie Engelman of Nokomis. Staunton coach Corrie Allan was selected as the Rotary Club’s Girls’ Coach of the Year.
Devon Peebles of Pana took MVP honors in the boys’ Carlinville Rotary Club All-Star Basketball Classic. Peebles scored 25 points to lead the East to a 108-97 win over the West. Elijah Aumann of Nokomis won the 3-point contest hitting 10 treys and edging out Ryan Eisenbarth of Nokomis, Peebles and Jubelt of Gillespie who all had 9. In the Slam Dunk contest, Link scored 48 out of the possible 50 points for his routine with Peebles finishing second with a score of 41. Nokomis coach Dan DeWerff was named the Rotary Club’s Boys’ Coach of the Year.
With the East winning both the girls and boys match-ups this year, the all-time series record for boys moves to 12-7 with the West holding the lead and the girls record extends to 13-5 with the East holding strong.
The All-Star Classic serves as a fundraiser for the Carlinville Rotary Club who help with community projects throughout the year.
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