High School Sports
Back in time: Parker was one of Gillespie’s best
Written by the late Andy Easton, Sr. for the Gillespie Area News contributed by the Gillespie Public Library
Gillespie High School has turned out some great athletes in the history of the school. One of the best was Keith Parker who graduated with the class of 1940. Parker was outstanding in football, basketball, and track. In addition, he was a fine musician and singer who participated in band and chorus. Parker won nine varsity letters and was a starter on our 1939 State Basketball team. In 1940, Parker set a new Macoupin County record when he threw the javelin 179 feet. This still stands today as the state discontinued the javelin as an event the following year.
During his three years of varsity football, Gillespie didn’t have a winning record as they finished 10-11-3. In 1937, Gillespie was 2-6. The 1938 team went 2-4-2 and the 1939 team finished 6-1-1. Gillespie defeated Benld in 1938 by a score of 6-0. In the second quarter, Parker intercepted a Joe Chiado pass and returned it 60 yards for the only score of the game. In his senior season of 1939, Parker played in the first night game at Gillespie as Gillespie defeated Nokomis 18-0. Gillespie also pulled off a big upset when they defeated Mt. Olive 12-0 to stop their state-leading winning streak at 24 games. They also dealt Carlinville a bitter blow as they won on turkey day 7-6. This was also a huge upset and threw the conference into a three-way tie between Carlinville, Benld, and Pana. During his three years in high school, Parker played in the same backfield with fullback Vince Pacewic. Both of these men would go on to play professional football after World War II.
Parker attended the University of Missouri and played on their 1941 Sugar Bowl team. In 1942, Missouri won the Big Six Conference. He joined the Marine Corps in 1943 and was sent to the officers training program at Purdue University. He played halfback on the undefeated Purdue team that won the Big Ten Conference with a 10-0 record and tied Notre Dame for the National Championship. Purdue featured many college players who were in the Navy V-12 Program and they included Tony Butkovich, Alex Agase, and Mike Kasap who all played at Illinois. Butkovich was nicknamed “Touchdown Tony” and he was killed in the Pacific Theater. Agase was named All American at Illinois and Purdue. Parker finished training at Purdue and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and served in the Pacific until the end of the war. After the war, he returned to Missouri and graduated in 1946. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts and started five games before a knee injury ended his pro career. The All American Football League was formed in 1949 when the NFL brought in the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts, and the San Francisco 49’s.
Parker began a teaching and coaching career at Granite City High School and in 1952, he started officiating football and basketball games in college and high schools until he hung up his whistle in 1993. His reputation as an outstanding referee was well known in both Missouri and Illinois and in 1967, he worked the State Tournaments in both states. Parker was elected to the Granite City Hall of Fame, Missouri Football Hall of Fame, and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Parker in the son of the late Dr. Edmund H. and Grace Parker. His father was a long time osteopath in Gillespie. He married Clara Tretter and they have three adult children, son James and married daughters, Patricia Hewlett and Jane Franko.
I don’t know if Keith Parker was the best all around athlete to compete out of Gillespie High School but a Dizzy Dean once said when a reporter asked him if he was greatest pitcher in baseball, Dizzy replied, “I don’t know if I’m the best but I’m amongst em”. The same can be said about Keith Parker.
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The Gillespie High School baseball team earned another win on the season on Wednesday, March 27 by steamrolling Nokomis 11 to 3. Daniel Wolber gained the win on the mound for Gillespie, only giving up four hits, three runs, and striking out seven through five innings of work.
The Miners were the first to put a run on the board with a single from Bryce Buhs, Jack Kaylor, and Colin Griffith, each touching home plate.
Schuckenbrock showed up and showed out at the plate, going 3 for 3, with one RBI, a double in the second, and 3 runs scored. In the 9 hole, Sean Haywood went 2 for 2 with one run across and one base on balls. Hohnsbehn, Jesse Berry, Kaylor, Griffith, and Carson Hailstone each had a hit in their winning efforts.
The Miners had a total of 12 hits throughout the game.
The boys fell to New Berlin on Friday, March 29, with a final score of 1 to 3. Runs were hard to come by in this game, as the pitching staff on both sides was stellar. New Berlin put the first run on the board in the top of the first on a wild pitch, with the Miners scoring in the bottom of the first on a passed ball.
New Berlin took and kept the lead in the top of the second. Bixby earned the win on the mound for New Berlin, striking out 13 and walking one. Buhs took a loss for the Gillespie Varsity Miners.
Luke Schuckenbrock and Berry were alone in the hit column for the Miners, collecting two hits apiece.
The Miners will face off against Litchfield on Tuesday.
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The Gillespie High School softball team faced Triad on Wednesday, March 27, taking the win, 11-0. Starting pitcher Emma Gipson had another strong showing in the circle. Gipson rang up 12 Triad batters, giving up only three hits and zero runs over five innings.
Ava Parish went three for three at the plate with a solo homer in the second inning. The bats were hot for Gillespie in this game with Sadie Sholtis going 1-2 with 3 RBIs, Lauren Bertagnolli going 1-3 with two runs scored, Gipson going 3-3 with 3 RBIs and one run scored, Paxton Reid and Macie Wright both going 2-3 at the plate, and Delaney Taylor going 1-2 with two RBIs. Wright also had an RBI in the win.
Delaney Hess holds the loss for Triad. She struck out one batter, giving up nine runs on ten hits. Gillespie had a total of 13 hits in their win.
Gillespie had stellar defense in this game, committing zero errors. Triad’s Green, Hagarty, and Feldma each got a hit off Gipson in their efforts against the powerhouse.
Gillespie earned another win over the Highland Bulldogs on March 28, a final score of 8-4.
Gipson came in clutch at the plate, knocking two over the fence and driving in four runs. Reid joined Gipson with a home run in the top of the third and Sholtis homered over the center field wall in the top of the seventh.
Parish and Bertagnolli went one for four at the plate, Parish scoring one run. Reid stood tall at the plate, going two for four in the game, with one RBI and one run scored. Wright had a strong showing, going two for four with one RBI. In the 9 hole, Taylor showed up and showed out, going two for three.
Gipson gained another win in the circle against Highland. She sat down six Bulldogs with a strikeout, giving up six hits and four runs in seven innings. Kaitlyn Wilson took the loss for the Bulldogs, giving up eight runs on eleven hits, sitting down eight with a strikeout. Mettler, Alex Schultz, Abby Shultz, Wilson, Ritz, and Becker got into the hit column for Highland.
Gillespie picked up two losses on the season this weekend on March 30. They fell 0-2 against Pleasant Plains and 1-2 against the Olympia Spartans.
The Miners were able to grab a win this weekend over the Havana Lady Ducks, with a final score of 6-2. Gipson had a strong showing in the circle, striking out 13 batters. She allowed only two hits and two runs in five innings.
Bertagnolli went 3-3 at the plate with 3 RBIs. Parish went 2 for 3. Gipson and Schuckenbrock went 1 for 2, with Gipson driving in two runs. Wright had one hit in the win with one RBI. Sholtis also had an RBI in the game.
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The Gillespie High School baseball team defeated Auburn 18 to 10 on Tuesday, March 19. Daniel Wolber earned the win on the mound for Gillespie, picking up three strikeouts over two-thirds innings. Bryce Buhs started on the mound for Gillespie, striking out eight and giving up nine walks. Tristen Wargo gave a brief relief appearance on the mound for the Miners.
Runs were not hard to come by in this high-scoring game. Wargo, Luke Schuckenbrock, Jack Kaylor, Bryce Hohnsbehn, Bryce Buhs, Jaydon Baker, and Colin Griffith all produced RBIs at the plate. Berry was hot at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a home run to right field, 5 RBIs, and 2 runs scored. The team collectively produced 13 hits in the win.
The Miners fell to Columbia on Friday, March 22 in a 0-3 game. Kaylor recorded the loss for the Miners on the mound, pitching a total of two innings, allowing three runs and striking out two. Relief came in the form of Brody Shaw, throwing five innings, allowing two hits and no runs, and striking out one batter. Matthews earned the win for Columbia. The two hits of the night for Gillespie came from the bottom of the lineup in the 8 and 9 spots from DH Baker and Griffith. Wargo, Shaw, and Buhs each picked up a walk in the game.
Gillespie faced Riverton on Saturday, March 23, tacking on another win for the season with a final score of 6 to 0. Schuckenbrock pitched six innings for Gillespie, earning the win. Schuckenbrock surrendered five hits, zero runs, and collected six strikeouts.
Berry was dynamic at the plate, going 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, and a base on balls. Wargo, Hohnsbehn, and Griffith tallied two hits apiece in the win. Schuckenbrock, Buhs, and Baker got a hit each on the night. Hailstone and Kaylor also recorded an RBI in the books. Wargo proved to be a menace on the base path with two steals. Bates took the loss on the mound for Riverton.
The Miners also faced Heyworth on Saturday in a nail-biting 3-1 victory. SP Tristen Wargo collected the win on the mound. Wargo gave up five hits and one run, pocketing four strikeouts in the game. Wolber stepped on the mound in a relief appearance.
Hohnsbehn put Gillespie’s first run on the board in the top of the first with a sac fly, which was swiftly matched by Heyworth in the bottom of the first to tie up the game. Runs were hard to come by on both sides of the field until the top of the sixth, when Gillespie scored two – one run coming off a single from Griffith.
Wargo, Buhs, and Griffith recorded two hits each in the winning efforts. Hohnsbehn and Berry put a one in the hit column. Wills took the loss for Heyworth on the mound.
The Miners face Metro-East Lutheran on Monday.
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