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Baseball off to a slow start

Published

13 years ago

April 7, 2012

BenGil Staff

Defend 2011 Regional Champion title

Chase Peterson

Defending regional champions, Gillespie Miners, just completed their fourth week of the regular season. The baseball team is supporting 4 wins and 6 losses on the season as there is more than enough time for a season ending comeback.

The team opened up their season to a pair of short games as they were beaten by ten runs by both Greenville and Jerseyville. On Wednesday, March 14, the Miners lost to Greenville 10-0 as the pitcher for the Comets allowed one hit over four innings.

Gillespie was paced by the production of Billy Werner, who reached base two times. Werner singled in the third and fifth innings.

As the team dropped to 0-1, Jerseyville came to town and gave them another pounding. The Miners wound up on the wrong side of a 10-0 score on Thursday. Chris Halpin led Gillespie’s offensive threat, as he got on base two times in the game. Halpin doubled in the third inning.

Cort Hellmann

Jerseyville couldn’t get anything going so long as Cort Hellmann toed the rubber. Jerseyville managed just two hits off of Hellmann, who allowed one earned run, walked two and struck out two during his four innings of work.

Jerseyville’s Shrimpton kept Gillespie off the scoreboard for all five innings he toed the rubber. He pitched a shutout, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out four. They went up for good in the third, scoring four runs and then piled on five more runs in the top of the fifth to give the Miners their second loss.

The Miner’s, 0-2 now, bounced back on their first away game in Morrisonville. Stewart tossed a shutout to carry Gillespie to an 8-0 victory over Morrisonville in seven innings. He handled Morrisonville’s lineup with ease, racking up 15 strikeouts and giving up just two hits.

Gillespie blew out Morrisonville thanks to 10 hits, including four extra base hits. Gillespie scored three runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Cort Hellmann, a steal of home by Billy Werner, and an RBI double by Chase Peterson.

Gillespie was sparked by Jake Fredericks and Peterson, who teamed up for four hits and two RBIs. The team stayed on top until the final out after taking the lead in the third, scoring one run on a groundout by Fredericks.

The single win was not enough motivation for the Miners as the team went on to get outmuscled 11-1 by Auburn, who they beat for the regional championship in the 2011 season. Chris Halpin led Gillespie’s offensive threat, as he got on base two times in the game while Auburn scored four runs in the first inning to build an early lead.

Butler looked sharp on the rubber. Gillespie managed just one hit off of the Auburn’s pitcher, who allowed no earned runs, walked two and struck out eight during his five innings of work.

Auburn easily handled Gillespie pitching as six hitters combined for 12 hits, 14 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Gillespie’s lone run of the ballgame came in the first inning. Auburn piled on three more runs in the bottom of the third to give the Miners their third loss of the season.

Now at 1-3, the Miners took on the Mt. Olive Wildcats. Gillespie continued to pile up the runs on Thursday, March 22 scoring four runs in the seventh inning, on the way to a 12-2 landslide win over Mt. Olive.

Gillespie scored six runs in the fourth on a RBI single by Billy Werner, a RBI single by Joe Janssen, a RBI double by Zack Stewart, and a RBI single by Chase Peterson. Janssen racked up two RBIs on two hits for Gillespie.

Jake Fredericks recorded the win for Gillespie. He allowed two runs over six innings as he struck out five, walked four and surrendered five hits.

Brady Anderson

After walloping the Wildcats, the Miners gave the same treat to Bunker Hill as Stewart lead Gillespie to 8-0 victory thanks to 11 strikeouts. He baffled Bunker Hill as he gave up just four hits over seven shutout innings.

Everything was working at the plate for the Gillespie in the fifth. Gillespie’s bats caught fire leading to five runs. Chris Halpin racked up two RBIs on two hits for Gillespie. Halpin singled in the first and fifth innings.

Being one game away from 500 and with a two game winning streak pushing them forward, the Miners failed to take advantage of Zack Stewart’s effort at the plate as they lost 12-9 to Nokomis.

Stewart rocked Nokomis with two home runs as he went 2-3 in the game with two RBIs and three runs scored. Both squads had things going at the plate, tallying 21 runs and 15 hits, including five extra base hits.

Nokomis got its bats going early, scoring six runs in the first inning to pull ahead of Gillespie. Fox baffled Gillespie, striking out 11 batters. Nokomis’ pitcher allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks over six innings.

Six runs in the top of the sixth helped Gillespie close its deficit to 9-8. A two-run double by Derrick Engelke, a walk by Michael Bussmann, a RBI single by Chris Halpin, and a sacrifice fly by Michael Henderson sparked Gillespie’s rally. Cort Hellmann grounded out to end the Gillespie threat.

Nokomis added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. After pushing across one run in the top of the seventh, Gillespie faced just a 12-9 deficit. A home run by Stewart gave Gillespie life, but the remaining three runs were out of sight for the team as they dropped to 3-4 on the season.

Gillespie lost 6-2 in seven innings on Friday, March 30, despite outhitting Litchfield five to four. Joe Janssen got a hit in each of his three at bats. Janssen singled in the second, fourth, and sixth innings.

Brady Anderson gave Litchfield fits on the mound. Anderson held Litchfield hitless over two innings, allowed no earned runs, walked one and struck out four, but Law baffled Gillespie, striking out nine batters. Litchfield’s pitcher allowed two earned runs, five hits and three walks over seven innings.

Litchfield jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to drop the Miners down to 3-5.

The last victory for the Miners came over Lebanon as Chris Halpin had a good game at the plate to help Gillespie to a 6-1 victory in seven innings over Lebanon on Saturday. He had a strong game at the plate as he went 2-4, driving in one and scoring two runs.

Halpin singled in the first inning and tripled in the second inning. Zack Stewart handled Lebanon’s lineup with ease, racking up nine strikeouts, allowing no earned runs, two hits and three walks over six innings.

Gillespie went up for good in the first, scoring one run on a sacrifice fly by Billy Werner. They piled on two more runs in the bottom of the second. A passed ball scored Cort Hellmann to start the scoring in the inning. That was followed up by Halpin’s triple, bringing home Derrick Engelke.

Gillespie built upon its lead with three runs in the fourth. A single by Michael Henderson ignited the offense, plating Brady Anderson. That was followed up by that scored Halpin. Lebanon scored its only run of the game on an error in the sixth inning

The Miners now stand 4-6 on the season with one tie to North Mac due to lighting. The team will take the field next when they travel to Wood River to take on the Oilers on Monday, April 9.

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Featured

Gillespie man injured in DUI accident

Published

9 years ago

October 16, 2015

BenGil Staff

Genisio's Ford Mustang in the City of Gillespie's impound lot Tuesday morning.

A Gillespie man was taken to a local hospital after suffering injuries following a single-vehicle accident that occurred Sunday morning, October 11, after he drove off the roadway and into a deep ditch near the intersection of Route 16 and Charles Street in Gillespie.

Gillespie Police Chief Jared DePoppe reported that the police department was dispatched to the scene of the accident shortly before 3 a.m. Officers arrived to find Jonathan Genisio, 29, of Gillespie as the driver and only occupant inside the Ford Mustang vehicle.

Genisio was arrested, but give a notice to appear in court so he could seek medical treatment. He was charged with six different counts in addition to having his vehicle impounded. His charges include driving under the influence of alcohol, no insurance, improper lane usage, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, failure to notify SOS of an address change and failure to wear a seat belt.

At the time of publication on Thursday evening, the vehicle was recovered from impound and Genisio was discharged from the hospital. The extent of his injuries was unable to be released by medical personnel.

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Community News

Gillespie council discusses budget and meeting process

Published

9 years ago

August 1, 2015

BenGil Staff

Treasurer Dan Fisher (right) addresses the council.

The treasurer for the City of Gillespie had a lot to say about how city officials handle their subcommittees and how city funds are spent during the city’s committee meeting held Monday evening, July 27.

Dan Fisher, the elected treasurer for Gillespie, spoke to the council for over 30 minutes about how bills are paid and more importantly, how purchases are appropriated for and planned. During the city’s board meeting held earlier this month, Fisher suggested the council move their meeting dates to coincide with how the bills are paid.

He explained that many council members bring up issues or have questions about certain bills during the council meetings, but the questions are left to be answered by the city clerk who isn’t present at the board meetings. In addition to dragging out the meetings, Fisher said the questions should be taken care of before the meeting is held.

“We need to have a standardized process on how we buy things,” Fisher told the council Monday evening. “We need to spend more time on appropriating.”

We need to have a standardized process on how we buy things

Fisher distributed a “Budget Basics” packet to board members during the committee meeting held Monday and said the council should consider implementing a purchase order system to account for all purchases. “That way when the bills come in, we can match the form up with it and everyone knows what the purchase was for and what account it comes out of,” he clarified.

Council members agreed with what Fisher had to say to them. “We need to spend a lot of time when do our appropriation and it’s going to take a lot of time from everyone, including myself,” he continued. “We need to find a way to be collective in how we do things.”

Fisher closed by adding that the council also takes too long at their regular city council meetings, which are held on the second Monday of each month. Speaking of the city’s July meeting that lasted nearly 3 hours, Fisher said the council needs to be much more “business-like”.

“We take too long at our meetings,” he closed. “It’s been proven that people lose focus after 90 minutes and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get a meeting done in 1 hour and 15 minutes.”

City clerk Frances Smith spoke up after Fisher referred to the council’s last meeting. She prefaced her statement by saying she didn’t intend to saying anything, but continued by saying that the council’s July 13^th meeting took her three days to transcribe. “It makes the clerk’s job hard – whoever it is,” she said. “There is a lot of side conversations and it’s very hard to hear on the tape.”

Ash Street Project

Alderman Steve Kluthe informed the board that he received the bid specifications back for the Ash Street Project which allows the council to advertise the specs to get an idea how much drainage project will cost.

Kluthe said the bid specifications cover everything including equal opportunity employer and prevailing wage information, but said the project could probably be handled by a local contractor. The project includes installing a culvert that will transfer the water to Cherry Street.

The council hopes the completed project will then alleviate the water that currently gets backed up north of Ash Street. “They are going to put a culvert underneath Ash Street to the north and grade the ground on the north side so the water flows to the culvert and down to the south end where there is a storm drain,” Kluthe explained.

TIF District

We should stretch the money out and begin to reinvest the money into community development

Fisher informed the council that the tax bills for the TIF district went out and the city can expect to receive close to $60,000. He reminded the council that even though the city made a big payment to United Community Bank last year in excess of $90,000, there will still be a payment made to UCB for their portion paid into the TIF until the TIF expires, which Fisher said is 12-14 more years.

After the city pays UCB, Fisher said the council can expect to still have somewhere north of $40,000 remaining each year. “I would like us to start to look at other projects that meet the TIF criteria that we could spend $20-$30,000 per year,” Fisher explained. “Long-range projects – projects that could last 10-12 years. We should stretch the money out and begin to reinvest the money into community development.”

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