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Kelcie Matesa – From the SCC to the A10

Published

14 years ago

March 22, 2011

Admin

Not since Corrie Allan had a pitcher for GHS dominated the competition like Kelcie Matesa did during her 4 year career with the Miners. If there was a pitching record or softball award in the state of Illinois, Kelcie Matesa

Still a flame thrower

probably had it. While at Gillespie High School, she broke the IHSA career record for strikeouts (2008) with 1,501, was named to the 2008 Chicago Tribune All-State first team, earned a spot on the 2008 Illinois Coaches Associated All-State first team, was a two-time State Journal Register Softball Player of the Year, was a two-time Alton Telgegraph Player of the Year, was a four-time SCC All-Conference Selection, was a four-time Alton Telegraph All-Aream First Team selection, was a three-time State Journal Register All Area pick, and led her team to two SCC conference championships, 4 regional titles, and a 94-22 record. After a spectacular high school career, Matesa left Gillespie for a softball scholarship at St. Louis University (SLU).

The glory days at GHS

During her freshman season at SLU, Matesa continued her domination on the mound. She was an A-10 All Rookie Selection, had a team high strikeouts (122), which already ranked her 10th on SLU’s all-time career strikeout list, led the Billiken pitching staff with a 3.94 ERA with 8 victories in 156.1 innings pitched with 25 starts.

And her sophomore season ended with just as much success. She led the team with 162 strikeouts which placed her 5th among A-10 pitchers, was A-10 pitcher of the week, and had an era of 2.58 with 14 wins in 21 starts that included 14 complete games and 4 shutouts while holding opposing hitters to a .216 batting average.

Before boarding her plane for a 5 game tournament in Riverside, California, Kelcie answered a few questions for the BenGil Post about her junior season at SLU.

1) What’s this season look like for you? At the time of printing, SLU is currently 15-10, while Kelcie is 5-2 with 59 strikeouts and a 3.17 era.

I think that the season looks very promising. We are off to a great start with our new coaching staff. I think that the new changes will bring great things and add to a successful season. We are off to a great start and still have a long way to go!

2) What are the big games this year?

I think that our big games this year would have to be against Fordham and UMASS, both of which are in our Conference and I believe at least one of them if not both were in the top 25 teams in the country last year.

3) What games would you recommend your fans in Gillespie and Benld go to this year? Any close ones other than SLU?

I would say that the closest games that fans from home would want to travel to would be to Edwardsville when we play SIUE (April 26th, 3:00). Our other games that are away are pretty good trips considering that our conference is made up of teams from the East coast. Another semi-close game would be SIUC (On March 30th at 3:00).

4) What’s the biggest difference between high school and college softball?

I would have to say that there are three huge differences in college ball than in high school ball for me. The competition is so much better because every team that you play has the best of the best. Traveling/managing your school work has such an impact on a student athlete. Since we are in the A-10 Conference we have to travel out to the East Coast to play our games, which takes us out of our classes most Thursdays and Fridays. You really have to learn to manage your time between your studies and your sport. The last

Now in her junior season at SLU

thing that was a huge change for me was the weightlifting program that I started when I got to college. I know that in high school we would sometimes lift in P.E. but that was always hit and miss. In college we lift three days a week and condition two days a week in the off-season and during the season we lift two days a week when we are in town.

5) If you had to recommend two things high school girls hoping to play college softball should focus on, what would they be?

I think that the two biggest things that they need to focus on would have to be weights/conditioning and just getting noticed by college coaches. If you want to play at the college level you need to be on a team that goes to the top tournaments where there are college coaches in the stands. College coaches do not waste their time going to high school games or the low-key tournaments in the summer. You will see them at the National Qualifiers and the Exposure Tournaments that are held around the country. If you are serious about playing at the next level you really need to get on a team where everyone else has the same goal; you are not longer just playing to have fun. My college coach never came to a high school game of mine and he only saw me play in the summer. As far as weights, I regret not hitting them harder in high school, because I got a huge shock when I got to college. Getting stronger and faster can only help you in the end!

6) What are your plans after college? What’s your college major?

I am a Special Education Major with a concentration in Elementary Education. I will be certified to teach Special Education K-12 and Elementary Ed. 1-6. My goal is to get a teaching job that allows me to coach softball or continue coaching the select team that I started coaching this past Fall. I also plan to go back to school and get my Master’s in Education.

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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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