As heard on Genuine Country 94.3 WMKR...

The Central A&M baseball team snapped a five-game losing streak thanks to a walk-off 4-3 win at home to Meridian on Tuesday.  The Raiders recovered in the seventh inning from their only deficit of the game thanks in large part to fielding errors from the away side. 

The teams traded runs across the first four innings as the teams were level at two apiece entering the sixth.  In that inning, Meridian pulled ahead when Grady Stock - who himself had begun pitching in relief in the previous half-inning - singled home Ted Jones.  It was his second RBI, having also driven in the tying run in the fourth. 

Central A&M entered the bottom of the seventh needing to score to stay alive.  With Marshall Minott at second, Kadyn Higgins reached on an error.  Having attempted a steal on that play, Minott saw an opportunity to careen home and reached safely to tie the game. 

With two outs in the inning, Higgins made his own steal attempt of third and met a throw which went astray into the outfield.  This afforded him time to score the winning run, sparking jubilant scenes from the Raider dugout. 

Minott put together three hits - of which two were doubles - and scored three runs, making him an easy choice for Seitz Funeral Homes Player of the Game.  Rhett McLain started the game and gave up two earned runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in six innings of work.  As the seventh-inning relief pitcher, Eli Ferguson received the win and did not concede a hit in his one inning despite allowing a runner to reach third through a walk, passed ball, and wild pitch. 

For Meridian, Wyatt Martin pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up an earned run on six hits and five walks with two strikeouts. 

Central A&M improves to 5-8 overall and picks up its first conference win in four attempts on the season.  The side travels to Warrensburg-Latham for another Central Illinois Conference matchup next.  Meridian drops to 7-9 and has managed just one win in their last nine.  They travel to Clinton for their next game. 

Jacksonville put up 3 runs in the first inning, and that was all they needed as they picked up an 11-1 baseball win in Taylorville on Monday night. Joe Reif, of the Crimsons, went 3-3 with 3 base hits and a couple walks in the win. AJ Charpentier also had several base hits and picked up the win, while giving up no hits, striking out one while walking two and hitting one batter.

The Tornadoes finally broke into the hit column when Max Grieme and Fallon Turner got back-to-back base hits off Nolan Peters who came in to relieve Charpentier in the 4th. The Tornadoes would break into the run column but the Crimsons would add a run again in the 6th and Taylorville would go down in order in the 6th with 3 fly outs to end the game 11-1 in 6 innings. 

                        1   2     3    4    5     6     7    F  
Jacksonville    3   3    2    2    0     1      X   11
Taylorville      0   0    0     1    0     0      X   1


Tornadoes will take on Mattoon in a two game set starting Tuesday evening for a home and home series.  Fallon Turner was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the Game for his hit, and for an acrobatic diving catch made out in left field. 

An exciting game took place tonight as a double header between the Taylorville Tornadoes resulted in a loss for the purple and gold. 

The first game resulted in a 6-4 loss for Taylorville. Taylorville started off down by 2, and then did eventually make it past Charleston. However, by the end of that game, Charelston closed their losing ratio, going from 5-6 to 6-6.

This broke Taylorville's 7 game winning streak. At the beginning of tonights game, Taylorville sat in 2nd in the Appollo Conference whereas Charelston sat in third for the conference standings.

After game 1, Taylorville and Charelston swapped positions leaving the Tornadoes in 3rd, with Charleston taking the 2nd spot in the conference. By the end of game 2 , the Tornadoes ended in 3rd and Charelston took the top position. 

Also, In Game 2, The Tornadoes showed a strong and confident lead. The bottom of the 7th came with a tied 5-5 game pushing them into an 8th inning. Charelston also won game 2 with an 7-5 lead. Moving them to 1st in the conference.

The Player of the Game for Game 1 was Grace Rogers.

Game 2's Player of the Game was Carsen Corzine.

Kalia Friese went 2-3 with two runs scored and combined with Kendra Hayes to strike out 3, and walk none, as the Windsor-Stewart-Strasburg Hatchets got past the Central A&M Raiders on Wednesday evening in Moweaqua as they picked up a 7-6 win. 

The Hatchets broke through in the second inning after Makenna Corrie hit a towering fly ball that hit the top of the fence line and ricocheted back in play.  The very next play Kalia Friese hit one out to the same location that Shelby Younker struggled to corral, which scorred Corrie.  A base hit from Clarissa Johnson scored Friese to give the Hatchets a 2-0 lead.  The Hatchets would add another run in the third on a weird place where Mya Friese would steal home on a wild sequence. 

The Raiders would lead off the first three innings with base hits but wouldn't be able to capitalize until that third inning when Callie Robertson and Olivia Kerby would have back to back base hits.  Ryleigh Hazelwonder would get the Raiders on the board with a bases clearing double and Kayle McPeak would add on with a base hit of her own.  Wesleigh Cochran would add another base hit and Brooklyn Jackson would get her home with a double and the Raiders would stand on top with a 5-3 lead at the end of 3 as they would send 9 to the plate. 

Their lead would be short lived however, as the Hatchets would respond with four of their own in the fourth with sending 8 of their own to the plate with a walk to Makenna Corrie, a base hit to Friese, a Fielders choice to Arora Rincker, followed by a walk to Clarissa Johnson, and a base hit to Cameron Carey plated four and the Hatchets would jump back up by two with a 7-5 lead going into the bottom of the 4th. 

The Raiders would cut the lead to one, with a double from Kayle McPeak and a base hit from Kylee Sneerly. Aggressiveness on the base paths would cut down Sneerly as a double play on Cochran's line drive to the Hatchet's Clarissa Johnson and a strike out to Clarissa Johnson ended the rally for the Raiders. 

The Raiders would get a triple from Callie Robertson in the sixth with only one out, but Olivia Kerby would line out to first, and Shelby Younker would strike out to end the inning and the Raiders wouldn't be able to capitalize in the seventh. 

The Raiders fall to 7-8 and the Hatchets improve to 10-4.  Central A&M will face Clinton on the road on Friday evening. Kayla McPeek was named the Seitz Funeral Home Player of the Game. 

The Central A&M baseball team fell behind in the final inning to lose at home to Pana 4-3 on a windy Monday afternoon.  They came within one base of drawing level thereafter but could not bring the run home. 

The second inning provided most of the runs.  For Pana, it came via an RBI-single from Brylan Miller.  The Raiders responded with three of their own, thanks in large part to beginning the inning with two singles, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk.  

Miller also pitched the complete game for Pana.  He and A&M's starter Zachary Snow pitched solidly before and after that.  At one point, across the two teams, 12 straight batters were dismissed. 

Pana added one more run in the fifth, with Madyx Angel singling home Parker Moore.  Still down a run in the seventh, the only two hitters ahead of them in the order made the difference.

An error with two runners in scoring position allowed Cash Lynch to score the tying run.  With Easton Malisia at third and Angel at first, the latter ran for second before a pitch was even thrown.  As Marshall Minott - pitching in relief for A&M - threw for second, Malisia broke for home.  Both reached safely, putting the Panthers ahead. 

Now with his team requiring a run, Minott looked to do his part.  He drew a walk before stealing twice.  However, Rhett McLain struck out after a long at-bat to see the game come to an end. 

Zachary Snow started the game for the home side.  He threw five innings, giving up two runs on four hits, three walks, and one hit batter while striking out six.  He also had an RBI-single and a stolen base at the plate to cement a performance earning him the title of Seitz Funeral Homes Player of the Game. 

Pitching for Pana, Brylan Miller conceded three earned runs through six hits and three walks along with hitting two batters with pitches.  He amassed eight strikeouts, with seven of them coming in the final four innings.  With respect to offensive support, his teammates stole twelve bases in the game.  Moore and Angel supplied four each. 

With the defeat, Central A&M now is at 4-5 overall and must next travel to Shelbyville, a team they've not beaten since 2018.  For Pana, they are now at 7-5 and continue their roadtrip in Gillespie. 

Carsen Corzine struck out 9 and went the distance, as the Taylorville Tornadoes beat the Warrensburg Lathom Cardinals 6-0 in Taylorville on Monday night in a non-conference matchup. The Tornadoes got the scoring early as they put up two runs in the first inning courtesy of a base hit from Peyton DeMichael and Kenzley Heimsness.  Hope Kietzman helped score a run thanks a sacrifice, and the Tornadoes took a 2-0 lead into the second inning. 

The Cardinals got a runner to 3rd, in four seperate innings, but could not scrape across a run.  The Tornadoes finally broke the game open in the fifthth as they sent 8 to the plate and pushed four runs across the plate including four hits including a huge double from DeMichael and a base hit from Hope Kietzman that saw her standing at second after a wild throw to first to try to nail Carsen Corzine who scored on the play. The Cardinals finally got out of the inning but not before they found themselves down 6-0.

The game ended on a wild sequence, when a double from Krissy Wilber on a hot shot line drive down the third base, saw Wilber streak from first to second.  She crossed second and went to third but realized she wasn't going to make it--turned around and headed back to second but a great heads up throw from Hope Kietzman got her picked off second to end the game. 

Taylorville improves to 8-2.  Warrensburg Latham falls to 7-8.  Carsen Corzine was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the Game. 

Lincoln Land Community College has named Ben Kramer as the new head coach of the Loggers men’s basketball program.

Kramer steps into the position after serving 15 seasons as an assistant coach with the program.

LLCC officials say Kramer is well-positioned to lead the program because of his familiarity with the team’s culture, expectations, and student-athlete development model. They point to his leadership experience and long-term commitment to the program as key reasons for the hire.

A Springfield native, Kramer brings nearly two decades of coaching experience to the role. Before joining LLCC, he served as an assistant coach at Champaign Central High School, University High School in Urbana, and Calvary Academy in Springfield. He has also worked under multiple head coaches at LLCC, helping maintain a competitive, student-focused program.

Kramer’s coaching background also includes football, where he has served as a freshman and junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant at Springfield High School.

In addition to coaching, Kramer holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Illinois Springfield, along with bachelor’s degrees in history and secondary education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

He is a graduate of Springfield High School and currently works there as a college advisor. His roles at the school have included advising student council, co-advising the National Honor Society, chairing the instructional leadership team, and serving as a District 186 summer school administrator.

Kramer says he is honored to take on the head coaching role and build on the foundation already in place at LLCC. He adds that he is excited to continue supporting student-athletes both on and off the court as they work toward their goals.

As heard on New Country 104.1...

The Taylorville softball team pulled off a 3-2 win over Meridian on Wednesday afternoon.  The Tornadoes took a late lead and held on in dramatic fashion to beat a Hawks team which regularly contends among the best in the sport in Illinois. 

Taylorville took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Carsen Corzine singled home Olivia Gray.  The lead did not last long, as wild pitches helped pinch-runner Reese Cramm cross the plate in the subsequent half-inning. 

Pitching dominated the following three innings as neither side gave up any more runs in that time.  Meridian's Ashley Schelling and Taylorville's Peyton DeMichael each gave up just one runner in separate 11-hitter stretches.  Schelling's trend included six strikeouts, five in succession.

Meridian went in front in the top of the sixth.  Shelby Renfro doubled and then scored on a throwing error in the effort to put out Morgan Knierim at first on the following play.  Taylorville came back as an RBI-triple by Hope Kietzman brough home pinch-runner Maleah Repscher.  Kietzman herself would then score on an RBI-single by Olivia Gray two batters later. 

The away side threatened in the seventh when Kaci Hayes was hit by a pitch with one out.  On the next play, Larissa Wells launched a fly-ball to center field to which Gray had to scramble to catch it.  Noticing that Hayes was on her way to second base, Gray threw to Mia Lyons at first, barely beating the runner back to the bag to record the final out. 

Kietzman earned the title of New Country Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the Game for her sixth-inning heroics.  She also hit a double in the second inning.  Olivia Gray had two hits and also scored the game's first run.  Peyton DeMichael went 3-3 in addition to a quality complete-game outing in the circle, in which she conceded one earned run on four hits while striking out three. 

No one on Meridian garnered more than one hit, with Shelby Renfro's double the only extra-base hit her side achieved.  Ashley Schelling also threw the complete game and gave up three earned runs on nine hits and three walks while recording nine strikeouts.

Taylorville has eclipsed its win total from the whole of last season; they stand at 4-2 ahead of a trip to MacArthur.  Meridian returns to Macon with an 8-2 record to face Warrensburg-Latham in the Central Illinois Conference. 

Carter Cappellin threw an absolute gem with a no hitter, 6 K's, 5 walks, and 7 innings pitched as Taylorville shut down the Mahomet Seymour Bulldog baseball team handing them only their second loss of the season. 

The Tornadoes jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a walk from Isaac Repscher  who scored after a wild pitch from Adam Wike with Fallon Turner at the plate.  In the fourth inning, the Tornadoes added two more, as Lucas Gerlick got a base hit along with a walk from Drew Morgan, followed by a error on a Repscher at bat, and a hit that fell in no man's land out in center between center fielder, Bradley Jones, and second baseman Cole Henderson. The Tornadoes led 3-0 at the end of 4. 

The floodgates burst open in the 5th when the Tornadoes led the 5th off with 7 straight walks.  The Tornadoes added 5 runs giving them an 8-0 lead.  They had a chance to walk it off with the tying run at 2nd, but couldn't push the winning run in.  

In the 7th, Cappellin gave up a lead off walk to Nolan Sanderson, who got to second on a wild pitch, Bradley Jones reached on an error at second, Max Young lined out to first, Matthew Kirby flew out to first, and Ryan Pruitt struck out to end the game. 

Head Coach Brian Sample says he was thrilled with Cappellin's effort.  "What a game from these guys.  Just ecstatic.  Any time you can go out and shut these guys down that's a big deal.  They came out ready to go today.  We battled. We're excited.  That's a good team that we beat today."

The Tornadoes head to Mahomet tomorrow (Wednesday) night.  Taylorville, who has been dealing with some pretty significant injuries improve to 4-4.  Mahomet falls to 8-2.  Carter Cappellin was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the Game. 

Carter Cappellin threw an absolute gem with a no hitter, 6 K's, 5 walks, and 7 innings pitched as Taylorville shut down the Mahomet Seymour Bulldog baseball team handing them only their second loss of the season. 

The Tornadoes jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a walk from Isaac Repscher  who scored after a wild pitch from Adam Wike with Fallon Turner at the plate.  In the fourth inning, the Tornadoes added two more, as Lucas Gerlick got a base hit along with a walk from Drew Morgan, followed by a error on a Repscher at bat, and a hit that fell in no man's land out in center between center fielder, Bradley Jones, and second baseman Cole Henderson. The Tornadoes led 3-0 at the end of 4. 

The floodgates burst open in the 5th when the Tornadoes led the 5th off with 7 straight walks.  The Tornadoes added 5 runs giving them an 8-0 lead.  They had a chance to walk it off with the tying run at 2nd, but couldn't push the winning run in.  

In the 7th, Cappellin gave up a lead off walk to Nolan Sanderson, who got to second on a wild pitch, Bradley Jones reached on an error at second, Max Young lined out to first, Matthew Kirby flew out to first, and Ryan Pruitt struck out to end the game. 

Head Coach Brian Sample says he was thrilled with Cappellin's effort.  "What a game from these guys.  Just ecstatic.  Any time you can go out and shut these guys down that's a big deal.  They came out ready to go today.  We battled. We're excited.  That's a good team that we beat today."

The Tornadoes head to Mahomet tomorrow (Wednesday) night.  Taylorville, who has been dealing with some pretty significant injuries improve to 4-4.  Mahomet falls to 8-2.  Carter Cappellin was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the Game. 

As heard on New Country 104.1, Riley Hazelwonder struck out 13 and went 2-3 at the plate as the Central A&M Raider Softball team rolled over the Nokomis Redskins 10-1 on Monday afternoon in Moweaqua. Hazelwonder got a quick 1-2-3 first inning and other than walk didn't allow a hit until the fourth when Madison Dewerff got a base hit followed by a base hit by Ella Huelson.  The Raider offense got going right away as Hazelwonder got Hit by a pitch and would score on a sacrifice fly from Kylee Snearlee in the first, and the Raiders would add a second run in the second on a triple from Kayla McPeek and a follow up base hit from Brooklyn Jackson.  That would be all the offense the Raiders would need. 

The Redskins would finally scrape a run across in the sixth inning thanks to a base hit from Camryn Engleman and a double from Cloe Dirks but that would be it.  The Raiders would break the game open after leading 2-0 with 2 in the 3rd and 3 more in the fourth.  The Raiders would score in every inning.  

The Raiders actually had a chance to walk it off in the 6th inning.  They had bases loaded leading 10-1 with two outs but couldn't scrape the run across. 

Central A&M improves to 4-4.  Nokomis falls to 3-7.  Hazelwonder picked up the win for CAM.  Cloe Dirks took the loss for the Redskins. Hazelwonder was named as the Seitz Funeral Home Player of the Game. 

                                1     2      3      4    5     6     7      F

Nokomis                0     0      0     0     0     1     0      1  
Central A&M         1     1      2     3     1     2     X     10

The Illinois Fighting Illini are set for a high-profile matchup tonight with a National Championship in sight as they take on the UConn Huskies in a game that’s drawing national attention. 

The fighting Illini picked up wins over Penn, VCU, Houston, and Iowa.  UConn picked up wins over Furman, UCLA, MSU, and Duke. The game is set to start tonight with tip off at 5:09 PM. 

The winner of the game will face off against Arizona or Michigan.  Illinois is a #3 seed while UConn is a #2 seed.  Both Arizona and Michigan are #1 seeds. The Championship is set for April 6th. 

For the Illini, the focus will be on executing offensively and matching UConn’s intensity on the defensive end. Meanwhile, the Huskies will look to control the tempo and showcase the depth that has made them a consistent contender on the national stage. The game will be broadcast locally on WTIM The Big 870 AM and 96.1 FM, with coverage beginning just ahead of tip.

The last time Illinois made the national championship was 2005. Stay tuned to WTIM for full coverage, including pregame, live play-by-play, and postgame reaction. They have reached the final four six times.