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[JULY 23, 2001]  CEFCU defeated a valiant J-GO Racing Engines team 18-4 Friday evening to win the playoff for the 2001 Mustang championship.

Starring for CEFCU were Tyson Smith and Jordan Nelson on the mound, and at the plate, Nelson with three hits and Smith with two hits. Also, Ethan Tabor belted a home run for the champions.

College baseball

[JULY 23, 2001]  Lincoln College baseball coach Tony Thomas has announced the signing of two more players to his squad for next season. The two recruits bring the total of incoming freshmen to 14.

Joining the Lynx next season are Frank Pesce and Lou Persino, both from Fenton High School in Bensonville. Pesce is a 6-1, 210-pound left-handed hitting catcher who has a strong arm and is a defensive standout. Persino, a 5-10, 180-pound infielder and outfielder, played third base for Fenton last season.

With 14 returning sophomores and a strong recruiting class of 14 freshmen, Thomas is hoping for big things next season. Thomas is also hopeful of signing one or two more prospects for next season.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

College basketball

Lynx sign four recruits

[JULY 20, 2001]  Coach B.J. McCullum, of Lincoln College has some big-time players heading to Lincoln to continue their basketball playing careers.

The Lynx coach has announced the signings of Steve Turner, Jamaal Thompson, Derek Hollyfield and Michael Fowler.

Turner played guard for Peoria Richwoods this past season and considered Southwest Missouri State before settling on Lincoln College.  Thompson, a graduate of Aurora West, had considered Bradley before accepting for coach McCullum at LC. 

Hollyfield and Fowler hail from Aurora West.

Coach McCullum stated, "I've got the all-state tournament team next year, with returning sophomore Brian Thorsen of 1999 fourth-place finisher Shaumburg."

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Three players on the Lynx team in the past three years have gone on to play on Division I teams.  Marcus Griffin played for Illinois; Jermaine Wallace played with High Point this past season; and Marlon Brooks has signed to play at DePaul for the upcoming season.

The LC mentor stated, "I can see Hollyfield, Thompson and Turner splitting 80 minutes at the two wing positions, although Turner could play some point guard."

Lincoln has won 51 games in the past two seasons, and McCullum is still hoping to add some post players to his squad.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[JULY 19, 2001]   The Lincoln Park District’s Adult Moonlight Swim, just for the adults, is this Saturday, July 21, from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Come out and relax poolside under the stars. Cost is $1 or your pool pass.  Sorry, kids, you will have to stay home and send the grown-ups.

Pool passes are now half price.  If you have not already gotten yours, there is still plenty of summer left to enjoy our pool.

[JULY 18, 2001]   

The Lincoln College men’s swimming team compiled a 3.11 grade point average to earn recognition in the NJCAA All-American competition. Jacob Sexton was declared an Academic All-American for coach Dan Hemenway’s squad. To qualify as an Academic All-American, the individual must maintain a 3.6 grade point average or higher.

The Lincoln College baseball team was seventh in the nation with a 3.04 grade point average. Coach Tony Thomas had three distinguished members of his team. To qualify, the player compiles a 3.8 grade point average or higher. Those earning the honor from Lincoln College were Jeremy Mathenia, Chris Ackman and Matt Knepper, valedictorian of the graduating class.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[JUNE 21, 2001]  We were able to reach Lincoln American Legion baseball coach Mike Thornton at his office. What follows is a brief interview that we had with him concerning the rest of this summer’s season…

A: We are 1-6 but should be 5-2. We’ve been competitive, and we’re hangin’ in there. We’ve got eight guys back from last year. Primarily, the bulk of them are from Lincoln, but we fill in with guys from the area. The eight back from last year are solid. I think we’ll be OK. Once we get a few wins under our belts, I think we could get on a roll.

A: Well, it’s different every day. We use a different lineup every day. We’re moving guys around here and there and seeing who can do what and what we’re going to be comfortable with. We’ll do that until the tournament at the end of the season, and by then we’ll have things pretty well solidified.

A: I hope I don’t leave anybody out. Korey Davis is from Elkhart. The Lincoln kids are Chris Phillips, Andrew Bartman, Justin Dedman, Aaron Mattson and Nick Bay. Matt McQuality is from Williamsville and Tyler Hendrickson is from Athens.

A: Yes, they did. They really did well with them. I’m not displeased with what we’ve got at all. I think that we’ve got a pretty well-rounded ball club.

A: Korey Davis has been a standout! He just jumps out at you. I like the way he conducts himself. He is very businesslike. He goes out there and does his job. He is steady and good. He doesn’t try to be too flashy, he’s just confident in himself.

A: Andrew Bartman as much as anyone. Korey kind of leads by example and Bartman’s kind of a yell guy. I guess you’d call him a rah-rah guy. It’s not that the rest of the guys aren’t or don’t; it’s just that those two make their presence felt. It’s hard to miss them.

A: It will be OK once we get some consistency. We played several games in a row, and now we’ve been off since last Thursday … well, we did play on Thursday. But, we’ve had two games postponed on us Saturday and another one postponed on us tonight! So, we’re playing Wednesday and Thursday, and we’ve got a doubleheader on Saturday. Next week we’ll jump right back into the schedule of having three games a week again. We’ll have to see where we’re at, at that time.

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Q: Who will be some of your starting pitchers, and who will be your closers?

A: They’re all pretty good and pretty consistent. Phillips had a good high school year and so did Davis. Michael Martin went out a week ago Sunday and held Danville, a perennial power, to just three runs over nine innings. He did an outstanding job that day. He was very impressive. I’ve had Andy Knopp in a couple of times as a closer in the eighth and ninth innings, and he has been impressive in that role. He comes in and just throws strikes. He won’t walk people. If you don’t walk anybody, you’re going to be successful. At least you’ve got a better chance of being successful. Other than that we’ll probably try them all. Ryan Williams is a pitcher, McQuailty is a pitcher, Matt Gleason is, and of course Phillips. There are several of our players that are pretty good hurlers. It may get done by committee as much as anything else. We have a pitch count on all of them. When it gets up to about 80, you start looking real close and take it from that point. If they get in trouble after that point, you go and get ’em. I’m not going to burn somebody out. On a nice warm day you can sometimes throw over 100 pitches, but other days they just can’t.

A: It’s worked well. We’ve sat down and talked several times and traded notes. We’re definitely on the same page.

A: He’s certainly working hard at it!

A: Again, Davis. He’s been ripping the cover off the ball. Danny Schick has hit well. Blake Schoonover has been hitting the ball on the nose.

A: We usually play Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., with Tuesday and Thursday games usually at home, out at the Rec. Then we play Saturdays, and we’ve got a couple of Sundays thrown in there, usually at 11, noon or 1 o’clock.

A: We had 38 originally scheduled, but we’ll probably only get in 34.

A: I think that we will do real well, once we get it rolling. No excuses, but the reality — some of our guys hadn’t played in three or more weeks. Our timing was off just a bit, but now it’s coming back.

On behalf of the LDN, we certainly wish the Legion baseball teams and all local summer baseball and softball teams the best of luck!

[Jeff Mayfield]

Announcements

[JULY 20, 2001]  Baseball practice at Zion Lutheran School starts Aug 1.

Girls basketball practice starts the first week in September.

All students going out for sports will need a current physical and a sports consent form.

[JULY 19, 2001]  Every LCHS fall athlete is required to have an athletic permit card on file in the activity director’s office before trying out or practicing for any fall sports.

All fall athletes and parents must attend a mandatory meeting Monday, Aug. 6, at 6:30 p.m. in the LCHS auditorium. The meeting will cover the athletic permit card, extracurricular code and parent-coach involvement. No fall athletes will be allowed to try out or practice until they attend this meeting. If you cannot attend on Aug. 6, please call Darrell Hanslow, activity director, at (217) 732-4131, Ext. 250, to set up an appointment with him.

Also, at 7 p.m. there will be a meeting for all fall athletes and their parents with their head coach. The head coach will cover team rules and practice schedules.

Starting dates for fall sports

Football — Aug. 8

Cross country — Aug. 13

Boys golf — Aug. 13

Girls golf — Aug. 13

Boys soccer — Aug. 13

Girls swimming — Aug. 13

Girls tennis — Aug. 13

Volleyball — Aug. 13

[LCHS news release]

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[JULY 17, 2001]  A 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be part of the Delavan Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 1.

There will be numerous divisions for males and females age 8 and up. This is a double-elimination tournament with awards to first-, second- and third-place teams in each division. Each player will also receive a T-shirt.

The tournament will include 3-point contests and free-throw contests throughout the day, with prizes awarded.

For more information or to obtain an entry form, call Jack Wheeler at (309) 244-9881 or Dennis Moehring at (309) 244-9241. Entries must be received by Friday, Aug. 17.

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