The members of the Beardstown Middle School softball team and coaches are all smiles as they pose with their Fourth Place Trophy following the IESA Class 2A State Tournament in Normal. Congratulations players and coaches!!

Lady Tigers finish 4th in State! – Fantastic voyage for Lady Tiger Softball

The finish may have been disappointing but the final results of the season and the journey there were fantastic for the Beardstown Middle School softball team as they finished the year placing fourth in the Class 2A IESA State Softball Tournament.  In just year two of the BMS softball redux, the Lady Tigers have served notice they will be a player on the state scene by bringing home a state trophy.  Beardstown opened State Tournament play at Champions Field in Normal in impressive fashion, defeating Princeton Logan 7 to 0 in the opening quarterfinal game.  Scheduled for Friday morning, a needed rainstorm hit the Bloomington-Normal area Thursday night and continued until all games were moved to Saturday, meaning the quarterfinal winners would have to play two games in one day.

The PORTA-AC Central golf team after finishing in second place at the Sangamo Conference Tournament. (L/R) Keagan Dale, Griffin McClure, Trace Donnan, Brady Kinney, Brody Pettit, and Brody Landon.

PORTA/A-C Golf rolls on

Last week was a busy one for the PORTA-AC Central boys’ golf team as they roll closer to the postseason.  

The week started with them hosting the North Mac Panthers on a typically breezy day at Shambolee Golf Course last Tuesday.  Both the varsity and JV teams played very well.  The Jays took home the win with a team score of 163 on the back nine.  PORTA A-C was led by medalist Trace Donnan who shot a two over par 38.  He was followed by fellow senior, Brady Kinney, at 39.  Keagan Dale fired a 41 and Brody Pettit rounded out the Varsity scoring with a 45.  Griffin McClure shot a 48 and Brody Landon shot a 49.  North Mac had a team score of 174.  In JV action, Nash Donnan and Kolin Johnson led the way with a pair of 48’s.  Drew Carter shot 52, Colton Wankel shot 58, Avery Jockisch shot 59, and Dillon Stremsterfer had a 62.

John Haverback (left) and Liam Hymes with their plaques from the Big 5 Conference Junior High Cross Country meet.

Beardstown Cross Country results

Both the Beardstown High School and Middle School Cross Country teams were on the course competing last week.  

On Monday, September 18, the middle school team traveled to Petersburg-PORTA to run in the Big 5 Conference Meet. The girls finished in 5th Place as a team, while the boys were able to finish in 2nd Place as a team.

“They’re not gonna catch him!” Elizah Thomas of the Tigers is on his way to a 47 yard touchdown in Beardstown’s win over Triopia.

Tigers win black and blue trophy

On an absolutely beautiful fall evening, the play on the field may not have always been pretty, but in the end the Beardstown Tigers had to feel great about picking up their third win of the year while spoiling Triopia’s homecoming with a 38 to 12 victory.  

In addition to bringing home the highly sought-after “Black and Blue Trophy,” the Tigers moved that much closer to the five wins needed for a playoff berth.  A valiant Trojan team kept the game close through the first half, but the Beardstown defense shut them out in the second half and slowly pulled away.

Josh Severino takes a shot on goal for BHS as the Athens defender closes in.

BHS Soccer gets double win

The Beardstown High School Soccer team picked up two home wins last week before falling on the road to Lincoln to finish the week.  

On Monday, at the newly renovated BHS soccer field, the Tigers walloped Macomb high school with the varsity team winning 6-2.  The Tigers led 5-2 at the intermission and coasted to victory.  Marcos Lopez had a hat-trick (3 goals), Memo Hernandez added two goals, and Cesar Rodriguez scored one goal.  Michael Sevilla handed out two assists, and Joshua Severino, Lopez and Hernandez all had one helper.  The JV team also blasted the Bombers, winning by a score of 8-0.

Beardstown Junior Cade Ross is pictured with his hole-in-one ball on the 18th hole of Deer Run Golf Course in Hamilton, Illinois. Congratulations Cade!

Cade Ross nails hole-in-one for BHS

According to Google, an amateur golfer has a .01 % chance of getting a hole-in-one.  Stated another way, the odds of an amateur golfer hitting a hole-in-one are 12,500 to one.  

So, when BHS golf coach Isaac Riddle sent in the news that during a meet at Hamilton last Wednesday, Tiger junior Cade Ross had hit “what could be described as the shot of the year…,” he was certainly understating the accomplishment.  For nearly all of the millions of golfers in the world, it never occurs, so it was certainly the shot of a lifetime for Cade.

The PORTA-AC Central freshman volleyball team is pictured with the First Place Plaque from last week's Virginia Tournament.

PORTA/A-C Volleyball on win streak 

The PORTA-AC Central volleyball team pushed their winning streak to eight games and their overall record to 9-3 with two wins last week.  

On the road at Riverton last Tuesday, the Bluejays flew past the Hawks 25-12, 25-16 to win in straight sets.  Carson Arthalony had seven kills and two blocks and Caitlyn DeFreezer had 13 assists and a block.  Jayce Privia also had seven kills, Mikaela Clary had four aces, Chloe Maltby had 13 digs and Shae Bell handed out 11 assists in the win.  At home last Thursday the Jays won two close ones over their archrivals, the Athens Warriors 25-21 and 25-19.

Tigers Volleyball

Lady Tigers strike down Vipers

The Beardstown Lady Tiger volleyball team picked up a win last week, knocking off the Vipers of South County on the road in straight sets 25-22, 25-17 last Tuesday.  A great team effort led to an exciting win and brought the girls’ record to 4-12 on the season.  Vanessa Nunez had five aces, 13 assists, 11 digs and a block to lead the way home for BHS.  Shelby Goodrich had 16 digs and a block, Brandy Mendoza had eight kills and eight digs, Bella Palmer and Gracy Hamlin each had four kills, Ashley Salazar had nine digs and Alora Logan had four assists in the win.

David Petefish on his combine among his corn fields. Photo By Michelle Carty

Being Good Stewards of the Environment

Farming in 2023 is a bit different now than when David Petefish’s family came to Illinois in the early 1830’s. Relocating from the state of Virginia, they settled in the area of Virginia, selecting that area for the rich, black soil.