Three wins in four games last week pushed the PORTA-AC Central softball team’s record to 5-1 for the season. The Lady Bluejays trounced Jacksonville Routt and Springfield Lanphier and snuck by North Mac before the season opening win streak was rudely snapped by Springfield High School.
The Triopia-Meredosia-Virginia Softball Team played in two, ten-run rule shortened five inning games last week, losing to Hardin-Calhoun 10 to 0 and beating Jacksonville High School 12 to 2. The Lady Trojans are now 2-2 on the young season.
The good news for the Beardstown Lady Tiger Softball Team is that they picked up their first win of the season last week over the North Greene Spartans. The bad news was the Tigers played four total games, losing the other three to fall to 1-4 on the young season.
The 2024 season got off to a rough start for a young Beardstown Lady Tiger softball team as they lost on the road in their opener 18 to 3 to PORTA-AC Central in a run rule shortened four-inning game.
Following a tough loss to Illini West on the road to open the season, the Triopia-Meredosia-Virginia softball team picked up a nice win over an always tough Havana team at their place.
It was a hot start to the season for the PORTA-AC Central softball team as they won a thrilling nine-inning battle on the road at Lincoln and trounced Beardstown at home to start the season with two wins.
The Jays made a huge, late comeback to win the opener over the Railers scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score at eight and send it to extra innings. After neither team scored in the eighth the Bluejays got two in the ninth and Gabbie Branson closed the door on Lincoln in the bottom half to preserve a 10 to 8 victory. Control was the key on the mound for Branson as she walked no one in nine innings, scattering 16 hits and striking out seven. She also got it done at the plate going four for five with two RBIs. Megan Miller had three hits and two RBIs, Greta Butler had two hits and two RBIs, Karlie Hoke had two hits and one RBI and Hailey Brown had one hit and one RBI for the Jays. Bailey Dahmer added a hit and scored, and Aubrey Vogel drew a walk and scored.
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 Beardstown Tiger Middle School softball team is advancing to the IESA Softball State Tournament.
The Tigers won the Regional Championship with a 4 to 1 victory over Pikeland and captured the Sectional Title with a 3 to 0 win over Havana last Saturday. They will be the opening game of the Class 2A State Tournament, playing against Princeton Logan at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 22 at Champions Field in Normal. There will be a student fan bus going to the game with enough interest. For information and for ticket purchase information go to the Beardstown CUSD # 15 Facebook page.
In a somewhat controversial finish, the Beardstown Area Special Athletes (BASA) softball team came home with Bronze Medals at the 2023 Illinois Special Olympics State Softball Tournament held in Springfield.
The Beardstown Middle School softball team was not about to let what happened to them last year happen again. A year ago, the number one seeded Tigers were upset in their opening game of Regional play. This year the top seeded Tigers will take a 16-1 record into the Regional Championship game against Pittsfield Pikeland. The title tilt was scheduled for Tuesday September 12. Beardstown reached the championship game by virtue of a 3 to 1 win over Quincy Catholic last Saturday.