Published: May 11, 2008 11:40 pm            

Illinois prep baseball, softball teams prepare for postseason

A softball game between two perhaps underrated traditional rivals highlights the first day of Illinois high school tournaments in the diamond sports when Marshall travels to Paris for a Class 2A game.

Two top-seeded Class 2A teams from the Wabash Valley — Marshall’s baseball team and Casey’s softball team — begin play later in the week. Other softball teams in action today are Robinson, Martinsville and Chrisman, while no baseball is scheduled until Tuesday.

Coach Jerry Whitacre of Paris has a team with a 20-8 record that’s seeded fifth among two regionals feeding into the Newton Sectional.

“It’s a tough sub-sectional,” Whitacre noted Sunday.

If the Tigers are an awfully good fifth seed, their opponent today might be considerably better than the 11th seed that was given to the Lions too.

“We beat Marshall twice [during the regular season], but [first-year coach] Bob Gard is doing a good job with them,” Whitacre noted. “They were much improved the second time we played.”

Winner of today’s game at Paris plays third-seeded Newton, the undefeated Apollo Conference champion, on Wednesday at Robinson. If Robinson wins today against Lawrenceville, it would play again Tuesday against second-seeded Cumberland.

Cumberland and Newton are two teams whose results coach Katie O’Connell of Casey will be watching — from afar, as it turns out.

The 24-4 Warriors, the top seed in their sub-regional, will be traveling all the way to Fairfield — near I-64 — on Tuesday to play the winner of today’s game between Mt. Carmel and the host team.

“We’ll take it as we can,” O’Connell said Sunday of her team’s unusual placing. “The best thing about our draw is that if we get to the sectional, we’ll only have to face one team [among Newton, Cumberland and Teutopolis].” Teutopolis, a 1-0 winner over Casey during the regular season, is in the same sectional bracket as the Robinson Regional winner.

Casey has had to play the last two weeks without freshman infielder Kara Repp, who is out with a broken hand. Versatile Bri Athey has pretty much solved that problem, O’Connell said, moving from behind the plate to second base while designated player Katie Stinson catches.

Marshall’s baseball team has an injury solution of its own, coach Chris Kessler pointed out Sunday, because Indiana State-bound outfielder Kyle Burnam is back from a knee injury.

“He started [playing again] this weekend,” Kessler said. “He had his knee scoped and they told him two to four weeks, and its been about three weeks.”

The Lions, 18-5 with three one-run losses, have beaten everyone else at the Casey Regional except Paris; they’d have a chance to face the Lions on Wednesday if Paris can upset Cumberland in Tuesday’s regional opener at Toledo.

Kessler is confident in his team “as long as we can throw strikes and make plays [defensively],” he said Sunday. The Lions, with a team batting average around .350, haven’t been held to less than three runs all season.

In Class 1A tournaments this week, teams with the best chance of advancing appear to be Oblong’s softball team and Shiloh’s baseball team.

The Panthers have the best seed at the Louisville (North Clay) Regional and are second-seeded in their sub-sectional, while Shiloh is a third-seeded team in their baseball sub-sectional but would have to get past second-seeded Argenta-Oreana — the host team — to advance.



Softball

Class 1A

Altamont Regional

Today — Martinsville (11) at Dieterich (7), 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday — Beecher City (1) vs. today’s winner, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — St. Elmo (4) vs. Altamont (5), 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 1:30 p.m., winner to Red Hill Sectional

Louisville (North Clay) Regional

Today — Louisville (North Clay) (8) vs. Farina (South Central) (9), 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday — Oblong (2) vs. today’s winner, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Red Hill (3) vs. Hutsonville-Palestine (6), 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 11 a.m., winner to Red Hill Sectional

Catlin Regional

Today — Chrisman (11) at Fithian-Oakwood (9), 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday — Arcola (2) vs. today’s winner, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Catlin (3) vs. Armstrong (8), 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 1 p.m., winner to Moweaqua A&M Sectional

Class 2A

Robinson Regional

Today — Lawrenceville (8) at Robinson (7), 4:30 p.m.; Marshall (11) at Paris (5), 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday — Cumberland (2) vs. winner game 1, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Newton (3) vs. winner game 2, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 10 a.m., winner to Newton Sectional

Fairfield Regional

Today — Mt. Carmel (10) at Fairfield (9), 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday — Casey (1) vs. today’s winner, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Flora (4) vs. Olney (6), 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 1 p.m., winner to Newton Sectional



Illinois softball, baseball postseasons

Baseball

Class 1A

Tuscola Regional

Tuesday — Arthur (8) at Kansas (7), 4:30 p.m.; Arcola (10) at Martinsville (6), 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Tuscola (1) vs. winner game 1, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday — Neoga (4) vs. winner game 2, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 11 a.m., winner to Danville Schlarman Sectional

Argenta-Oreana Regional

Tuesday — Champaign Judah Christian (11) at Bement (9), 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Today’s winner at Argenta-Oreana (2), 4:30 p.m.

Thursday — Shiloh (3) vs. Villa Grove (7), 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 1 p.m., winner to Danville Schlarman Sectional

Red Hill Regional

Tuesday — Oblong (8) at Red Hill (7), 4:30 p.m.; Hutsonville-Palestine (11) at Cisne (5), 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Dieterich (1) vs. winner game 1, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday — Noble (4) vs. winner game 2, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, 11 a.m., winner to Farina (South Central) Sectional

Class 2A

Olney Regional

Tuesday — Lawrenceville (9) at Robinson (8), 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Olney (1) vs. winner game 1, 4:15 p.m.

Thursday — Mt. Carmel (3) vs. Newton (7), 4:15 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, noon, winner to Robinson Sectional

Casey Regional

Tuesday — Paris (9) at Cumberland (6), 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Marshall (1) vs. today’s winner, 4:15 p.m.

Thursday — Georgetown-Ridgefarm (4) at Casey (5), 4:15 p.m.

Saturday — Championship, noon, winner to Robinson Sectional

All times CDT

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.