Illini Football News, Plus a High School Baseball Update

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April 8, 2025

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Illini Football News, Plus a High School Baseball Update

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High School Scoreboard, results from Tuesday, May 13

Castle Rock Pitching — Jerry Neighbors 6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 7 K, 6 BB; Owen Erickson 0.2 IP, 0 R, 1 K, 2 BB; Highlights — Jacob Lafever 1-3, R, 2B, SB; Jack Kerker 1-2, R, RBI; Noxx Worrell 1-3, R; Stuart Teter 1-3; Tristan Honey 1-1, R, RBI, SB. SOFTBALL […]

Published

1 hour ago

May 14, 2025

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High School Scoreboard, results from Tuesday, May 13

Castle Rock

Pitching — Jerry Neighbors 6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 7 K, 6 BB; Owen Erickson 0.2 IP, 0 R, 1 K, 2 BB; Highlights — Jacob Lafever 1-3, R, 2B, SB; Jack Kerker 1-2, R, RBI; Noxx Worrell 1-3, R; Stuart Teter 1-3; Tristan Honey 1-1, R, RBI, SB.

SOFTBALL

3A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE

Third-place tiebreaker

Heritage 9, Mountain View 3

HERITAGE 9, MOUNTAIN VIEW 3

Heritage 103 301 1—9 13 1

Mt. View 002 010 0—3 6 4

Heritage

Pitching — Jaila Ellis 7 IP, 2 ER, 8 K, 0 BB, win. Highlights — Skyler Jones 2-4, run, 2B, RBI, BB; Jaila Ellis 1-4, 2 runs, 2B, 2 RBI, BB; Kylie Thomas 3-3, 2 runs, RBI, BB; Lillie Stroup 2-3, run, 2B, RBI, BB; Gracie Peterson 2-4, run, 2 RBI; Emma Messing 2-4, 2 RBI; Veronica Ayala 1-4.

Mountain View

Pitching — Peyton Lalande 7 IP, , 4 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, loss. Highlights — Izzi West 2-4, 2 runs, 2B; Peytonb Lalande 3-3, run, 2 RBI; Amaya Paschal 1-3.

2A DISTRICT PLAY-IN GAMES

Tuesday’s Games

Black Hills 14, R.A. Long 0

W.F. West 21, Hockinson 0

W.F. WEST 21, HOCKINSON 0

Hockinson 000 00 —-0 2 6

WF West 700 (14)x —21 7 0

Hockinson

Highlights — Samantha McDonald 1-2; Cassidy Barrows 1-2.

BLACK HILLS 14, R.A. LONG 2

Black Hills 126 05 —14 8 2

RA Long 000 20 —2 2 7

R.A. Long

Highlights — Stevie Jones 1-2, run, 3B, RBI; Kace Prindle 1-2.

BOYS SOCCER

4A BI-DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Tuesday’s matches

Semifinals

at Sumner HS

Union 5, Puyallup 4, OT

Tahoma 6, Olympia 0

Loser-out

Sumner 2, Auburn Riverside 1

Camas 3, Mount Rainier 0

Kentridge 2, Emerald Ridge 0

Curtis 1, Stadium 0

Thursday’s matches

Championship

Union vs. Tahoma, 7:30 p.m. at Federal Way Memorial Stadium

Winner-to-state matches

At Art Crate Field, Spanaway

Camas vs. Sumner, 5:30 p.m.

Kentridge vs. Curtis, 7:30 p.m.

3A BI-DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Tuesday’s matches

Semifinals

at Federal Way Memorial Stadium

Central Kitsap 1, Bellarmine Prep 0

Heritage 1, Silas 0

Loser-out

Kent Meridian 2, Federal Way 1

Auburn Mountainview 5, Decatur 1

Gig Harbor 5, Enumclaw 1

Mountain View 3, White River 1

Thursday’s matches

Championship

Heritage vs. Central Kitsap, 5:30 p.m. at Federal Way Memorial Stadium

Winner-to-state matches at Auburn HS

Kent Meridian vs. Auburn Mountain View, 5:30 p.m.

Gig Harbor vs. Mountain View, 7:30 p.m.

2A DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Tuesday’s matches

Semifinals

W.F. West 2, Tumwater 1

Columbia River 3, R.A. Long 1

Loser-out matches

Hockinson 6, Hudson’s Bay 1

Ridgefield 4, Aberdeen 3, OT-PKs

Thursday’s matches

Championship

W.F. West at Columbia River, 6 p.m.

Winner-to-state games

R.A. Long at Hockinson, 6 p.m.

Ridgefield at Tumwater, 5:30 p.m.

COLUMBIA RIVER 3, R.A. LONG 1

Columbia River

Goals (assists) — Beckham Young (JP Guzman), Tyler Brown (Johnny Avalos), Brown (Mason Renner). Goalkeeper saves: Eli Smith, 3

High School Sports

2025 'Al Glick Classic' Baseball & Softball Tournament Schedule

SOFTBALL FIRST ROUND (games begin at 10AM) Onsted vs Quincy (at Parkside Middle School, Field #2) Jackson vs Columbia Central (at Parkside Middle School, Field #1) Reading at Lumen Christi Concord vs Hudson (at Lumen Christi, OLD Softball Field) SEMIFINALS/CONSOLATION GAMES (games at approx. 12pm) Onsted/Quincy winner vs Jackson/Columbia Central winner (Parkside, Field #1) Reading/Lumen […]

Published

6 hours ago

May 14, 2025

Your Sports Nation

SOFTBALL

FIRST ROUND (games begin at 10AM)

Onsted vs Quincy (at Parkside Middle School, Field #2)

Jackson vs Columbia Central (at Parkside Middle School, Field #1)

Reading at Lumen Christi

Concord vs Hudson (at Lumen Christi, OLD Softball Field)

SEMIFINALS/CONSOLATION GAMES (games at approx. 12pm)

Onsted/Quincy winner vs Jackson/Columbia Central winner (Parkside, Field #1)

Reading/Lumen Christi winner vs Concord/Hudson winner (at Lumen Christi)

CONSOLATION GAMES

Onsted/Quincy loser vs Jackson/Columbia Central loser (at Parkside, Field #2)

Reading/Lumen Christi loser vs Concord/Hudson loser (at Lumen Christi, OLD Softball Field)

The two winners will play in the Championship game, at approximately 3:30pm at Parkside Middle School (Field #1).

Visit JTV.TV on Saturday following the tournaments for complete game and photo coverage.

High School Sports

AP Poll

Women’s sports gain traction as new survey highlights increased viewership and fan engagement, with over 30% of U.S. adults following closely. WASHINGTON — When Meghan Sells heads to Providence Park to watch Oregon’s professional women’s soccer team, she finds herself among a fairly mixed crowd — groups of young women, dads bringing their children, youth […]

Published

9 hours ago

May 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Women’s sports gain traction as new survey highlights increased viewership and fan engagement, with over 30% of U.S. adults following closely.

WASHINGTON — When Meghan Sells heads to Providence Park to watch Oregon’s professional women’s soccer team, she finds herself among a fairly mixed crowd — groups of young women, dads bringing their children, youth players checking out the Thorns’ latest match.

The physician’s assistant is a self-described lifelong sports fan and former softball player who “will watch any sport.” That includes both collegiate and professional sports for women, putting Sells squarely in a fan base that suddenly has more options than ever before and is seen as fertile ground for teams and advertisers eager to ride the rising interest in the women’s game.

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults follow women’s professional or college sports “extremely,” “very” or “somewhat” closely, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s lower than the share who follow men’s sports by the same measurements — about half — but it also shows that Sells is far from alone.

As interest and investment in women’s sports have picked up in recent years, so have the entry points for fans. The meteoric rise of Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa phenom-turned-WNBA star, helped bring wider attention to women’s basketball, and increased streaming availability, international success and name, image and likeness deals have elevated the value and viewership of women’s sports.

“Growing up, I feel like the only sports I was able to really see on TV were men’s — which is fine, I like men’s sports,” Sells said. “But I enjoy watching women’s sports more. … I think the more that you see it on TV, the more you’re going to have younger people interested in it.”

The poll found that women’s sports fans — those who follow women’s sports at least “somewhat” closely — are different from men’s sports fans. Fans of women’s sports, while not a majority-female group, are more gender balanced than men’s sports fans. Those who follow women’s pro sports also are more casual in their fandom than men’s pro sports fans, tending to say they attend or watch games occasionally rather than frequently. People who follow men’s sports, by contrast, are more likely to identify attachments to teams as opposed to players.

The survey was conducted just before the start of the 2025 WNBA season, an expansion year for the league. Coming off a season in which attendance records were set (and reset ), the league will debut a new franchise — the Golden State Valkyries — and up the number of regular season games from 40 to 44.

In 2026, two additional teams will join the league, including one in Portland, Oregon. Sells, who’s been in the city for about a decade, said she is prepared to get season tickets.

Different fan bases

Men’s sports at both the collegiate and professional levels remain more popular than women’s sports, the poll found. About one-third of U.S. adults said they watch, listen to or read about men’s collegiate sports at least “somewhat” closely, and more than 4 in 10 say they follow men’s pro sports. By contrast, about 2 in 10 say they follow women’s collegiate sports at least “somewhat” closely, and a similar share say they follow women’s pro sports.

A greater share of men than women say they follow professional or collegiate sports overall, but the gender balance was more even among women’s sports fans. Around half of fans of women’s sports are male, the survey found, compared with about two-thirds of fans of men’s sports.

This could be in part due to the overlap between the fandoms: About 90% of U.S. adults who follow women’s sports at least “somewhat” closely also say the same about men’s sports, though about half of people who follow men’s sports said they also followed women’s sports.

As women’s sports increase in popularity and accessibility, a relatively large share are casual fans. While close to 9 in 10 of both men’s and women’s pro sports fans say they frequently or occasionally watch, listen to or read about their respective professional sports, a higher percentage of women’s sports fans say they are only occasional consumers.

That includes people like Matthew Behr, 58, a lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers in his home state of Wisconsin. He doesn’t watch a lot of basketball, he said, but when the sport crosses into news coverage, he will read up on it.

That’s how he started following Clark, whose final seasons at Iowa were credited with bringing new viewers to the sport and who now plays for the Indiana Fever.

“I was seeing it on MSNBC,” he said. “I don’t watch a lot of basketball. It’s not a men’s and women’s thing. If she was playing in a women’s football league, I’d probably watch that.”

Attending games

Men’s sports — with larger leagues, bigger TV deals and a more expansive media ecosystem — have a more fervent audience. About two-thirds of men’s sports fans said they “frequently” or “occasionally” attend a professional sporting event in person, compared with roughly half of women’s sports fans.

One possible reason women’s sports fans aren’t showing up at sporting events is they’re less likely to be attached to a specific team. Only about one-third of women’s sports fans said the teams they support or follow are “extremely” or “very” important to why they follow the sport. For men’s fans, the figure was around 50%.

However, nearly identical shares of men’s and women’s sports fans said that certain athletes they support were at least “very” important to why they follow women’s sports.

Bernard Seltzer, a high school administrator and math and science teacher in Tampa, Florida, considers himself a general sports fan and said he enjoys watching the most skillful athletes, regardless of their gender. Even at the high school level, he is impressed by the finesse he sees female athletes demonstrate.

“Sometimes it’s more impressive than watching masculine people banging their heads against the wall,” he said.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

High School Sports

Todd Golden assesses Florida's offseason roster churn, highlights potential breakout player

The Gators’ roster reload has gotten off to a hot start as they aim to repeat as national champions this upcoming season. Of course, the Gators lost three star contributors from their backcourt as Consensus First-Team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. and fellow guards, Alijah Martin and Will Richard, exhausted their college eligibility and are actively […]

Published

10 hours ago

May 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Todd Golden assesses Florida's offseason roster churn, highlights potential breakout player

The Gators’ roster reload has gotten off to a hot start as they aim to repeat as national champions this upcoming season.

Of course, the Gators lost three star contributors from their backcourt as Consensus First-Team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. and fellow guards, Alijah Martin and Will Richard, exhausted their college eligibility and are actively contending to be picked in the 2025 NBA Draft.

But Florida appears poised to hold onto its key frontcourt members, as forward Thomas Haugh has returned to the team for his junior season, and fellow juniors, forward Alex Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu, have maintained their college eligibility while testing the NBA Draft waters this offseason; neither player has consistently garnered first-round projections.

UF also made a pair of transfer portal splashes in April, securing commitments from four-star guards, Xaivian Lee of Princeton and AJ Brown of Ohio. The Gators also welcomed two top-50 recruits from the high school level this offseason in CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd.

The Gators’ offseason roster churn has left Florida head coach Todd Golden pleased, he shared on The Sideline with Andy Katz, comparing this approach to the one UF took to building its championship roster a year ago.

“This year, I don’t think it’s that much different,” Golden expressed. “We’ve done a great job retaining our frontcourt – knock on wood, we should get all of those guys back. We’ll see how Alex’s pro prospects go over the next couple of weeks.

“But the backcourt is going to be new. Getting Xaivian was huge, Xaivian Lee from Princeton is a huge addition. Him and Tommy Haugh were teammates back in prep school, so he has a really good understanding of how we operate and what we do.”

Lee averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game during the 2024-25 campaign, while shooting 43.9 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from three-point range.

Before addressing Brown’s addition, Golden made note of his brother, Gators rising sophomore guard Isaiah Brown, as someone who could step into a meaningful role as Florida’s new backcourt takes shape.

A class of 2024 three-star recruit, Brown flashed throughout his limited freshman usage in Florida’s deep guard rotation, averaging half a point for every minute he played while shooting 52 percent, including a three-of-eight mark from three-point range. He added 18 rebounds and 11 assists while committing three turnovers.

“We have some really good young ones in the program,” Golden noted. “I think of Isaiah Brown as a guy that should be a really impactful riser from freshman to sophomore year. AJ Brown, his brother, is a really good shooter-scorer from Ohio that’s coming in.”

The older Brown averaged 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.1 assists per game over 29 contests last season with Ohio.

Still, Golden believes the Gators would benefit from making one more backcourt move in the transfer portal to fortify the roster.

Notably, Swamp247 previously reported that Florida has been linked to Arkansas’ Boogie Fland, who entered the portal and the NBA Draft pool last month.

“Our goal is to add one more guy,” said Golden. “I think if we can do that over the next couple weeks – and we’re not trying to rush, we want to be picky – but if we can add another impact guard, I think this team has a chance to be really good next year.”

High School Sports

Local Highlight Reel/Scoreboard for May 12th

LOCAL KHQA HIGHLIGHT REEL FOR MONDAY, MAY 12TH Included Within QUINCY HIGH BASEBALL BREAKS OUT THE BATS FOR 17-2 WIN OVER ALLEMAN CLASS 2 DISTRICT 2 BOYS GOLF HIGHLIGHTS FROM HANNIBAL ========================= LOCAL SCOREBOARD HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL QUINCY HIGH: 17 ALLEMAN: 2 Mason Ritter: 4 hits —————————————- UNITY: 4 WEST HANCOCK: 7 —————————————- ILLINI WEST: […]

Published

13 hours ago

May 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Local Highlight Reel/Scoreboard for May 12th

LOCAL KHQA HIGHLIGHT REEL FOR MONDAY, MAY 12TH

Included Within

QUINCY HIGH BASEBALL BREAKS OUT THE BATS FOR 17-2 WIN OVER ALLEMAN

CLASS 2 DISTRICT 2 BOYS GOLF HIGHLIGHTS FROM HANNIBAL

=========================

LOCAL SCOREBOARD

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

QUINCY HIGH: 17

ALLEMAN: 2

Mason Ritter: 4 hits

—————————————-

UNITY: 4

WEST HANCOCK: 7

—————————————-

ILLINI WEST: 5

LVC: 6

13 inning game

—————————————-

SOUTH SHELBY: 1

SALISBURY: 16

=========================

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER

HANNIBAL: 2

HICKMAN: 1

Malia Stolte: 2 goals, game winner in double OT

—————————————-

PLEASANT PLAINS: 5

QND: 0

=========================

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

MACOMB: 1

ILLINI WEST: 0

High School Sports

Check out the highlights and photo gallery from the Missisquoi Valley Union track and field meet!

On Monday, May 12, the Missisquoi Valley Union track and field team hosted its annual meet, with several schools in attendance, including Richford, Enosburg, and BFA-Fairfax High Schools. Here are the first-place finishes for Franklin County athletes. Visit athletic.net for full results. First-place finishes Boys 100m: Brody Wells, Enosburg 11.9 Girls 100m: Camrynn Slingerland BFA-Farifax […]

Published

13 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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