Spartan softball team wins first game of the season

Over one hundred St. Joseph-Ogden softball fans filled the stands and the fence line at Randy Wolken Field to watch the Spartans win their first game at the newly renovated softball facility. See more photos from season opener here ...

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

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ST. JOSEPH - Grace Osterbur had a stellar performance in the Spartans' first win of the season against Salt Fork last Monday, collecting three hits and scoring twice in four at-bats.

The Storm put a tick on the scoreboard in the first inning after Alexa Jamison scored on a walk with bases loaded and two outs.

Facing Sailor Pacot from the circle, SJO pitcher Ameilia Huckstadt prevailed on a 2-2 count to halt further Salt Fork runs.

SJO's Grace Osterbur slides into home plate after tagging up on a ball to deep left field.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

The Spartans replied quickly with Osterbur getting things rolling after making it on base with a fly ball to left field. She would later score to tie the game at one-all thanks to a line drive to left field by Ellie Ward.

After shutting down the Storm's offensive effort in the top of the second inning, SJO added runs on a steal from third by Timera Blackburn-Kelley, and another run from Addison Frick's smash out to left field that scored Chloe Harper from third.

Harper finished the game with two hits and a pair of stolen bases.

The Storm scored two additional runs in the third and sixth innings but were unable to mount a comeback against SJO, who maintained a one-run or better lead on a beautiful spring day at Randy Wolken Field.

"It feels good to get the win, though it didn't play out the way the girls thought," said head coach Larry Sparks, who notched his 100th win as the head coach for SJO. "It was kind of an ugly win."

St. Joseph-Ogden scored six runs on 12 hits and committed no errors. Huckstadt earned the win after striking out nine. The sophomore hurler gave up seven hits and two runs. Blackburn-Kelley, also a sophomore, pitched two innings, retiring six batters at the plate and giving up a run on two hits.

"The pitchers threw well. The hitters will have their day next week," Sparks said. The Spartans have four games on the schedule this week, starting with Normal West on Monday and finishing up on Saturday at IVC, both road contests. "It was nice to face someone who wasn't wearing our colors."

Spartan fans can catch two home games, Tuesday against Westville and Thursday with Champaign Central, at beautifully remodeled Randy Wolken Field.

The Storm's season continues with a grueling back-to-back-to-back schedule this week, starting with a Vermilion Valley conference game against Oakwood on Monday. Tuesday, the Salt Fork is at Watseka, and back at home on Wednesday against Tri-County.

Jamison led Salt Fork with three hits and collected one of three RBI. Brilynn Barnett tallied two hits and scored once. Freshman Morgan Russell, Ava Ringstrom, Karlie McGee, and Pascot had one hit each in the team's first loss of the season.

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Photo of the day - October 17, 2020

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Wolken scripts decisive SJO win

Head coach Randy Wolken talks to his players during St. Joseph-Ogden's away game against Centennial in Champaign. Behind the pitching prowess of Alexandria Boaz, the Spartans pounded the Chargers 11-1 in the non-conference affair on April 9, 2014.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Memory Monday: '06 Spartans win state softball title

Spartan pitcher Morgan Finn winds up for a pitch against Casey-Westfield back on June 3, 2006, in her team's second consecutive state final appearance. In the previous season, Finn, who was the number 2 pitcher, and the Spartans brought home a third place state trophy to place next to the program's first, a fourth place one from 1989 season. Using her uncanny placement and speed, Finn's pitching led St. Joseph-Ogden to a 1-0 to victory to win the first program's first IHSA state softball title. Dubbed underdogs at the start of the postseason, SJO gave up just one run in during their memorable run to the Class 1A title. See more photos from 2006 softball season here. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Left: On their way to winning the state title the Spartans took a few lumps during the 2006 season. One of them was a 3-1 loss at home against the Monticello Sages on April 27. Here Spartan second base player Stacy Ferguson hauls in a pop fly for an out. Right: Despite the loss to the Sages there was still a reason to celebrate, team co-captain Abby Williams presents coach Randy Wolken with a memento for achieving his 648th career win after defeating Mt. Zion on the previous Saturday. Wolken would go on to become and currently remains the only softball coach in the state of Illinois to achieve over 1,000 career victories. His coaching ended with an impressive career record of 1,044-242. What makes those numbers even more impressive is that record was acquired coaching for just one program. (Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Catcher Brittany Morgan catches a congratulatory kiss from her nephew Blake after the Spartans beat Westmont 1-0 to advance to the championship game against Casey-Westfield for the Class A softball title on June 3. It was through Morgan's RBI that put fellow senior Abby Williams across the plate in the first inning for the semifinal game winner. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Left: Stacy Ferguson slides into second base on a steal for the Spartans. Coming off a back-to-back doubleheader loss to Casey-Westfield, St. Joseph-Ogden beat crushed the Unity Rockets, 8-0 on April 21. Ferguson was safe on the play. Right: Sarah Thompson leaps in the air to celebrate scoring the first and only run in Spartans' title game against Casey-Westfield. After falling to the Warriors twice in a twin bill earlier in the season, SJO held on to win their first Class A softball title Saturday evening, 1-0. (Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Left: Lindsey Barron gives a teammate a high-ten after Sarah Thompson scored a run for the Spartans. Two seasons later, Barron would break the state record in the number of stolen basis in a season with 92. Currently #2 on the IHSA list for career stolen bases, she took 254 extra bases while wearing the Spartan uniform from 2005-2008. Right: St. Joseph-Ogden students [left to right] Nick Krisman, Jesse Grice, and Mark Gones cheer for the school's softball team at the start of the awards ceremony. (Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Pandemonium. After the final out of the game frenzied chaos ensued as the members of St. Joseph-Ogden girls softball team celebrates their 1-0 win over Casey-Westfield. Screams of joy, laughter, non-stop hugs and tears consumed players, coaches, family members and fans prior to the start of the official awards ceremony. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

With teammate Stacy Buck all smiles beside here, St. Joseph-Ogden pitcher Morgan Finn wipes the non-stop tears of joy from her face as she and the member of the girls softball team receive their state first-place medals. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

The St. Joseph-Ogden softball team poses with their state medals and the program's first state champion softball trophy. The Class 1A title winners finished the season with a record of 31-6. The title run followed the previous year's third-place finish and 32-4 finish. Since this season, the Spartans have made three additional state finals appearances in 2012, 2015 and 2017 bringing home second, third and fourth place trophies. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Spartans win opener at Randy Wolken Field

ST. JOSEPH - Members of the St. Joseph-Ogden softball team pose at home plate with head coach Larry Sparks after their home opener with Salt Fork on their newly remodeled field on Tuesday. The Spartans won their first game on Randy Wolken Field and treated Sparks to his 100th coaching victory with the win over Storm, 6-3. SJO will take the field at their gorgeous new facility again next Tuesday after a road game against Normal West on Monday.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

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Photo of the Day - September 18, 2020

Senior day smiles

St. Joseph-Ogden senior Victoria Roberts is all smiles with her Senior Day cookie after SJO defeated St. Thomas More in their last home game of the season on May 10, 2012. The five-inning affair ended with the Spartans celebrating a 15-1 victory over the visiting Sabers. SJO went on to finish the season with a record of 41 wins and just one loss on their way to a third-place finish at the Illinois High School Association's state tournament in Peoria under head coach Randy Wolken.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Undefeated, top-rated SJO softball team finish the week, 4-0

In the first seven days of April and just nine games into the 2019 season, the legacy built by former St. Joseph-Ogden head coach Randy Wolken absolutely shows no sign of fading any time soon. Under first-year head coach Larry Sparks, the St. Joseph-Ogden softball team undoubtedly are once again sporting one of the largest bullseyes in Class 2A on their backs.

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Zoey Witruk winds up for a pitch against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley. The junior picked up three pitching wins in SJO's last four games. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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The 9-0 Spartans are chewing up opponents with the intensity of Category 4 storm. In their wake this week alone, SJO has tallied nine home runs and outscored their opponents 36-5 in four games.

Only three other teams in their division can boast a 9-game or better win streak this season.

Tuscola, on a collision course with the Spartans in less than a month on May 6, is also undefeated with 12 wins this season. The Warriors, placed in the southern quad by the IHSA, will be playing through the Johnson City super-sectional for their shot at a state appearance along with 9-0 Edwards County.

The Beecher Bobcats, who will be playing for the Joliet College super-sectional title, is also undefeated at 10-0.

The Spartans will play in the Olympia sectional with teams from Argenta-Oreana, Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin, Oakwood, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Maroa-Forsyth, Monticello, Unity, Warrensburg-Latham, and Westville.

Here's a brief recap of this past week's action:

Dowling plasters two homer runs
Alabama commit and USA junior national team member Baily Dowling wasn't joking around on April Fool's Day. The senior started the four-game week off with two home runs for SJO. Meanwhile, junior Hannah Dukeman sent a ball yard herself in the 9-0 shutout on Monday.

Adding another win to her record this season, Zoey Witruk gave up one hit and fanned 13 in the six-inning affair.

Box Score
St. Joseph-Ogden 1 0 2 0 5 1 - 9 - -
Maroa-Forysth __  0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 - -


Witruk records 13 K's on Villa Grove
Junior Zoey Witruk struck out 13 Blue Devil batters for SJO in their 7-2 win over Villa Grove on Tuesday, April 2.

St. Joseph-Ogden seniors Savannah Smith, Katie Poulter and Bailey Dowling logged two hits apiece. Freshman Kennedy Hudson also had pair of hits to help extend the team's undefeated streak to seven games.

Box Score
St. Joseph-Ogden 1 1 2 0 3 0 - 2 - -
Villa Grove _____  1 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 - -


SJO scores 11, in one inning
Hosting Lincoln High School on April 3, St. Joseph-Ogden needed just five innings to blast the Railsplitters, 17-2. The Spartans tallied 18 hits in the non-conference victory.

SJO pounded a stunning four home runs with bombs from Hannah Dukeman, Kaylee Ward, Katie Poulter and Lauren Trankina.

Dukeman, who delivered four RBI, and Poulter tallied three hits apiece.

Ashtyn Cromwell threw a complete game for the win.

Box Score
St. Joseph-Ogden 1 1 11 5 - - - 17 - -
Lincoln ______      0 0  1 1 - - -   2 - -


Spartans score three runs on Tri-Valley
In a complete game from Zoey Witruk the Spartans knocked off the Vikings, 3-1. Witruk, who gave up four hits, struck out 14 batters in the road victory. Katie Poulter put the ball out of the park for the ninth Spartan home run for the week. Catcher Hannah Dukeman notched two hits on Saturday.

Box Score
St. Joseph-Ogden 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 - -
Tri-Valley ____      0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 - -

14 earn softball varsity letters, dynamic duo share MVP

Fourteen members from the St. Joseph-Ogden softball program were awarded varsity letters for their contribution to this season's 22-10 record and 11th consecutive regional title.

"We graduated four seniors who made a lot contributions for the Spartans over the past four years," said first-year head coach Larry Sparks.

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Ashtyn Cromwell winds up for a pitch on April 8 against visiting Rantoul at Randy Wolken Field. Cromwell, who was awarded the Brittany Rodgers Award at the end of the season, pitched 57.2 innings this season and finished her final prep season 8-3 from the circle. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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This season's seniors earning varsity letters were Ashtyn Cromwell, Hannah Lewis, Katie Poulter and Savannah Smith.

Cromwell pitched 57.2 innings and closed out her final year high school softball with an 8-3 record from the circle. She was also awarded the Brittany Rogers Award.

Lewis, also a pitcher, appeared in eight games. She struck out five batters in role this spring and was winner of the Jennifer Esworthy Award.

In her 95 trips to the plate, Poulter batted a respectable .326. She was a large contributor to SJO's success recording 31 hits and scoring 28 of the team's combined 288 runs this year. She also chipped in six homers to help break the program record for home runs in a season.

The Spartan program used to be well-known for its ability to take extra bases, almost at will, to run up game scores. In this new era of SJO softball, it is players' ability to put the ball over the fence that is becoming the new trademark. The team pummeled 58 home runs this spring surpassing the previous school mark of 52 in a single season.

Smith finished her final prep season with 40 hits and knocked in 34 runs. She scored 25 runs in the 32 games she played.

Look for the Spartans to be just as sharp offensively in the 2020 season.

"We are extremely happy to be returning most of our lineup for next season," Sparks said. "We will be returning nine players who lettered and got a lot of game experience this past season."

Returning letter winners next spring will include freshmen Kennedy Hudson and Jacey Lewis, both who earned Rookie-of-the-Year recognition from the teammates. Sophomores Raegan Crippen, Sophia Martlage, Audrey Short, Lauren Trankina, and Kaylee Ward are also expected to return as juniors to make a huge impact and support the star-studded senior class.

Alabama commit Bailey Dowling, two-sport standout Hannah Dukeman and veteran pitcher Zoey Witruk, who will be seniors in just a few short months, round out the letters recipients for the season. Expectations are high that the trio will lead the Spartans to the state finals in East Peoria next June.

Dowling, who owns healthy set of IHSA home run records, and Dukeman, an explosive hitter at the plate as well, shared this year's Most-Valuable-Player Award.

"Yes, we have co-MVP’s this season," said Sparks. "Bailey Dowling had another monster offensive season while also fielding at .960. The other winner was Hannah Dukeman, who like Dowling had a monster year offensively and defensively as well."

Dukeman led the team offense putting 50 runs across the plate, scoring 52 times herself all while hitting .545 across 32 games this season. She also hit 13 home runs this spring.

Dowling is well on her way to becoming a legend in Illinois high school softball.

With her junior year in the books, Dowling has a state record and program best 65 career home runs to her credit. She has hit 21 or more home runs in a single season three consecutive times. A member of the USA Junior National Olympic team this summer, she was walked 31 times this season tying slugger Elizabeth Everingham with the same number in the St. Joseph-Ogden record book.

"They were both First Team All-State and All-Area," Sparks said, listing the duo's 2019 accolades. "They were unanimous First Team All-IPC Conference. Both were picked MVP by the players and coaches."

Dowling and Dukeman shared another award along with Savannah Smith. All three were recipients of the team's Gold Glove Award. Smith also won Most-Improved-Player recognition from her teammates and coaches.

Dowling breaks IHSA record

It was bound to happen this season and it finally did. Yesterday, St. Joseph-Ogden shortstop Bailey Dowling became Illinois' most prolific softball home run hitter in IHSA history.

After tying the record of 60 set by Benet Academy's Stephanie Abello in 2015 on Thursday, Dowling hit a pair of dingers to raise the career home run bar to 62.

In her first trip to the plate against visiting Charleston, the Alabama commit crushed the ball over the right field fence. The second shot, her 19th home run of the season, soared over the left field fence pushing the all-time record to 62 by the future Olympic junior national player.

She is now one home run shy from being the first Illinois prep softball player to hit 20 home runs in three consecutive seasons. She pummeled 22 her freshman season at SJO and 21 last spring as a sophomore. Heading into the postseason semifinal against Monticello later today, chances are she will add at least one or more to the total she now commands.

With another season left in her prep career, Dowling could very well hold the career record for ... well, like former Spartan head coach Randy Wolken's career 1,043 win total, ... forever.

Despite her historic, record-making performance, the Spartans (20-9) fell 15-4 to the Trojans in their last regular season contest on the 2019 season.

Hannah Dukeman, also a junior, contributed two RBI in the non-conference loss.

Spartans softball team opens season with a win

Players from the St. Joseph-Ogden softball team welcome first base player Alyssa Acton to home plate after her two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning during their season opener on Randy Wolken Field against visiting Centennial on Wednesday. SJO produced 13 hits on the day for the first win of the season to beat the Chargers, 14-7. More game photos coming soon.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Photo Gallery |Softball opening day! SJO and Salt Fork square off

Salt Fork shortstop Alexa Jamison tries to tag out Spartan Addison Frick on steal attempt during St. Joseph-Ogden's first softball game at the newly renovated Randy Wolken Field on Tuesday. SJO took the lead in the bottom of the second inning to win the nonconference battle, 6-3. Frick, a senior, collected one hit, two stolen bases, and an RBI to start her final season of prep softball. Jamison led her team with one run, three of their nine hits and an RBI. See more photos from this game below.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

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