Area softball players earn All-State recognition

Five area players were among over 400 athletes recognized with All-State titles by the Illinois Coaches Association this past spring.

Unity seniors Madeline Reed and Taylor Henry, members of this year's state Class 2A third-place team, and St. Joseph-Ogden junior Shayne Immke were three area players to earn First Team honors out of nearly 600 softball players nominated across the state.

Unity's Ruby Tarr, a sophomore, was named to the second team for her performance as an infielder.

Addy Martinie, from St. Joseph Ogden High School, rounded out this year's area's best also at the infielder position.

Despite exiting early in postseason play, Martinie and Immke helped the Spartans to an impressive 25-9-1 record.

Along with bringing home their second consecutive IHSA softball trophy, the Rockets finished the season with 27 wins against nine losses.

Inaugural girls' eight-team SJO Country Financial Shootout next Saturday

Mahomet-Seymour's Reese Gallier and Hannah Creel move into position for a defensive rebound around Urbana's Janae Hall during their game last month. The Bulldogs are one of eight teams to play in the 1st Annual SJO Country Financial Shootout on December 16.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph-Ogden will host an eight-team girls' basketball shootout on Saturday, December 16. The first varsity contest tips off at 1 pm with Breese Central vs Pleasant Plains. Three hours later, the Spartans take the floor against Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond at the four-game event sponsored by Drew Arteaga Country Financial Insurance.

Addison Seggebruch and the Spartans play their Shootout game at 2 pm next Saturday against AL-AH. The upcoming shootout is the first hosted by SJO and Country Financial for girls. The event is a perfect tune-up for St. Joseph-Ogden, who will play at the State Farm Classic later this month.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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All the varsity games will be played in the Main Gym, while JV games will be in the school's practice gym. The junior varsity contests are slated to begin approximately two hours prior to the start of varsity matches.

"The matchups this year are exciting," says Justin Franzen, Activities Director at St. Joseph-Ogden and the event organizer. "We are not just hoping to get fans from all of these schools, but we hope to get overall basketball fans to this event."

Franzen said he hopes the place in hopping next Saturday.

"We hope basketball fans, parents, and students come out and support their teams," he said. "All of the JV games will be played in our practice gym, and all of the varsity games will be played in the main gym. As always, we hope the bleachers will be full and fans enjoy the experience."

All-day admission is $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for students with their student ID. Tickets are good for all eight contests at the shootout.

Breese Central, ranked #2 (MaxPreps) in Class 2A, is currently 8-0. The game between the Lady Cougars and #17-ranked Pleasant Plains (7-5) will be the game basketball fans won't want to miss.

After beating St. Joseph-Ogden last month, the Cardinals have played an early season schedule not for the faint of heart. They have chalked up victories over Moline, Edwardsville, Springfield Southeast, and Quincy Notre Dame.

~ Player Watch List ~

Breese Central:
Cece Toennies and Taylor Trame

Pleasant Plains:
Anna Weber

Richland County:
Kyrstin Weiler

Fieldcrest:
Kaitlin White

AL-AH:
Claire Seal, All-time leading scorer

SJO: Addi Seggebruch, Addison Frick, Addy Martinie

Eureka:
Sophia Musselman

Mahomet-Seymour:
Kylie Waldinger and Reese Gallier

Win or lose, participating players and coaches will leave with some nifty swag.

"From our Country Financial sponsorship, we are providing a free pullover to the head varsity coach and the head JV coach, and each JV and Varsity player will receive a free t-shirt as well," Franzen added. "This is our first 'Annual" girls basketball shootout we have hosted here at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

"We are glad to get the chance to do this for the players, coaches, and fans. We hope everyone has a great experience."

SJO Country Financial
Shootout Schedule

Adi Fraase grabs a loose ball for Pleasant Plains in November. The Cardinals will be back on the Main Gym floor to face Breese Central next week. The senior finished 3-for-4 from the free-throw line during her last visit to SJO.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Varsity:
1:00 PM:
Breese Central vs. Pleasant Plains

2:30 PM:
Richland County vs. Fieldcrest

4:00 PM:
ALAH vs. St. Joseph-Ogden

5:30 PM:
Eureka vs. Mahomet-Seymour

Junior Varsity
11:00 AM:
Breese Central vs. Pleasant Plains

12:30 PM:
Richland County vs. Fieldcrest

2:00 PM: 
ALAH vs. St. Joseph-Ogden

3:30 PM: 
Eureka vs. Mahomet-Seymour

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Turkey tournament starts Monday at SJO

St. Joseph-Ogden's Peyton Jones takes a shot during last November's first installment of SJO's first girls holiday basketball tournament. The Spartans will host the tournament once again with a new team this season. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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ST. JOSEPH -- The girls' basketball season officially starts on Monday with SJO hosting the Second Annual Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament. Mahomet-Seymour joins the four-team, round-robin style tournament replacing Urbana High School.

Spartans fans can catch the varsity program on the hardwood this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings at approximately 7:30p as the team will battle to defend their 2021 title against Tri-County, Centennial and the Bulldogs from Mahomet-Seymour. The SJO JV team will play in the school's practice gym at 6 pm on all three nights.

This year's St. Joseph-Ogden varsity squad includes Sammy Uden, Addi Seggebruch, Olivia Baltzell, Katie Ericksen, Addison Frick, Taylor Hug, Kaytlyn Baker, Addie Brooks, Sara Kearney, Addy Martinie, Kayla Osterbur, and Ellie Ward.

2nd Annual
TOYOTA OF DANVILLE
TURKEY TOURNAMENT

Monday, November 14th
JV: SJO JV vs. Tri-County JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Centennial JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Centennial vs. Mahomet-Seymour 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Tri-County 7:30 PM (Main Gym)

Tuesday, November 15th
JV: SJO JV vs. Centennial JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Tri-County JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Tri-County vs. Mahomet-Seymour 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Centennial 7:30 PM (Main Gym)

Thursday, November 17th
JV: SJO JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Tri-County JV vs. Centennial JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Tri-County vs. Centennial 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Mahomet-Seymour 7:30 PM (Main Gym)

Slideshow

Photo gallery from the Spartans' 2021 Turkey Tournament game against the Urbana Tigers.

Frick delivers game-high 3 RBI, SJO splits doubleheader on the road

The St. Joseph-Ogden softball squad split their doubleheader this morning against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammon.

In game one, the SJO faced Makenzie Brown, the best opposing pitcher the team has seen so far this season. Brown struck out 16 of the 23 Spartans she faced across seven innings to lead her team to a 2-1 victory on her home diamond.

Sophia Martlage winds up for a pitch against the Centennial Chargers. The senior went 3-for-4 and stole two bases in game two of the Spartans' road campaign against the Knights of ALAH.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Peyton Jones led SJO with 3 hits and plated a run on line drive to right field that allowed Sophia Martlage to score in the 5th inning. Jones added one stolen base and celebrated at double during the non-conference contest.

Down 2-1 at the top of the 6th and struggling to put the ball in play, the Spartans was able to put the ball in play just three more times across to frames.

Despite striking out just two batters, Martlage, who unloaded 47 strikes out of her 60 pitches, gave up two runs on six hits.

With Brown out of the way, game two was a different tale. St. Joseph-Ogden pounded out 13 hits to take the second game, 10-4.

Between the top of the 3rd and the start of the bottom, the Spartans scored seven runs to go up 7-1 on six singles and four walks.

Jones, Martlage, Halle Brazelton, Grace Goldenstein, Addy Martinie, Addison Frick and Audrey Short all scored in the rally.

Alyssa Acton earned the win in game two for SJO after a 75-pitch, five-inning appearance. She struck out three along the way.

The Spartan offense was led by the trio of Martlage, Hudson and Jones with three hits each. Frick, who had a game-high 3 RBI, and Short had two apiece of the team's 13.

St. Joseph-Ogden, who plays at home on Wednesday against Villa Grove, tallied seven stolen bases on the Knights.

Prep Sports Notebook | Area basketball scores & leaders

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After impressive first half Tigers fall to Trojans

Urbana - Kaya Hill turned a season-best performance on Thursday in Urbana's home basketball game against Charleston. The sophomore opened the non-conference contest with a pair of treys and shot 50% from the free throw line in the Tigers' 57-38 loss. Freshmen Lai'yonna Harper and Zion Reid added seven points each in the loss.

The Lady Trojans were led by Ally Langston's game-high 24 points. After scoring just one field goal in the first half, Langston exploded in the third quarter with 16 of Charleston's 24 points in the frame.

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Addy-ing it up

DANVILLE - St. Joseph-Ogden forward Addisyn Martinie scored ten points in the first quarter on her way to a game-high 18 points on Thursday in the Spartans' road game in Danville. Addison Frick nearly matched her performance with 17 points in SJO's 57-32 victory over the Vikings. Sophomore Addison Brooks, who drained three treys, rounded out the top scores for the team with nine points.

The Spartans improve to 2-2 on the season, enjoying a two-game win streak. St. Joseph-Ogden are back in action on the road Monday evening against Maroa-Forsyth.

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Unity knocks off ALAH by 14

ARTHUR - After a quiet first quarter, senior Raegen Stringer lit up the scoreboard with 24 points in Unity's 49-35 road win against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond. In addition to leading all scorers, Stringer grabbed five steals for the 5-3 Rockets.

Addison Ray and Claire Meharry collected four rebounds apiece, and Reagen Little, who finished eight points, snatched three. Ray connected three times from beyond the arc to finish the night with 11 points, and Meharry chipped in a field goal.

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SJO basketball team improves 2-0

ST. JOSEPH - Tanner Jacob paced St. Joseph-Ogden (2-0) with a dazzling 20-point display on his home court against Watseka at the Toyota of Danville Classic. He was one of three that help put away the Warriors early on Thursday night in SJO's 74-38 win.

Tanner Siems notched his first double-double of the season with 13 points and ten rebounds. Sporting a new aerodynamic haircut, Coy Taylor finished the game with ten points to round out the top three scorers. Luke Landrus was credit eight boards. Meanwhile, senior Logan Smith collected 1/3 of the team's 15 steals.

Tonight, the Spartans face Charleston in the final pool play game of the tournament. Tipoff this evening is scheduled for 8pm.