The Jacksonville Crimsons baseball team notched three wins this week in the heart of their conference schedule. Ryan Luconic pitched a complete game shutout 3-hitter over Piasa-Southwestern on the road on Monday, April 7. Luconic struck out eight batters and walked three. The Jacksonville offense had 10 total hits and scored 3 runs on 4 errors by Southwestern. Routt Catholic transfer AJ Charpentier continued his dominance on the pitching mound this season, throwing his second straight 1-hitter, and almost a perfect game against Springfield on Tuesday, April 8. Charpentier threw 6 perfect innings before surrendering a single in the bottom of the 7th on the first batter. He would retire the remaining batters in the inning en route to the win and 6 strikeouts. Anderson Decker hit an inside-the-park home run to lead the Crimsons’ offense to a 5-3 win over Lanphier at Future Champions Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 9th. Some rocky pitching through the middle innings allowed Lanphier to get within a run in the middle innings. Decker and Joe Reif supplied the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cy Kershaw came on in the sixth and pitched the last two innings, shutting out Lanphier on one hit, striking out six, and issuing no walks.The Jacksonville Crimson notched their fourth win of the week on a 2-hit shutout hurled by Ryan Headen against Athens, winning 5-0. Headen went all seven, striking out seven and walking one. The Crimsons played small ball winning on 5 hits and 5 walks. The Crimsons are currently 8-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
The Jacksonville Crimsons softball and girls’ soccer teams had a rough time this week. They had no wins and one tie between them.
Routt Catholic High School’s baseball team had an equally rough week. They are currently on a three-game losing streak. On Monday, a 4-run 9th inning by the Brown County Hornets ended Routt’s perfect record to start the season. Brown County finished with 12 hits off of Routt’s top area pitchers Brady Turner and Brock Runyon, including 3 in the final frame that drove in winning runs during the rally. Routt finished with nine hits. Eli Olson and Talon Thompson had three hits apiece – including two doubles by Thompson and one by Olson. Routt fell to a WIVC Conference foe for the second game in a row on Thursday, losing 6-4. Calhoun scored in four of the first five innings to build up a 6-1 lead. Routt mounted a comeback with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Calhoun remains undefeated on the season at 7-0. The Routt offense struggled with Calhoun starter Jack Goode, as they managed only 5 hits in the game. The Rockets wrapped up the week on Friday with their third straight loss, falling to Sacred Heart-Griffin in the final inning 7-6. Brady Turner went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead the Rockets in the losing effort. Routt is currently 7-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Routt softball managed to get a game in this week after a rain out on Monday. The Lady Rockets were thrashed by one of the top WIVC teams, the Calhoun Lady Warriors, on Thursday 16-0. The Lady Warriors teed off on 9 runs in the top of the second inning to put Routt away in 4 innings. Calhoun moved to 3-0 in conference play and 9-2 overall. Routt was no-hit in the ballgame, and took their first conference loss at home. The Lady Rockets are now 0-4 and 0-1 in conference play on the season.
Illinois College softball had a busy week. The Illinois College softball team recorded its first conference sweep of the season, taking a pair from Lawrence on Monday at Jessica Kamp Field. IC took the opening game, 10-2 in six innings, and then rallied late to post a 4-3 victory in the nightcap. On Wednesday, the 14th ranked Washington University softball team took a doubleheader from Illinois College The Bears won the opening contest, 3-1, and completed the sweep with a 5-1 win in the nightcap. : IC split its first Midwest Conference road doubleheader on Saturday at the Strong Stadium Complex. IC took the opening contest 6-0 before Beloit bounced back to win the nightcap, 3-2. The Lady Blues are now 13-15 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
The Illinois College baseball team continued its strong conference campaign with a doubleheader sweep of Cornell College on Saturday at Ash Park Field. The Blueboys improved to 18-11 overall on the season and 6-4 in Midwest Conference play.
The Illinois College men’s tennis team pitched shutouts on Wednesday against Westminster on the road, and then topped Ripon and Lawrence at home on Saturday. The IC Men’s Golf Team secured a fourth-place finish at their 2025 Blueboy Invitational on Friday afternoon at The Rail Golf Course.
