Sports

Salem senior Caleb Smith currently sits 2nd in the shot put and 4th in the discus heading into this morning’s finals. Freshman Madden Thompson failed to get out of the preliminaries. Thompson will join fellow freshmen Avery and Payton Gullion at the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia where they will compete in the high jump after qualifying over the course of this season. If you would like to help them by donating, there is a Go Fund Me setup and the link can be found in this story on our website or on either the WJBD Radio or A Seat Above The Stands Facebook page or contact me, Toby Gullion, via email at sports@wjbdradio.com.

The Salem Lady Wildcats gave up 6 runs in the top of the first inning and Effingham avenged an earlier season loss by knocking off Salem 9-1 in the 3a Regional finals from Highland. The Hearts got a big 2-run double and 2-run homer in the opening inning to help them to the comfortable start. Salem’s lone run would come on a solo homer from Lilly Blagoue, her 17th of the year, adding to her own single season mark for homers. It also puts a bow on 4-year starter Olivia Paulson. The catcher is the only senior on this team and will be missed. Paulson went 1-3 in her final game. Izzy Decker and Alivia Rasul also singled.

In Salem Little League softball action, Kaylee Carroll struck out 14 leading Max Dye past Bandy’s 4-0. She only gave up 1 hit over her five innings. Brinn Detmer and Jayla Tabor got Max Dye on the board in the first inning with RBI. They extended their lead with 2 more in the 3rd on RBI from Julianna Rushing and Carroll.

One thing is for sure, the NTC will again be represented in the Super-Sectional. Lion’s Field in Kinmundy is one of the crown jewels of high school baseball in the entire region and the great ball diamond will host a truly great game today as the host South Central Cougars will take on the Altamont Indians.

The Salem Wildcats got an RBI double from senior Josh Powless in the third inning and tacked on 5 insurance runs in the 7th to pull away from Mattoon 6-0 in their 3a Regional Semifinal played at SCHS Field. Keaton Gullion went 2-3 with an RBI for Salem who also got 2 hits from Rhett Detering and singles from Gavin Zimmermann, Jalen Inlow and Nate Paulson. Salem outhit Mattoon 10-2 thanks to the solid pitching of Noah Nix. The junior right hander allowed 2 hits and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts in the complete game shutout. Salem advances to the regional finals today against Effingham. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. but that will be pushed back a bit due to wet field conditions. No matter the time, we will have the action for you on Q92 and WJBDradio.com.

The Centralia Track and Field Team Dinner/Banquet was held yesterday. Arion Hill was named Most Valuable on the Track and Most Points Scored. Leonard Bratton was Most Valuable in the Field and Owen Worlds and Jaxson Hancock received the Golden Orphan Award.

Today is the preliminary round for the IHSA 1a/2a State Track Meets held at Eastern Illinois University. Salem will be represented by 2 athletes. Senior Caleb Smith will throw in the shot and discus as he finishes up a Hall of Fame career for the Cats this weekend before heading to Indiana University to throw for the Hoosier’s next season. Also tomorrow, freshman high jumper Madden Thompson will compete.

The Salem Lady Wildcats are in regional championship action today at Highland when they take on the Effingham Hearts. Salem is 25-7 on the season and has a win over Effingham this season. They shutout the Hearts at Tully Park way back on March 20th by a score of 7-0. Game time is at 4:30 and you can listen to the title game on WSIQ this afternoon.

The South Central Cougars will take on NTC rival Altamont today at Lions Field in Kinmundy in the Sectional championship. Game time scheduled for 11 a.m. SC knocked off Windsor/Stew-Stras in the semifinal while Altamont eliminated Okaw Valley. The winner advances to Monday’s Super Sectional against the winner from Goreville featuring Hardin County and Waltonville. Father McGivney will host Greenfield.

Longtime educator Pat Ashby was honored at the 2024 Centralia High School retirement ceremony Wednesday afternoon at CHS. “So, when I retire, I plan on playing some golf, and perhaps do a little bit of travel.”. Ashby, who spent 28 years in education and the last 19 years at CHS,...

Lazarus Lake has now covered more than 800 miles as the Barkley Marathons mastermind enters the midwestern state of Illinois on his epic challenge to walk across America. More than 50 days ago, the unique force of nature that is Lake left Delaware on April 1, and he is now just beyond Flora, in Illinois, heading towards Xenia, as he continues to shuffle along dusty, busy roads, making history with every step.

Christ Our Rock sophomore Landyn Mitchell has made the finals at the IHSA Class 1a State Track and Field Meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charelston. Mitchell won heat #1 of the 110m High Hurdles in a time of 15.34s edging Kyden Boyer of Marshall by :01. Mitchell will compete tomorrow in the state finals and will come in ranked #3 in time.

In City of Salem/YMCA Men’s Softball, Iuka State Bank beat SWAG/Pour House 15-0, Knights over 51/50 Misfits 22-8, Knights fell to Landers Towing 17-15.

SALEM -- Effingham High Schoolt triumphed over Charleston by a 4-0 count in the Class 3A Salem Baseball Regional Wednesday. The Hearts talllied a run in the bottom of the second when Spencer Fox stole home. EHS came back with three runs in the fifth inning. Kaiden Nichols earned the...

HARRISBURG, IL – Southeastern Illinois College (SIC) Women’s Bowling Team is thrilled to announce the signing of Kialee Hardin from Salem High School. Hardin signed her Letter of Intent last Thursday, officially becoming a Falcon for the upcoming season. “This is our first Salem Wildcat to come to...

The Salem Lady Wildcats are 27-4 as they open up Class 3a regional softball play today taking on Mattoon at Highland. Salem recently shutout Mattoon on the road 7-0 in a game played on May 15th. The Lady Cats have won 3 in a row entering post season play and 7 of their last 9. They are looking for repeat regional championships, having won a 2a title last year. First pitch slated for 4:30.

A pair of Salem Cheerleaders have signed their letters of intent making it official. Jillie Powless will cheer at the University of Southern Indiana as she was a four year varsity member of the Salem HS cheer squad and was elected to serve this year as senior captain. Reagan Lever...

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Mt. Vernon can now relate to. They fell just short of the Centralia Orphans by a score of 1-0 on Thursday. While getting shut out isn't ideal, Mt. Vernon has not been shut out since back in April.

The Altamont Indians used the power of the long ball, blasting four home runs in a 11-2 win over Okaw Valley in the second semifinal game of the South Central 1A Sectional on Wednesday in Kinmundy. The first long ball would come in the top of the first inning. Before that, a one out double from Dillan Elam and an advancement on a passed ball put Elam 90 feet from home. Nate Stuemke would hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Elam for a 1-0 Indians lead before a solo home run from Keegan Schultz would put Altamont up 2-0. Okaw Valley was able to match the Indians with a pair of runs to tie the game up at 2-2 to end the first inning. That would be all the scoring the Timberwolves would do in the game. The Indians themselves would be held scoreless across the second, third and fourth innings, but started moving things again late in the game. Kade Milleville reached base on an error to lead off the top of the fifth and Kaden Davis laid down a bunt and also reached base on an error to put runners at first and second. Elam would then send a line drive over the left field fence for a 3-run home run that would break the tie and put the Indians up 5-2 with no outs in the inning. After a walk from Stuemke, two strikeouts and a groundout ended the inning. The Indians picked things back up in the top of the sixth inning with Eli Miller drawing a one out walk and Milleville hitting a double to center to put two runners in scoring position. Davis would then clear the bases, with a home run to left field to tack on three more runs and put Altamont up 8-2. After Okaw Valley went three up, three down in the bottom of the sixth inning, Altamont immediately scored to start the top of the seventh with a leadoff solo home run from Schultz, his second homer of the game, to edge the Indian lead to 9-2. Ethan Robbins singled to reach base before being caught out at second on a fielder’s choice that allowed Clayton Arnold to reach base. With two outs in the inning, E. Miller drew a walk before Milleville singled to centerfield to score Arnold and put Altamont up 10-2. E. Miller would then score on a passed ball as the Altamont lead grew to 11-2. That run would wrap up the Altamont scoring as a pop out ended the inning. After Okaw Valley singled to lead off the inning, the Indians would catch the runner stealing and then get a groundout and strikeout to close out the 11-2 win and earn their spot in the South Central 1A Sectional Championship game. Altamont is 28-9 on the season and will take on NTC rival South Central in the title game at 11:00am on Saturday morning at Lions Field in Kinmundy.