Blue Ridge Softball 7, Fisher 2

FISHER, Ill. -- Jordan Wheeler improved her pitching record to 6-2.

She also hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Melinda Wilson added a solo home run in the seventh inning.

Taylor Builta had two hits.

With the win, the Lady Knights increase their record to 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the Heart of Illinois Confrence. They will play at Villa Grove today.

Fisher 12, Blue Ridge Baseball 2

FISHER, Ill. -- The Knights could not get in a sixth inning before the 10-run went into effect.

C.J. Bishop took the loss on the mound, decreasing his record to 0-3. He also doubled in the second inning.

Bishop would eventually make his way to home plate for Blue Ridge's first run of the game.

Tucker Johnson drove in the Knights' other run in the third inning, sending Will Duggins to home plate.

With the loss, Blue Ridge falls to 3-9 overall and 0-2 in the Heart of Illinois Conference. The Knights will host a game today against Clinton at 4:30 p.m.

Blue Ridge Sports Roundup: April 3, 2012

Baseball

BLUE RIDGE 21, BUCKLEY CHRIST LUTHERAN 6

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- Will Duggins drove in five runs and had three hits to lead the Knights.

Tucker Johnson won his first decision for Blue Ridge after striking out eight batters.

The Knights improve to 3-8 with the win. They will travel to Fisher today for a 4:30 p.m. game as well.

Softball

MONTICELLO 3, BLUE RIDGE 2

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- Jordan Wheeler struck out 10 batters, but allowed nine hits in a nonconference loss to decrease her pitching record to 5-2.

She also hit a solo home run in the first inning and finished the game with two hits. Melinda Wilson contributed three hits.

With the loss, Blue Ridge falls to 6-3. The Lady Knights will travel to Fisher today for a 4:30 p.m. game.

TRACK AT CLINTON MEET

Boys team scores

1. Tolono Unity 149; 2. Clinton 77.5; 3. LeRoy 43; 4. Colfax Ridgeview 36; 5. Argenta-Oreana 32.5; 6. Blue Ridge 29.

Girls team scores

1. Clinton 132; 2. Tolono Unity 96; 3. Argenta-Oreana 58; 4. LeRoy 51; 5. Colfax Ridgeview 25.5; 6. Blue Ridge 6.5.

Individual results

Boys 100 -- 7. Coale Dolbert, 12.26; 9. Justin Bailey, 12.39; 14. Wes Thompson, 12.74.

Girls 100 -- 9. Tia Morrow, 14.29.

Boys 200 -- 7. Josh McQuaid, 25.55; 9. Justin Bailey, 25.74.

Girls 200 -- 15. Tia Morrow, 30.83.

Boys 400 -- 15. Wes Foulks, 1:06.0; 17. Chris Ohlenkamp, 1:08.1; 18. Quintan Butson, 1:17.54.

Girls 400 -- 4. Korie Reynolds, 1:07.93.

Boys 800 -- 11. Chris Ohlenkamp, 2:47.02; 13. Quintan Butson, 2:50.84.

Boys 1,600 -- 10. J.D. Strum, 6:00.68; 12. David Hardin, 6:04.05.

Boys 300 hurdles -- 1. Coale Dolbert, 46.77; 10. Wayne Morrow, 57.41.

Girls 300 hurdles -- 7. T'Ann Crozier, 59.31.

Boys 4x100 relay -- 2. Justin Bailey, Coale Dolbert, Josh McQuaid, Joe Smith, 48.57.

Boys 4x200 relay -- 3. Justin Bailey, Joe Smith, Josh McQuaid, James Risler, 1:41.18.

Girls 4x200 relay -- 5. Bailey Clancy, Savannah Houtchins, Katie Meiss, T'Ann Crozier, 2:14.82.

Boys 4x400 relay -- 4. J.J. Malone, Wes Foulks, James Risler, Joe Smith, 4:00.66.

Boys 4x800 relay -- 5. Quintan Butson, Wes Foulks, Chris Ohlenkamp, J.D. Strum, 11:14.84.

Boys shot put -- 20. C.J. Phillips, 24-8 1/2.

Girls shot put -- 7. Korie Reynolds, 26-4.

Boys discus -- 5. J.D. Strum, 86-10.

Girls discus -- 9. Jeana Cheek, 55-5; 19. Jessica Phillips, 37-4; 20. Savannah Houtchins, 37-2; 21. Katie Phillips, 36-7.

Boys high jump -- T-1. Coale Dolbert, 5-10.

Girls high jump -- T-4. Bailey Clancy, 4-4.

Boys long jump -- 5. Joe Smith, 18-4 3/4; 6. James Risler, 18-4 1/2.

Girls long jump -- 4. Bailey Clancy 13-4; 5. Tia Morrow, 13-2 1/2; 7. Katrina Medernach, 10-6 1/2.

Blue Ridge Softball 9, LeRoy 5

LEROY, Ill. -- Jordan Wheeler struck out 12 batters en route to allowing only one earned run on the mound.

Wheeler also hit two doubles and drove in a couple of runs at the plate.

With the win, the Lady Knights improve their record to 6-2. They will host Monticello today.

LeRoy 2, Blue Ridge Baseball 0

LEROY, Ill. -- The Knights produced a total of four hits to fall to 2-8 on the season.

Clint O'Neal got two of those hits for Blue Ridge, finishing the game batting 2-for-2 at the plate.

The Knights will host Buckley Christ Lutheran today.

Farmer City Raceway Results: March 31, 2012

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- Jimmy Mars was the winner of the Illini 100 while Gary Cook Jr. took the checkered flag in the Illini 50.

CRATE LM

Feature -- 1. Kolby Vandenbergh, Ashland; 2. Chuck Barnes, East Peoria; 3. Russ Adams, Princeville; 4. Evan Fink, Glasford; 5. Brad Willis Jr.; 6. Nick Bauman, New Berlin; 7. Dick Taylor; 8. Logan Moody, Catlin; 9. Bryon Ray, Marquette Heights; 10. Brad Willis Sr., East Peoria; 11. Tim Provenzano; 12. Dustin Mounce, Flanagan.

STREET STOCK

Feature -- 1. Jesse Simmons; 2. Mike McKinney, Plainfield; 3. Jordan Smith, Villa Grove; 4. Don Hilleary, Pepineoe; 5. Jeff Semmons, Pontiac; 6. A.J. Wright, Danville; 7. Larry Russell, Decatur; 8. David Shain, Humboldt; 9. Jonathon Drake, Decatur; 10. Jeremiah Hoadley, Decatur; 11. Matt Maier, Thomasboro; 12. Caleb Wankel; 13. Dave Weaver III; 14. Eric Wilson, Downs; 15. Travis Thrasher, Clinton.

HORNETS

Feature -- 1. Joe Reed, Decatur; 2. Eric Wisher; 3. David Lauritson, Normal; 4. Peter Hayes, Romeoville; 5. Larry Hawk, Champaign; 6. Adam Webb, Decatur; 7. Josh Smith, Clinton; 8. Jeremy Reed, Decatur; 9. Jim Wilson, Towanda; 10. Damon Sandlia; 11. Josh Nimrick; 12. Brian Wilson, Colfax; 13. Joe McDannald; 14. Andrew Sharwarko, Henry.

Blue Ridge Softball 5, Argenta-Oreana 2

OREANA, Ill. -- Jordan Wheeler stuck out 11 batters to lead the Lady Knights to a 5-2 win over the Bombers.

With the complete-game performance, Wheeler improved to 4-1 on the mound.

Blue Ridge produced three runs in the seventh inning to pull away. Melinda Wilson hit 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs.

With the win, the Lady Knights increase their record to 5-2. They will travel to LeRoy for a 4:30 p.m. Game on Monday.

Monticello 9, Blue Ridge Baseball 1

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- The Knights scored their only run in the sixth inning and produced three hits at the plate.

They also committed five errors in the field.

Clint O'Neal took the loss on the mound, striking out three batters and allowing five earned runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings of work.

With the loss, Blue Ridge falls to 2-7. The Knights will travel to LeRoy for a game on Monday.

Mahomet-Seymour 3, Blue Ridge Softball 1

MAHOMET, Ill. -- Despite hitting two doubles, Jordan Wheeler took the loss on the mound for the Lady Knights.

With the defeat, Blue Ridge falls to 4-2. The team will play a doubleheader at Argenta-Oreana on Saturday.

Blue Ridge Track Performs at Clinton Outdoor Meet on Tuesday

Boys 100 -- 8. Wes Thompson, 12.28; 11. Coale Dolbert, 12.35; 13. Justin Bailey, 12.52; 20. Wayne Morrow, 13.46.

Girls 100 -- 9. Tia Morrow, 14.39; 16. Katie Phillips, 16.32.

Boys 200 -- 10. Josh McQuaid, 25.15; 16. Wes Thompson, 26.32; 21. Wayne Morrow, 32.36.

Girls 200 -- 19. Tia Morrow, 32.54.

Boys 400 -- 16. Wayne Morrow, 1:09.29; 17. Wes Foulks, 1:09.86; 18. Chris Ohlenkamp, 1:10.36; 19. Quintan Butson, 1:12.42.

Boys 800 -- 1. J.J. Malone, 2:23.8; 16. Chris Ohlenkamp, 2:44.28; 17. Quintan Butson, 2:44.51.

Girls 800 -- 20. Kaitlyn Zelhart, 4:07.49.

Boys 1,600 -- 1. J.J. Malone, 4:58.82; 10. J.D. Strum 5:57.43; 14. David Hardin, 6:40.64.

Boys 3,200 -- 10. David Hardin, 13:36.64.

Boys 4x100 relay -- 5. 50.11.

Girls 4x100 relay -- 8. 1:00.95.

Boys 4x200 relay -- 6. 1:43.07.

Girls 4x200 relay -- 7. 2:16.61.

Boys 4x400 relay -- 6. 4:13.09.

Girls Discus -- 19. Jeana Cheek, 48-5; 22. Savannah Houtchins, 36-9; 23. Jessica Phillips, 36-5.

Boys high jump -- T-3. Coale Dolbert, 5-8.

Girls high jump -- 10. Bailey Clancy, 4-2.

Boys long jump -- T-5. James Risler, 17-5 1/2; 7. Joe Smith, 17-3; 16. Wayne Morrow, 14-2 1/2.

Girls long jump -- 10. Bailey Clancy, 12-5 1/4; 13. Katrina Medernach, 10-6.

Blue Ridge Baseball Beats Warrensburg-Latham in Extra Innings

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Ben Wells hit a game-winning RBI single to score Trever Jones.

The score gave the Knights a 4-3 win over the Cardinals.

Conner Builta improves his record to 2-0 on the pitcher's mound with a five-hit complete game. He struck out 16 Warrensburg-Latham batters.

With the win, Blue Ridge improves to 2-6. The Knights will play another home game today at 4:30 p.m. against Monticello.

Blue Ridge Sports Roundup: March 24, 2012

Softball

Game 1 -- BLUE RIDGE 18, CERRO GORDO 0

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- Jordan Wheeler achieved perfection on the mound and dominance at the plate against the Broncos in the Lady Knights's five-inning win.

She added a three-run homer to her perfect game.

Jamison Brandt and Kylee Beck each had two hits. Brandt scored four runs while Beck drove in four.

Game 2 -- BLUE RIDGE 15, CERRO GORDO 0

FARMER CITY, Ill. --  Jordan Wheeler hit a two-run dinger.

Melinda Wilson had a home run as well and drove in three runs. Liz Cordes had two RBIs and three runs on three hits.

Cheye Beres finished the game with two hits and batted in three runs. 

With the two wins over Cerro Gordo, Blue Ridge improves to 4-1. The Lady Knights will take the diamond on Tuesday, when they travel to Mahomet-Seymour for a 5 p.m. game.

Baseball

Game 1 -- CERRO GORDO 7, BLUE RIDGE 2

Game 2 -- CERRO GORDO 13, BLUE RIDGE 10

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- Conner Builta finished the doubleheader with three hits, two RBIs and two runs.

With the losses, the Knights fall to 1-6 on the season. They will host Warrensburg-Latham on Monday at 4:30 p.m.



Blue Ridge Baseball 7, South Piatt 0

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- Conner Builta led the Knights to their first victory of the season with a dominating performance on the mound.

Builta pitched a one-hit shutout in which he struck out 13 batters and walked four of them. He was productive at the plate as well, hitting 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base.

Clint O'Neal and Jeremy Dubson each drove in two runs to boost Blue Ridge's offensive production.

The Knights (1-4) will host a doubleheader against Cerro Gordo on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.

Blue Ridge Sports Roundup -- March 21, 2012

ARMSTRONG, Ill. -- The softball Lady Knights beat Armstrong-Potomac 14-0 in five innings.

Jordan Wheeler was one out away from a perfect game, but an error ended the chance. She settled for a one-hit shutout in which she struck out 12 batters.

Wheeler is now 2-0 on the season.

Cheye Beres led Blue Ridge at the plate, getting four RBIs on two hits. Melinda Wilson drove in two runs on a couple of hits while Kylie Beck went 2-for-2 wit three runs and two walks.

With the win, the Lady Knights are now 2-1. They will host a doubleheader against Cerro Gordo on Saturday at 11 a.m.

The baseball Knights, meanwhile, will host Bement today at 4:30 p.m. looking for their first win after losing to Armstrong-Potomac 7-2.

Quincy Crawford drove in Blue Ridge's only two runs, scoring Conner Builta and Ben Wells with a single in the seventh inning.

The Knights combined for only three hits.

With the loss, Blue Ridge falls to 0-4 on the season.

Argenta-Oreana 17, Blue Ridge Baseball 0

ARGENTA -- Michael Cummins threw a perfect game for the Bombers.

With the loss, Blue Ridge falls to 0-3 on the season. The Knights travel to Armstrong today.

Blue Ridge Sports Roundup: March 17, 2012

SOFTBALL
Game 1
Blue Ridge 3, Tolono Unity 1

TOLONO, Ill. -- Jordan Wheeler struck out 10 batters while only allowing three hits and one walk.

Wheeler also had two hits and two RBIs at the plate.

Game 2

Tolono Unity 6, Blue Ridge 5

TOLONO, Ill. -- Liz Cordes took the loss on the mound for the Lady Knights.

BASEBALL

Game 1

Hoopeston-Area 2, Blue Ridge 1

HOOPESTON, Ill. -- Conner Builta had a no-hitter going through six innings.

With two outs in the seventh inning, however, Hoopeston-Area scored the tying run. The Cornjerkers tallied the winning run in the eighth inning, giving Will Duggins the loss on the mound.

Builta went 3-for-4 in the contest.

Game 2

Hoopeston-Area 7, Blue Ridge 6

HOOPESTON, Ill. -- Jon Jones took the loss on the mound for the Knights.

LeRoy Regional Championship Game: Ridgeview 43, Blue Ridge Boys Basketball 36

LEROY -- The clock struck midnight midway through the fourth quarter for the Cinderella Knights.

After entering the fourth quarter up by two points, Blue Ridge increased its lead to 36-30.

From there, however, the Knights could not score a single point. The Mustangs, meanwhile, went on a 13-0 run to win the game.

Ridgeview's Trevor McIntosh hit a 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining to put his team up 37-36.

Michael Plunk led Blue Ridge with 14 points. Will Duggins contributed 12 points and six rebounds.

With the loss, Blue Ridge ends its season with a 10-20 record. Michael Plunk could not advance in the Three-Point Showdown.

Blue Ridge Boys Basketball Advanes to LeRoy Regional Championship Game with 44-31 Win over Lexington

LEROY -- Unlike last year's regional championship team, this year's Knights went into the postseason with a losing regular-season record at 8-19.

With Wednesday's 44-31 upset victory over No. 2-seeded Lexington in the LeRoy Regional semifinals, No. 3 Blue Ridge achieved the only record that matters in the postseason: 2-0.

"We talked about how, last Friday in El Paso, we kind of got skunked, but I told them how every team is 0-0," Blue Ridge coach Kyle Watson said. "It doesn't matter what the records are once you go to the postseason, and now we're 2-0. Hopefully, we can keep our Cinderella run going."

The Knights advanced to their second consecutive regional championship game thanks to a defense that played one of the best games it played all year. Blue Ridge held the Minutemen to a total of eight points or less in each quarter.

In the first quarter, the Knights held Lexington to four points in the first 4:24 to race out ot a 11-4 lead. Michael Plunk scored seven points during that run to lead Blue Ridge offensively.

The Knights ended the first quarter with a 13-8 lead. Despite only scoring four points (all by Travys Nichols) in the second quarter, they went into halftime leading 17-16 by holding the Minutemen to eight points in that quarter.

"Defense wins championships," Watson said. "We've talked about that so many times before. We didn't play great defense at Gibson City on Thursday, we didn't very good defense in Monticello at Christmas time, and we didn't play good defense in [the] McLean County [Tournament]. We preach to our kids to keep working on our defense. This is the biggest tournament that's left. We kind of gave up 62 to Calvary the other night. We'd been working on our defense yesterday in practice and today in the walk-through, and we held a very athletically-talented Lexington team to 31 points."

Nichols also scored eight points in the third quarter to help Blue Ridge end the quarter with a 27-24 lead. He also contributed defensively, drawing two charging calls on Lexington that helped put the Knights in the bonus.

Before Michael Plunk sank two free throws with 16.1 seconds left in the third quarter, Blue Ridge did not attempt a single free throw in the game, as Watson pointed out to a referee with 1:10 remaining in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights scored 11 of their 17 points on 11-of-16 shooting at the charity stripe, including an 8-for-10 effort from Michael Plunk.

"Free throws win or lose games," Watson said.

Michael Plunk led Blue Ridge offensively with 17 points while Nichols contributed 14 points. Tucker Johnson added eight points.

Meanwhile, the Knights held the Minutemen to seven points in the fourth quarter. Taylor Schneider finished the game leading Lexington in scoring with seven points while Michael Baker tied with Jonny Meints with six points.

"[There was] great defense not only by Will Duggins, who was chasing Baker all night, but great defense by Mark Plunk on Schneider," Watson said. "That's a great job by the kids. I can't be more proud of our kids right now.

Watson also said one of his assistant coaches, Garie Brock, helped him devise a game plan that led to the Knights' stifling defense.

"Coach Brock went and scouted Lexington last Friday night," Watson said. "He ran the Lexington sets in practice yesterday. He had the scouting report tonight. He screamed out to our kids exactly what the offense is that they're running. It was a great job by my assistant coaches. This was a win by our staff. I can't be proud of not only my kids, but I can't be more proud of my coaching staff."

Blue Ridge will look for its second straight regional championship on Friday night. The Knights will face Ridgeview at 7:30 p.m.

"We kind of had the Cinderella slippers on long enough tonight to pull off an upset," Watson said. "They're the No. 1 seed, we're the No. 3 seed. We've just got to hope that our Cinderella slippers don't slip off and that we can make a little bit of a run here. We're playing our best basketball of the year, and this is the perfect time to play your best basketball of the year."

Ridgeview lost to Blue Ridge two weeks ago after beating the Knights last December in the Monticello Holiday Hoopla.

The No. 1-seeded Mustangs earned the trip to the regional title game with a 66-39 victory over LeRoy in the semifinals.

"Hopefully, Ridgeview doesn't shoot the way they shot tonight, because they shot the lights out tonight," Watson said. "Man, did they shoot the lights out tonight. They beat us at Christmas time. We beat them two weeks ago on Friday night. I told our kids, 'It sure would be awful great to be playing them in two weeks,' and now we are."

Sports Thread's in the Bonus

Michael Plunk advanced to the final round of the Three-Point Showdown by making eight 3-pointers in the semifinals.

He will shoot prior to the LeRoy Regional title game along with Schneider and Josh Jackson of Lexington and Normal Calvary Christian's Kyle Freeze.

Jon Jones made four shots, but will not advance to Friday's regional final.

LeRoy Regional: Blue Ridge Boys Basketball 44, Lexington 31 (box score)

Blue Ridge (44)
Mark Plunk 0 0-0 0, Jon Jones 0 1-2 1, Trenor Hildreth 0 0-0 0, Michael Plunk 3 10-12 17, Will Duggins 2 0-0 4, C.J. Bishop 0 0-0 0, Travys Nichols 7 0-0 14, Josh Plunk 0 0-0 0, Tucker Johnson 3 2-4 8, Clint O'Neal 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 13-18 44
Lexington (31)
Taylor Schneider 2 3-4 7, Michael Baker 3 0-0 6, Chris Collins-Terry 2 0-0 4, Josh Jackson 1 0-0 3, Donavan Laible 0 0-0 0, Jonny Meints 2 2-4 6, Nick Barkes 2 0-0 5. Totals 12 5-8 31
Blue Ridge      13      4      10      17      -- 44
Lexington      8      8      8      7      -- 31
3-pointers -- Blue Ridge (Mi. Plunk). Lexington 2 (Jackson, Barkes).
(Blue Ridge -- 10-19; next: Friday vs. Ridgeview in LeRoy Regional championship game, 7:30 p.m.)

BLUE RIDGE BOYS BKB UPDATE: The Knights advance to the regional title game with a 44-31 win over Lexington.