Aces Soccer Report

From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS Soccer Aces recently finished a very busy week, hosting Vincennes Rivet on Saturday and losing 2 - 5, then traveling to Newton on Monday and losing 1 - 4. Against Rivet, the visitors scored the first goal of the game in the 24th minute, then added 2 more before the half to hold a 3 goal lead at the break. The Aces cut into the deficit by scoring 2 goals, one by Rayce Loudermilk assisted by Britton Heinrich, then with Heinrich scoring assisted by Kaleb Johnson. Rivet scored twice in the 2nd half, with their last goal coming with just a couple minutes left. The Aces took 22 shots, 18 on frame, had 5 additional chances created & 16 interceptions. Tye Kanipe had 1 save. Rivet took 10 shots, 6 on frame.

At Newton, the Aces fell behind early, with Newton scoring in the 6th minute of play. They added to their lead in the 26th minute before Beau Stipp scored on an assist from Rayce Loudermilk to cut into the Aces' deficit. Newton would score again before the half ended to take the 1 - 3 lead heading in to the 2nd half. The Eagles added their last goal midway through the 2nd half to effectively put the game out of reach. The Aces took 8 shots, 6 on frame, had 1 additional chance created & 6 interceptions. Tye Kanipe had 11 saves. Newton took 15 shots, 10 on frame.

Finishing this 5 games in 7 days stretch with a couple of tough opponents in 9th ranked Rivet and 12th ranked Newton was a pretty big ask of such a young team, but overall we were happy with how the team played outside of some simple mistakes that kept popping up. The guys played hard through some fatigued legs, particularly in the Rivet match. They played well enough to win that one & the score could have easily been flipped. Against Newton, we struggled a bit to maintain much possession and get some consistent attacks going, but the effort was there. We'll get a little bit of a break after this, with our first consecutive days off without a game in over a week, Hopefully we're able to rest up and get our legs back under us and get healthy leading in to Regionals, which start on October 10th. 

The losses put the Aces' record at 9 - 6 (2 - 4) on the year.

Lady Rockets Lose Late To Edwards County, 45-41

On Thursday, October 4th, the St. Mary’s Lady Rockets traveled to West Salem to play the Edwards County Lady Panthers. In the 8th grade game, Edwards County defeated St. Mary’s, 45 - 41. St. Mary’s led 14 - 8 at the end of the first quarter; 26 – 16 at halftime; and 34 - 28 at the end of the third quarter. Following an injury to point guard Eden Wankel that forced her to leave the game in the fourth quarter, Edwards County ended up outscoring St. Mary’s 17 – 7 to secure the comeback win. Savannah Zimmerman scored 17 points to lead St. Mary’s in scoring. Mady Young added 16 points, Lexi Stevens 3 points, Lindy Rafferty 3 points, and Eden Wankel 2 points. Also seeing playing time were Anna Gill, Nora Jones, and Sarah McCorkle. Edwards County was led in scoring by Isabel Shepherd with 20 points, 10 points of which came from the free throw line.

St. Mary’s defeated Edwards County in the 7th grade game, 13 - 12. Leading the scoring for St. Mary’s was Madison Stevens with 6 points. Additional scoring came from Sarah McCorkle 4 points, Kali Walker 2 points, and Nora Jones 1 point. Also seeing playing time were Lily Keepes, Isabella Jent, and Ava Jent. Caesyn Nelson led Edwards County with 8 points.

In the “C” Game, the Lady Rockets were defeated by the Lady Panthers, 30 -2. Isabella Jent had the lone basket for St. Mary’s. Madeleine Mann, Ava Jent, Courtney Jones, Natalee Hedge, Ashlin Trail, and Brianna McCoy also saw playing time. G. Bishop scored 12 points to lead Edwards County.

St. Mary’s is back in action on Thursday, October 11th, at home against Cisne. There will be a “C” Game at 5:15pm, followed by the 7th grade game at 6pm, and finally the 8th grade game to follow.

Lady Aces Win Salem Regional

Team scores

1 Mt. Carmel 380

2 McLeansboro (Hamilton County) 396

3 Waltonville 407

4 Salem 409

5Harrisburg 417

6 Eldorado 448

7 Carmi (C.-White County) 450

8 Centralia (H.S.)457

9 Woodlawn 478

Mt. Carmel

Allyson Armstrong (Jr.)91

Daisy Schrader (Fr.)91

Faith Witsman (Jr.)95

Maya Smith (So.)103

Nevaeh Brock (Jr.)128

PHOTO COURTESY OF RACHAEL SMITH

SMS Lady Rockets Blow Out Red Hill To Open Season

On Tuesday, October 2nd, the St. Mary’s Lady Rockets hosted the Red Hill Lady Salukis. In the 8th grade game, St. Mary’s defeated Red Hill, 37 - 7. St. Mary’s led 19 - 2 at the end of the first quarter; 25 - 2 at halftime; and 35 - 5 at the end of the third quarter. Eden Wankel and Mady Young scored 10 points each to lead St. Mary’s in scoring. Savannah Zimmerman added 5 points, Lauren Hall 4 points, Lindy Rafferty 4 points, Anna Gill 2 points, and Lexi Stevens 2 points. Nora Jones and Lily Keepes also saw playing time. Red Hill was led in scoring by Julia Buchanan with 3 points.

Red Hill defeated St. Mary’s in the 7th grade game, 19 - 3. Nora Jones led St. Mary’s in scoring with 3 points. Also seeing playing time were Lily Keepes, Kali Walker, Madison Stevens, Sarah McCorkle, Madeleine Mann, Gretchen Noll, Isabella Jent, Ava Jent, Courtney Jones, Natalee Hedge, Ashlin Trail, and Brianna McCoy. Olivia Ray led Red Hill in scoring with 7 points.

St. Mary’s is back in action on Thursday, October 4th, against Edwards County. The game will be played at West Salem Grade School. There will be a C Game at 5:15pm, followed by the 7th grade game at 6pm, and the 8th grade game to follow.

Allendale Cross Country Hosts Quadrangular

On Monday, October 1st, Yellow Jackets Cross Country hosted St. Joe (Olney), Fairfield, and Geff for a JV and Varsity meet.  The following are the results for the Yellow Jackets:

Girls JV (1.2 miles):

Elizabeth Hefner - 12:08

Jordis Riley - 12:55

Madison Stevens - 13:30

Boys JV (1.2 miles):

Brendan Bowser - 10:41

Trenton Potts - 12:58

Roland Foster - 14:14

Girls Varsity (1.85 miles) - 17 competitors

Camryn Strine - 14:24 (3rd place)

Kali Walker - 15:18 (7th place)

Isabella Monroy - 15:48

Nora Jones - 15:53

Lilly Keepes - 15:54

Bella Andrews - 16:58

Hallie Courter - 16:59

Boys Varsity (1.85 miles) - 17 competitors

Carlos Monroy - 14:25 (7th place)

Blake Strine - 14:31 (8th place)

Kollin Kelsey - 15:15

Alex McGinnis - 16:09

Trentin Casburn - 17:10

JD Bowser - 18:33

Next up for Yellow Jackets Cross Country:  Thursday, October 11th at Olney.

Soccer Aces Fall To Princeton, 3-0

From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS Soccer Aces played their last Big 8 conference game on the road Thursday night in Princeton, losing 0-3. Princeton took the 1-0 lead in the 27th minute & added a 2nd goal with 5 minutes remaining in the first half. The score held at 0-2 until Princeton put the game away by scoring their 3rd goal with 8 minutes remaining. The Aces took 21 shots, 13 on frame. They had 7 additional scoring chances, 3 corner kicks, 19 interceptions & 2 ball recoveries. Tye Kanipe had 6 saves in goal. The Tigers took 9 shots, 7 on frame & took 5 corner kicks.

The score didn’t show it, but this was the best we’d played in at least a week. A big reason for that is we came out with more energy in our warmups than we have in a while & that carried over into the game. I was proud of the guys for this because they had some obstacles to overcome as it was our 3rd match in 4 days, we lost starting right back Brady Decker to injury in the first few minutes of the match, & this was against a good team. Despite all that though, we played hard & were more focused than we’d been lately which led to us to possessing the ball better while also putting a lot of dangerous attacks together. We gave ourselves a lot of good scoring opportunities, creating a few 1 v 1’s against the Princeton goalie & with at least 3 shots hitting the post but bouncing out. Their goalie was all-conference last year & he gave a reminder of why that was as he made several big stops for them. On our side, Tye came out & had a really good game as well. All of the goals against us were situations where Princeton had gotten behind our defense & were right on top of the goal. They had some speed up top that gave us some trouble, but generally we were more aggressive defensively than we have been lately. We were jumping out on any pass we thought we could get to, leading to 19 interceptions which
disrupted a lot of their possessions. Again, if we can keep coming out like we did in this one, we’re going to give ourselves our best chance at finishing strong, as we’re not usually going to miss as many shots as we did tonight. We have 2 more matches in this stretch of 5 in 7 days, & they’ll be against a couple of strong opponents, so we’ll have our work cut out for us, especially as we’ll be without Brady for probably both of them. Nate Critchfield & Lucas Hall really stepped up at that spot & we’ll be counting on them to continue doing so.

The Aces finish conference play with a 9 - 4 (2 - 4) record. They’ll get just 1 day of rest before hosting Vincennes Rivet Saturday morning. Rivet comes in with a 10 - 2 record & is currently ranked 7th in Indiana 1A.

Soccer Aces Notch 2 Big 8 Wins This week

From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS Soccer Aces hosted 2 Big 8 opponents to start the week, beating Boonville 2-1 in OT on Monday, then getting the win against Vincennes Lincoln 3-1 on Tuesday. 

Against Boonville, the Aces fell behind 0-1 in the 24th minute, and were trailing in the match until Rayce Loudermilk scored with 12 minutes remaining to tie it up & send it to overtime. The score remained tied after the first OT period and well into the 2nd when, with 30 seconds left in OT, Loudermilk scored again to give the Aces their first Big 8 victory on the year. The Aces took 26 shots in the match with 16 on frame, created 6 additional scoring chances, had 9 interceptions and 4 ball recoveries. Tye Kanipe had 6 saves in goal. Boonville took 7 shots in the match, 6 on frame. 

The Aces again fell behind the next night against Lincoln, with the Alices scoring the first goal of the match in the 27th minute and taking the 1 goal lead into the half. The Aces tied it up 9 minutes into the 2nd half when Beau Stipp scored on an assist from Jarrett West. Britton Heinrich then gave the Aces the lead 6 minutes later on an assist from Kaleb Johnson, and Adam Stoneberger added the insurance goal with 10 minutes remaining to put the game away. The Aces took 19 shots with 14 on frame, created 7 additional scoring chances, & had 9 interceptions. Kanipe had 1 save in goal. The Alices took 2 shots in the match, both on frame.

We've come out flat to start the last 3 games, and that's making things much harder on us than they should be. We feel like we could have, and should have, jumped out on the last 3 teams but instead the slow starts have made each game tougher than it needed to be. We've looked uninspired in the warm-ups and that's carried over into the matches. Even though we've eked out some wins, it's been a rather disappointing stretch because we know we can be much better than we've looked of late. We've just started a pretty challenging section of the schedule with 5 games in 7 days, 3 of those being Big 8 matches, so we really need to pick up our effort & preparation level for these upcoming games. If we can start cranking up our intensity & focus in the warm-ups & at the beginning of our matches, we can easily start looking like the team we feel we have on hand here & finish this last stretch of the regular season on a strong note, win or lose. Heading in to the playoffs, I'd say that's our biggest goal.

The wins put the Aces' record for the year at 9 - 3 (2 - 3). Their busy week continues with a road match against Princeton on Thursday, who stand at 8 - 5 - 1 (2 - 3) on the season. At one point ranked 18th in Indiana 2A, the Tigers currently sit at 27th. 

Soccer Aces Slip Past Olney, 2-1

Aces Soccer Report From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS soccer Aces hosted Olney Thursday night, winning 2-1. Beau Stipp gave the Aces the lead, scoring in the 23rd minute on an assist from Rayce Loudermilk. Olney answered 5 minutes later, drawing even with 12 minutes left in the 1st half.  Ethan Belt scored what would end up being the deciding goal 6 minutes in to the 2nd half, giving the Aces the 2-1 lead, on an assist from Jarrett West. For the match, the Aces took 16 shots, 9 on frame, created 8 additional scoring chances, had 25 interceptions & 1 ball recovery. Tye Kanipe had 5 saves in goal. The Tigers took 10 shots, 5 on frame.

We were a little up & down in this one. We started out flat, picked it up a bit through the mid to late section of the 1st half, and then played very aggressively at the start of the 2nd. Olney came out strong &, outside of a couple dangerous counter attacks from us, controlled the game well for the first 15-20 minutes. We started to show a little more at that point and had some momentum going in to halftime. The guys built on that in the 2nd half, they really picked it up & came out playing some confident & aggressive soccer. We worked harder to pressure the ball quicker defensively & to jump on any passes that we could. Offensively, we moved better off the ball which helped us in possession & led to more consistent attacking soccer from us. We got 12 of our 16 shots & 3 of our 8 chances created during just the first 25 minutes of the 2nd half. That's the team we want to see out there, & that we know we can be, it just takes the commitment & confidence to come out & do it. We've got a tough stretch coming up with 3 conference games in 4 days, & overall 5 games in just 7 days, so we're hoping our 2nd half play carries over because we're going to be tested with such a busy week.

The Aces now stand at 7 - 3 (0 - 3) on the season. They start next week off with back-to-back home conference matches, hosting Boonville on Monday 9/24 at 5:30 pm, followed by Vincennes Lincoln the following night, Tuesday 9/25, at 5 pm.

Mt. Carmel Native Named National High School Volleyball Player Of The Week

Sophomore Chloe Britton of Lawrenceville has been named as prepvolleyball.com’s National HS Player of the Week.

Last week was a career week for Britton as she competed in 8 matches (21 sets) in being named to the Charleston Invitational All-Tournament team. She set new school records for kills in a match with 28, hitting efficiency in a match at .650. Totaled, Britton had 118 kills (5.6 kills/set), 13 Aces, 85 digs, 66 assists, 3 blocks, and 122 serve receptions during the week.

Britton is the daughter of Thad and Trinity Britton and the granddaughter of Mt. Carmel residents Pat and Darlene Weir & David and Jeanie Britton.

Yellow Jackets End Season With Shutout Loss In Regional To Geff

On Tuesday, September 18th, Yellow Jackets baseball traveled to Geff for the quarterfinals of Class S Regional play.  Jasper-Geff blanked the Yellow Jackets, winning 14-0 in 5 innings.  The Yellow Jackets end the 2018 season with a record of 3-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

Yellow Jackets -  0  0  0  0  0  -  0

Jasper-Geff      -  1  9  0  4  X -  14

Batting:

JD Bowser         0-1, 2 BB, 3 SB

Chase Gher        0-2, BB

Wyatt Gher         0-1, BB, SB

Brendan Bowser  0-2

Blake Strine        0-1, BB

Kasen Dulgar      0-2

Trenton Potts      0-2

Michael Smith     0-1, BB

Tristan Bray        0-1, HBP

Pitching:

JD Bowser          1.1 inn, 1 K, 8 BB, 5 runs

Brendan Bowser  2.2 inn, 4 K, 6 BB, 9 runs

Trosper Hired to Lead Lady Warrior Basketball Team

The IECC Board of Trustees has approved Jack Trosper as the Head Coach of the Wabash Valley Women’s Basketball Team. Trosper served as an assistant for the Lady Warriors last season, and helped lead the team to a 30-3 record, and a #6 seed at the NJCAA National Tournament.

“I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead such a proud and respected program here at Wabash Valley,” said Trosper. “Coach Scheidecker rebuilt this program back into a national power and I look forward to continuing that expectation of success, with the support of the WVC family, and the Mount Carmel community.”

A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Trosper got his first coaching job working with the Men’s Basketball Team at Texas A&M Corpus Christi in 2007. That season the Islanders won the Southland Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships, and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, where they faced the #2 seed Wisconsin.

Coach Trosper is no stranger to the GRAC, as he had a very successful stint as the Head Women’s Coach at Southeastern Illinois College for 3 seasons. Trosper’s 2017 SIC team is the only GRAC team to defeat WVC in the last 2 seasons.

Wabash Valley Athletic Director Mike Carpenter added, “We’re excited to have Jack Trosper lead our Women’s Basketball Program. He will continue to carry on the tradition that his predecessors established, by recruiting high character student-athletes, and putting an exceptional product on the court.”

While at Southeastern Illinois College, Trosper turned around a program that went 16-71, in the 3 years prior to his arrival, into a team that went 55-37 over the next 3 seasons, including a 2nd place GRAC finish in 2017. That SIC team went 26-6 and was in the NJCAA National Rankings for the first time in over a decade. The 2017 season concluded in the District P Championship game, where they fell to Wabash Valley 69-67.

Trosper has coached 3 Freshmen of the Year, 1 Player of the Year, 1 All-American, and several All-Conference and All-Region selections. He was named Region 24 and GRAC Coach of the Year in 2017.

The Lady Warriors open their season on Saturday, November 3rd vs. Missouri Baptist JV.

Yellow Jackets Cross Country Host Fairfield & Geff

On Monday, September 17th, Yellow Jackets Cross Country hosted Fairfield and Geff.  The following are the individual results for each group:

JV Girls:

Jordis Riley 13:21 (6th)

Madison Stevens 14:20 (7th)

JV Boys:

Carlos Monroy 9:34 (2nd)

Trentin Casburn 9:45 (3rd)

Brendan Bowser 11:56 (7th)

Trenton Potts 14:38 (8th)

Roland Foster 15:24 (9th)

Varsity Girls:

Camryn Strine 15:05 (1st)

Lilly Keepes 15:41 (2nd)

Kali Walker 15:52 (3rd)

Isabella Monroy 17:44 (4th)

Hallie Courter 18:04 (5th)

Bella Andrews 18:23 (6th)

Elizabeth Hefner 22:40 (8th)

Varsity Boys:

Kollin Kelsey 15:21 (3rd)

Alex McGinnis 17:24 (4th)

JD Bowser 19:23 (5th)

Wyatt Gher 20:46 (7th)

Next up for Yellow Jackets Cross Country:  Thursday, September 20th @ Olney for a 4 pm meet.

Soccer Aces Get Back On Winning Track By Routing Day School

Aces Soccer Report From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS Soccer Aces hosted Evansville Day School for a non-conference match, winning 8-0. Beau Stipp scored the first goal 6 minutes in. The Aces took 20 minutes to get their next goal, finally adding to their score when Stipp scored again in the 27th minute, assisted by Rayce Loudermilk. Loudermilk then added 2 goals of his own in the next 2 minutes, first assisted by Stipp, and then assisted by Ethan Belt. Britton Heinrich scored in the 32nd minute, assisted by Loudermilk, for the 5-0 Aces lead at the half. Jarrett West scored 3 minutes in to the 2nd half on an assist from Stipp, followed quickly by Adam Stoneberger scoring 2 minutes later. Jack Deisher put away the final Aces score with a goal in the 50th minute of play.

After these last 2 really tough games, we were hoping to come out a little stronger to start in this one. The game eventually saw a lot of goals from us, but we were fairly sloppy in our play for most of it, especially in the first half. We really didn't show enough movement off the ball, or positional awareness for large swaths of the match. We got a little better at that in the 2nd, but we really need to focus a little more in terms of where we need to get to on the field to give our teammates options & support when they have the ball. We also need to be more aggressive defensively in pressuring the ball, while still concentrating on our positioning. We have a tough stretch coming up, with 3 upcoming Big 8 matches sprinkled in among some good non-conference teams, so we'll look to get better than we were tonight in those little things. We've got the talent to do some good stuff out there so if we can keep working on putting the whole package together for 80 minutes at a time, in being more disciplined positionally and being more active as a team without the ball, then we really like the potential we have.

The Aces' record now stands at 6 - 3 (0 - 3) on the year. Their next match-up is with another tough Big 8 opponent at home against Boonville on Wednesday September 19th at 5:30 pm. The Pioneers come in with a 6 - 4 - 1 (0 - 3) record on the season.

Lady Aces Golfers Finish 2nd In Big 8

The Lady Aces golf team placed second in the big 8 conference meet yesterday at Eagle Valley in Evansville. Their team score of 177 fell two strokes behind Jasper’s 175. Allyson Armstrong (MC), Daisy Schrader (MC), and Katie stone (Vincennes) all tied for first individually with a score of 40. Allyson Armstrong won the putt off, with daisy finishing second. Allyson and daisy both made the all conference team.

Mount Carmel Lady Aces Big 8 Conference Tourney Eagle Valley GC Par - 35  Medalist Allyson Armstrong All Conference: Allyson Armstrong and Daisy Schrader  Jasper - 175 Mount Carmel - 177 Mt. Vernon - 182 Vincennes - 194 Boonville - 202 Washington - 216 Princeton -222  The tournament was shortened to 9 holes due to the rescheduling from last Saturday’s storms. Allyson Armstrong, Daisy Schrader and Katie Stone from Vincennes were all tied for the Medalists spot.  The three girls went to the putting green to break the tie. Allyson Armstrong had the best putt with Daisy Schrader placing second.   Mount Carmel scores:  Allyson Armstrong -40 Daisy Schrader -40 Faith Witsman -48 Maya Smith -49 Nevaeh Brock -59  The Lady Aces are now 22-4. Their next match is at home against Olney on Monday. 

Daisy Schrader (L) & Allyson Armstrong show off their 2nd and 1st places ribbons from the Big 8 girls golf tournament.

Soccer Aces Fall To Two Big 8 Powers

From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS soccer Aces had back-to-back Big 8 matchups against the top 2 teams in the conference this week, losing at home 1-8 to the 2nd ranked in Indiana 2A (7th overall in state) Hatchets on Monday, then losing 1-9 to the 7th ranked in Indiana 3A (9th overall in state) Wildcats in Jasper the following night. Against Washington, Beau Stipp scored the Aces goal on an assist from Britton Heinrich. For the match, the Aces took 3 shots, 2 on frame, created 1 additional scoring chance, had 1 interception & 1 ball recovery. Tye Kanipe had 14 saves. Washington took 27 shots, 22 on frame. Against Jasper, Rayce Loudermilk scored the Aces goal. For the match, the Aces took 2 shots, both on frame, created 1 additional scoring chance & had 3 interceptions. Tye Kanipe had 23 saves. Jasper took 32 shots, 28 on frame.

These will be the best teams we face this year, more than likely even in the playoffs, so we knew this was going to be a rough patch for us. It's not always a lot of fun to go through these types of games in the moment, but it's really important for us to see teams like this firsthand, and the experience helps us in the long term if we approach it with the right attitude. I think the players did their best to try to learn through the way these 2 teams play & took the opportunity to try to continue working on things we want to get better at against top level competition. Despite what the scoreboards showed it wasn't all bad, as we had some moments in each game of decent ball movement in attack, it was just hard for us to sustain that in the face of the pressure they brought against us. Kanipe also played extremely well for us in goal in what should be 2 of the busiest nights of the season for him. He came out a little flat against Washington to start, but as that game went on he began looking better & better & that carried over into the Jasper match where he made a ton of beautiful stops. It's hard to stay as focused as he did when you're facing so many shots for such a long period of time, but he stuck with it & never gave up back there. As a team, we'll look to regroup before the next match and use these 2 games to make us better moving forward.

The 2 losses bring the Aces' record on the season to 5 - 3 (0 - 3). Their next match will be at 5:30 pm at home on Friday 9/13 against Evansville Day School.

PHOTO CREDIT: Christy McPherson

Jackets Fall In Extras To West Salem On 8th Grade Night

On Tuesday, September 11th, Yellow Jackets Baseball hosted West Salem for non-conference action.  It was also 8th grade night for JD Bowser and Wyatt Gher, both of which have been in the program for 4 years.  The Yellow Jackets fought hard, but fell in defeat in 8 innings, 9-4.  In the bottom of the first inning with one out, Jesse Brogan doubled and JD Bowser brought him home to score with a laser ground out to second base.  Yellow Jackets to the 1-0 lead to the top of the second inning, when West Salem tied it up with a lead-off walk, stolen base, an error and a wild pitch.  Then West Salem took the lead in the top of the third inning with a runner getting on base due to error and three wild pitches in the inning.  In the bottom of the third inning, the Yellow Jackets tied it up at two apiece as JD Bowser was hit-by-pitch with one out, stole second, moved to third on an error, and then scored on a wild pitch.  West Salem then added a run in the sixth inning and a run in the seventh inning, without the benefit of a hit, to lead 4-2. The Yellow Jackets weren't finished though.  With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Jesse Brogan hit a double, moved to third base on a wild pitch, JD Bowser walked and stole second base.  With runners on second and third, Chase Gher put the ball in play just past the pitcher to score Brogan and then Bowser scored on an error trying to get him at third base.  The Yellow Jackets tied it up and forced extra innings.  In the eighth inning, West Salem scored 5 runs without the benefit of a hit to win the game 9-4.  JD Bowser started pitching and went 2 innings, followed by Jesse Brogan for 5 innings.  JD and Jesse combined to strike out 18 batters in the seven innings and only gave up one hit.  Brendan Bowser started the 8th inning, then Wyatt Gher faced the last two batters of the ballgame to pitch for the first time ever.

West Salem    -  0  1  1  0  0  1  1  5  -  9

Yellow Jackets - 1  0  1  0  0  0  2  0  -  4

Yellow Jackets Hitting:

Blake Strine       0-4

Jesse Brogan     2-4, 2 runs, 2 doubles

JD Bowser         0-1, 2 runs, HBP, 2 BB, 3 SB, RBI

Chase Gher        0-3, HBP, RBI

Wyatt Gher         1-3, BB

Brendan Bowser  0-2, 2 BB, SB

Kasen Dulgar      0-3, BB

Trenton Potts      0-1

     Michael Smith 0-3

Tristan Bray        0-4

Yellow Jackets Pitching:

JD Bowser          - 2 innings, 6 K, 4 BB, 2 runs

Jesse Brogan      - 5 innings, 12 K, 3 BB, 1 hit, 2 runs

Brendan Bowser  - 0.2 innings, 4 BB, 2 HBP, 5 runs

Wyatt Gher         - 0.1 inning, 1 K, 1 BB

Yellow Jackets are now 3-5 on the season and 3-3 in WEAA Conference play.  Next up - SIJHSAA Regional TBD

Yellow Jackets Baseball 8th Grade Players: JD Bowser, Coach Bob Bowser, Wyatt Gher

Yellow Jackets Cross Country Competes In Robinson

On Wednesday, September 5th, Yellow Jackets Cross Country traveled to Robinson to compete on a two mile course in the heat and humidity.  The girls team finished in 5th place out of six team, while the boys finished in 6th place.  Three of the girls finished in the top 20 as an individual:  Lilly Keepes 16th, Camryn Strine 17th, Kali Walker 19th.  The following are the individual times for each member of the Yellow Jackets:

Girls:

Lilly Keepes      16:36.34

Camryn Strine   16:39.76

Kali Walker        17:06.86

Isabella Monroy 20:01.91

Bella Andrews    21:21.65

Hallie Courter     22:27.58

Mady Stevens    25:14.72

Jordis Riley        26:04.32

Elizabeth Hefner 26:04.75

Boys:

Blake Strine       14:56.09

Kollin Kelsey      16.00.15

Carlos Monroy    17:01.93

Trentin Casburn  18:54.78

Alex McGinnis    19:36.48

Jesse Brogan     20:12.26

JD Bowser          21:48.53

Wyatt Gher         23:06.26

Brendan Bowser  24:19.60

Trenton Potts      24:20.46

Roland Foster      27:51.43

Next up for Yellow Jackets Cross Country:  Thursday, September 13 at NCOE.

Soccer Aces Get Back On Winning Track By Blanking Rams

From Coach Ed Berberich: 

The MCHS Soccer Aces hosted Mt. Vernon, IL Thursday night, winning 2 - 0. Ethan Belt scored the opening goal in the 15th minute on an assist from Kaleb Johnson. Britton Heinrich completed the scoring for the match 6 minutes later, scoring on an assist from Belt. The Aces took 24 shots in the match with 13 on frame, they also created 10 additional scoring chances, had 8 interceptions and had 3 ball recoveries. Tye Kanipe had 11 saves. Mt Vernon had 15 shots with 11 on frame, and 10 corner kicks.

As on Tuesday, we had a short bench tonight due to injuries etc, but we held up a little better stamina wise. Again, as on Tuesday, we jumped out and scored the first 2 goals of the match, but this time we were able to hold on for the win. We created more scoring opportunities in this one than in Tuesday's match, but we still need to work on our possession and how we're moving without the ball. I think fatigue is having an effect in this regard, but offensively, we're watching the ball too much, rather than moving as the ball moves to get in good positions to help out whoever has or receives the ball. If we can start being more active when our teammates have the ball, we'll improve our possession which will help us in attack and also in defense, as we gave up quite a few shots tonight. Defensively, we did do a better job of moving with the ball and jumping on passes when we could and that led to us getting 6 more interceptions than we did on Tuesday.

The win brings the Aces' record to 5 - 1 (0 - 1). Their next match will be at 5:30 pm on Monday September 10th at home versus the undefeated, and 2nd ranked in Indiana 2A, Washington Hatchets.Washington comes in with a 8 - 0 - 1 (2 - 0) record on the season.

PHOTO CREDIT: CHRISTY MCPHERSON

Wildcats Deal Soccer Aces First Loss Of Season

MCHS Soccer Aces drop first game of the year to Mt. Vernon, IN:

From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS soccer Aces opened up Big 8 play Tuesday night with a home loss to Mt Vernon 2 - 3. Rayce Loudermilk gave Mt Carmel the early lead with a goal in the 9th minute on an assist from Brady Decker. Beau Stipp added to the Aces lead when he scored 4 minutes later on an assist from Jarrett West. Mt Vernon cut the difference to 1 when they converted on a penalty kick in the 26th minute & that score held going in to halftime. The Wildcats tied the match up in the 54th minute & then scored the winning goal with 12 minutes left. A late altercation after a Mt Vernon foul resulted in a player from each team being sent off, making it a 10 v 10 match for the final 7 minutes. The Aces took 11 shots in the match, 9 on frame, & created 4 additional scoring chances. They also had 2 interceptions, goalkeeper Tye Kanipe had 11 saves. Mt Vernon took 19 shots, 14 on frame. 

As the stats show, we were outshot in this one, which was the first time that's happened this year. We also possessed the ball much less than the other team, which is another first on the season. We were short a few players in this one which had an impact for sure, but bottom line, we weren't quite ready for the defensive pressure that Mt Vernon put on us. Because of that we really didn't play as well as I think we're capable of, as we had way too many times where we panicked with the ball when under pressure and just resorted to kicking it upfield. That said, with about 10 minutes still left in the first half we were already starting to see the effects of the short bench & the extreme heat on the players out there, so we were happy that the guys were able to fight through that like they did, giving themselves a chance to tie it up & maybe win it up to the least second of the game. In the long run, even though we didn't get the end result we would've preferred, it was good for us to have an intense game like this to see where we're at and hopefully convince us to turn up our intensity in practice moving forward. If we do, it should carry over to the matches and then we'll be better able to handle the other team's pressure & do more constructive things with the ball as a team. 

The loss brings the Aces record to 4 - 1 (0 - 1) on the year. Their next match is another home game Thursday September 6th at 5:00 pm against the other Mt Vernon, from Illinois. 

PHOTO COUNRTESY OF CHRISTY MCPHERSON

Field Prepped For Aces' Home Opener

Crews were busy this morning getting the turf ready for tonight's Golden Aces' home opener against Princeton.

Mike Graetz and Mike Geurin painted hashmarks and yard lines and field markers on the Riverview Stadium field.

The Aces and Tigers square off tonight at 6pm. The game can be heard on WSJD-FM 100.5 & online at wsjd.fm.