Burnett picks up second shutout, Softball falls to BCC, Spartan Track and Field places second at Unity

By FRED KRONER
fred@sjodaily.com

St. Joseph-Ogden’ s Crayton Burnett struck out 11 batters in six innings and was the winning pitcher in his second baseball shutout of the spring on Thursday, a 6-0 decision in Bloomington against Central Catholic.

Offensively, Burnett, Drew Coursey and Sam Wesley collected two hits apiece. Kaden Jacobs crushed a three-run home run for SJ-O as part of a four-run first-inning uprising.

On Friday, Keegan McCarty and Adam Rose combined on a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts (12 by McCarty) as the Spartans upended Paxton-Buckley-Loda, 9-1.

Six Spartans had hits, but no squad member finished with more than one.

Coursey and Jaden Miller each drove in two runs.

Burnett and Adam Frerichs each scored two runs.

SJ-O (11-4-2) returns to action today at home against Unity.

Softball

The Spartans’ winning streak ended at 11 games on Thursday with a 5-4, nine-inning loss against Central Catholic in Bloomington.

Hannah Dukeman and Bailey Dowling both powered home runs for SJ-O.

Dowling and Savannah Smith collected three hits apiece.

The Spartans rebounded nicely on Friday, pounding 37 hits while winning twice by the 10-run rule in the Mattoon Tournament.

Dowling and Lauren Trankina hammered home runs in a 19-8, six-inning semifinal win over Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

Dukeman had three hits while Kaylee Ward, Kennedy Hudson and Trankina contributed two hits apiece. Dowling and Trankina each had four RBI.

In a five-inning 15-5 victory over the host Mattoon Green Wave in the finals, Hudson pounded a home run and Dukeman finished a 7-for-10 day by bashing four hits.

Smith was also 4-for-4. Dowling registered three hits. Hudson, Ward and Trankina all added two hits. Smith knocked in four runs.

Dukeman and Dowling have each swatted nine home runs this year. As a team, the Spartans have homered in 10 consecutive games.

Two Spartan pitchers earned their first varsity wins of the season.

Hannah Lewis pitched all six innings in the opener. Sophia Martlage worked all five innings of the second game.

SJ-O (13-1) returns to action today at home against Unity.

Girls’ track and field

St. Joseph-Ogden placed second in Friday’s 19-school Unity Invitational.

The Spartans scored 65 1/2 points. Meet champion Monticello had 98 points.

Maclayne Taylor was the runner-up in both the 100- and 400-meter events. She ran the 100 in 12.79 seconds.

Taylor was timed at 1 minute, 1.36 seconds in the 400, finishing just ahead of teammate Atleigh Hamilton (1:01.77).

Jillian Plotner was second in the 3,200 meters (12:18.23).

The Spartans produced top three finishes in three relays, including a winning time in the 1,600 event (4:15.58).

SJ-O was second in the 400 relay (51.21) and third in the 3,200 relay (10:37.09).

Boys’ basketball

Jack Cook, from St. Joseph-Ogden, scored seven points, on Sunday as his Team Gold squad topped Team Black, 63-58, in The News-Gazette all-star game at Parkland College.

Girls’ basketball

Future Parkland College player Peyton Crowe was the top scorer for Team Black in Sunday’s News-Gazette all-star game at Parkland. Crowe scored 13 points.

Former St. Joseph-Ogden teammate Bree Trimble tallied three points.

Team Gold posted a 45-43 victory.