Sports | The Journal-News

Hillsboro's Quinn Hunt returns a shot during the Toppers' match with Rochester on Monday, April 15. While things didn't go great against the visiting Rockets (Rochester won 9-0), Hillsboro did better the following day as they beat Roxana 7-2, with Hunt picking up a win in singles and doubles with partner Mark Mattson.

Tennis Toppers Split With Rockets, Shells

The Hillsboro boys tennis team split a pair of matches to start the week as they fell to Rochester 9-0 on April 15, but beat Roxana 7-2 the next day. The match of the day on Monday at the … more

4/18/24

Litchfield Girls Shut Out Cavaliers, Hawknadoes

The Litchfield girls soccer team picked up their first South Central Conference win of the year on Thursday, April 11, as they knocked off Carlinville 1-0 at Lloyd Hill Field. The lone goal came … more

4/18/24

Lady Toppers Take Third At Pana Invite

The Hillsboro girls track team was small in numbers, but big in points on Saturday, April 13, in Pana as the Lady Hiltoppers finished third in the team standings at the Panthers’ invitational. … more

4/18/24

Panthers Show Versatility To Take Second

The Litchfield boys track team snapped up 13 top five finishes, including four wins, as they took second as a team at the Pana Invitational on Saturday, April 13. The Purple Panthers finished … more

4/18/24

Vanden Bergh, Engelman Get Wins At Staunton

The Nokomis girls track team finished in the top half of the team standings at the Bulldogs vs. Cancer Invitational on Friday, April 12, placing fifth with 84 points. With ten top five finishes, … more

4/18/24

Hillsboro senior Kinley Richardson scored twice against Staunton on Saturday, April 13, but a late goal by the Lady Bulldogs tied the game up at 2-2 going into regulation. Luck wasn't on the Toppers' side on Saturday as they hit the post with one shot in overtime, then fell to Staunton 2-1 in penalty kicks for their first South Central Conference lost of the season.

Staunton Gets Past Toppers In Penalty Kicks

Hillsboro Coach Dave Mattson knew it was coming, but he also knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. Back on March 30, Mattson was in the stands in Litchfield when Staunton junior Samantha … more

4/18/24

Fenton, Stewart Win At Pana

The Litchfield girls track team picked up a pair of wins at the Pana Invitational on Saturday, April 13, as they finished seventh overall in the 15-team meet. Running a bit of a skeleton crew in … more

4/18/24

Hillsboro Boys Score Third At Pana Invitational

The Hillsboro boys track team took home two wins and ten top five finishes at the Pana Invitational on Saturday, April 13, as the Toppers finished third overall in the team standings. … more

4/18/24

Nokomis Puts Five In Top Five At Staunton

Nokomis put five in the top five on the boys’ side at the Bulldogs vs. Cancer Invitational in Staunton on April 12, helping the Redskins to an eighth place finish in the team standings. … more

4/18/24

Max Effort Lifts Litchfield Baseball

Challenging any mother figure, in any aspects of life, is a daunting task, and wining that challenge is an even harder one. The Carlinville and Litchfield-Mt. Olive baseball teams did not want … more

4/18/24

Lady Lancers Hit All The Right Notes

Morrisonville senior Kirsten Osterholt already has a reputation locally of being skilled with a guitar pick as one-third of the band Long Way Home, but on Monday, April 15, Osterholt showed that … more

4/18/24

Lancers Score MSM Win Over Minutemen

The Lincolnwood-Morrisonville baseball team picked up their first MSM Conference game on Tuesday, April 16, beating Bunker Hill 17-1 in five innings. The Lancers scored 10 runs in the fifth … more

4/18/24

Redskins Move To 4-1 In MSM Conference

The Nokomis Redskins picked up their fourth MSM Conference win in five opportunities on Monday, April 15, as they defeated Bunker Hill 12-2 in Nokomis. Things seemed to be going the … more

4/18/24

SCC-Leading Cavies Knock Off Lady Panthers

Fresh off their championship at the inaugural Montgomery County Softball Tournament, the Litchfield-Mt. Olive softball team was looking to carry over their momentum when they faced off against … more

4/18/24

South Fork Dirt Riders To Start April 21

South Fork Dirt Riders near Taylorville announced their 2024 motocross schedule on Thursday, Jan. 25, with seven dates set for April through November. The season opener for 2024 is April 21, … more

4/17/24

Above are the eight young hurlers who toed the rubber in their team's 10 a.m. games, which were determined by a razor-thin margin, with the largest final deficit a 3-0 affair. From the left are Litchfield's Laynie Wyatt and Tate Dobrinich, Nokomis' Reaghan Jonas and Drake Taylor, Hillsboro's Anika Camp and Dylan Lessman and Lincolnwood's Taryn Millburg and Jonah Elvidge.

Annnd Here's The Pitch...

If you stood in the right place at the Hillsboro Sports Complex on Saturday, April 13, you could see all eight Montgomery County high school baseball and softball teams without taking another step, … more

4/15/24

With teammate Elise Walch backing up the play from left field, Litchfield-Mt. Olive shortstop Charlie Bono camps underneath out number one in the seventh inning of the championship game of the inaugural Montgomery County Softball Tournament. The Lady Panthers went on to defeat Nokomis 8-4 to capture the title, with the Litchfield baseball team accomplishing the same feat just across the way at the Hillsboro Sports Complex on Saturday, April 13.

Litchfield Softball Makes The Most Of Title Shot

Both Litchfield-Mt. Olive and Nokomis knew going into the championship game of the inaugural Montgomery County Softball Tournament just how important it was to make the most of their limited … more

by Kyle Herschelman | 4/15/24

With Nokomis' Blain Goodwin leading off first behind him, Litchfield's Ethan Saathoff finishes off his delivery to home plate in the sixth inning of the championship game of the Montgomery County Baseball Tournament on Saturday, April 13, in Hillsboro. Saathoff was nearly unhittable in the title game, allowing just two hits in six and two-thirds innings as the Panthers avenged last year's loss in the championship with a 4-0 victory over the Redskins.

It's Litchfield's Turn For The Title

After falling to Nokomis in the championship game of the Montgomery County Tournament last year, Litchfield Head Baseball Coach Rocky Giannuzzi stopped his team from gathering up their things and had … more

by Kyle Herschelman | 4/15/24

Lady Toppers Slip Past Lancers In Eight

If barnburner was a literal term, the Hillsboro Fire Department would have been busy after the Montgomery County Softball Tournament on Saturday, April 13. Both semifinal games were decided by just … more

4/15/24

Lancers Finish Third With Win Over Toppers

When Lincolnwood High School and Hillsboro met in the third place game of the 2024 Montgomery County Baseball Tournament on Saturday, April 13, both were coming off relatively close losses in the … more

4/15/24