The daily pitch from Sports Editor Matt Daniels: April 16, 2024 | Sports – Life Changer

The daily pitch from Sports Editor Matt Daniels: April 16, 2024 | Sports

[ad_1]

To subscribe, click here

Want a copy of today’s edition? Here’s a map of single-copy locations

Sign up for our daily newsletters

Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:






Some of the items up for a silent auction during the 2023 Coaches vs. Cancer event at Gordyville USA in Gifford. The event returns to Gordyville on Tuesday night.




Three reasons we love sports today

1. Gordyville USA in Gifford is the place to be Tuesday night if you’re an Illinois basketball fan. The annual Coaches vs. Cancer event will feature Illinois men’s basketball coach Brad Underwood, Oakland men’s basketball coach Greg Kampe, decorated TV analyst Bill Raftery and former official Bo Boroski. All raising money for a good cause and telling a story — or 100 — throughout the night. Enjoy.

2. It’s less than two weeks until the NFL draft and on Tuesday, four former Illini football players are expected to go through a Pro Day in Champaign. Included in the quartet? Possible first-round pick Johnny Newton. The All-American defensive tackle will be joined by Danville native and offensive lineman Julian Pearl, safety Clayton Bush and linebacker Tarique Barnes.

3. With the upcoming 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium, Illinois announced Monday that fans can have their names etched on bricks in Grange Grove. Costs range from $250 to $500 depending on the size of the brick and if they want to put a Block I logo on them. Customized bricks purchased before July 15 will be installed in August before the season kicks off.

Numbers game: 174

Career MLB wins by Ken Holtzman, the former Illini who pitched 15 seasons in the majors with the Cubs, Athletics, Orioles and Yankees from 1965-79. Holtzman, who died Sunday at the age of 78, pitched at Illinois during the 1965 season. He compiled a 6-2 record with the Illini and finished with 72 strikeouts in 57 innings, earning the team’s Most Valuable Player and Third-Team All-Big Ten honors before embarking upon a successful MLB career. In the majors, Holtzman threw two no-hitters with the Cubs before getting traded to the Athletics in 1972. He was a key part of of three World Series championship teams with the Athletics in 1972, 1973 and 1974.






LeRoy softball pitcher Lilly Long and the rest of the Panthers play at Westville on Wednesday in a marquee nonconference game.




Crowd control

Three events I’m paying attention to

1. Southern Illinois Edwardsville at Illinois baseball. The Illini (20-13) will try to extend their win streak to five games when they host the Cougars (13-23) at Illinois Field when the nonconference game gets going at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Illinois is fresh off a dominating weekend in Champaign, averaging 17.3 runs during a three-game sweep of Northern Illinois.

2. Illinois football spring game. Don’t know how much of an actual game this will be, but the annual scrimmage starts at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

3. LeRoy at Westville softball. If both of these area programs are at the Louisville Sluggers Complex in Peoria in early June for the IHSA state tournament, don’t be surprised. The marquee nonconference game brings the Panthers and Tigers together in Vermilion County for a 4:30 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday. LeRoy finished third at the Class 1A state tournament last year and has nearly its entire team back. Westville features dominant left-handed pitcher Abby Sabalaskey, a Northern Kentucky signee. Should be a good one.






Tuscola girls’ track and field coach Drew Sterkel poses for a photo with the Warriors’ Class 1A state championship trophy in 2022.




Coach’s corner

Three questions with Tuscola girls’ track and field coach Drew Sterkel. The fifth-year Warriors coach helped Tuscola win a Class 1A state title in 2022 and finish third in state in 2023. Tuscola is back in action starting this Friday at 4 p.m. when it hosts the 38th Tuscola Open.

1. My favorite sports team is … the Minnesota Gophers football team. I know this will make a lot of Illini fans upset, but because I’m a Kaneland graduate like Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, I always have to go back to my roots. I’ve always been a Chicago Bears’ fan, too, unfortunately.

2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Chad Clary, Andy Drendel and Ryan Hornaday. I’ll go a different route instead of famous coaches because I’ve been blessed to work with so many amazing coaches that I don’t get a chance to go out to eat with and enjoy their company, so I’m going with those three.

3. My biggest pet peeve is … when athletes are not warming up enough before a race.

[ad_2]

Source link

Loading

36 thoughts on “The daily pitch from Sports Editor Matt Daniels: April 16, 2024 | Sports

  1. What’s most placing about the company, however, エロ 人形is usually that it’s the sole dependable distributor we’ve found which has an genuine return plan. Usually, return procedures from doll distributors is often summed up in three words and phrases: All revenue closing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *