By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Regional Softball Action Begins Tonight:
Class 1A playoff softball begins in earnest tonight statewide and here in Henry County it means the start of the playoff push for the New London Tigers.
Tonight, New London will play host to Holy Trinity in a opening round bout at 7:00 p.m. with the winner advancing to take on Winfield-Mount Union in Winfield on Wednesday.
New London finished their truncated season with a record of 6-6, going 4-2 in the SEISC-South — losing their final two games.
Holy Trinity went 1-9 this season and 0-6 in conference action.
New London is led by senior Kara Krieger, who finished with a team-best 12 runs batted in, along with a .344 batting average, four doubles and two triples.
Freshman Elly Manning is the New London ace, she earned five wins this season, working a total of 57.1 innings with a 4.03 ERA.
Tonight’s game at New London will begin at 7:00 p.m.
You can listen along on KILJ-FM 105.5 or online at kilj.com.
Mount Pleasant Softball Back on the Diamond:
The Mount Pleasant softball team — after falling twice to Wilton on Friday — is back at it tonight when they take on the 12-3 Falcons of West Burlington High School in a non-conference doubleheader in Burlington.
Since their defeat of Winfield-Mount Union, Mount Pleasant has lost four straight.
2-8 in conference play, 4-16 overall, the Panthers will look to get the ship righted prior to their postseason opener on Thursday night against Burlington.
Tonight’s double-dip will begin at 5:30 p.m. at West Burlington High School.
Panther Baseball Closes Regular Season Tonight Against Solon:
Co-conference champions of the Southeast Conference, the Mount Pleasant baseball team will look to close their 2020 regular season on a high note when they welcome in the 13-5 Solon Spartans for a non-conference match-up.
The Panthers dispatched of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 6-1, last Friday.
They’ve won seven of their last eight ballgames.
This will be their last tune-up before hosting Fort Madison in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs on Friday night.
There will be no radio tonight — but first pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.
Several Coaching Changes to be Announced at Tonight’s MPCSD Board Meeting:
Three coaching appointments are set to be approved tonight at the Mount Pleasant Community School District Board meeting.
Jerry Crouch will be selected as the next head bowling coach, while Neil Schmitz will resume his coaching duties as the head boys soccer coach. Schmitz will take back over for Ryan Chabal, who was the coach for one season — which was ultimately taken away by the coronovirus pandemic.
Eric Rawson — the new head coach of Mount Pleasant basketball — has begun filling his JV staff. Rawson has tabbed Ronnie Ashton to be his JV head coach.
Ashton’s son Jordan was a First-Team All-State guard at Mount Pleasant, where he helped guide the Panthers to a Class 3A State Championship under Paul Rundquist and Rawson’s tutelage.
Washington to Drop Nickname Today:
Washington’s NFL team will get rid of the name ‘Redskins’ on Monday, according to multiple reports.
It’s unclear when a new name will be revealed for one of the league’s oldest franchises.
USA Today, ESPN, The Washington Post, Washington Times and Sports Business Journal reported Sunday night that owner Dan Snyder is set to “retire” the name. Yahoo, on Saturday, reported a name change was imminent.
The new team name is unknown as of this time.