Villa Grove Blue Devils fall sports wrap
By Tony Hooker
High School Cross Country
Ram tough at Shelbyville Trails Invite
Boys
Freshman Kurt Zimmerman ran to an 11th place finish to lead the Blue Devils to a tenth place team finish at the Shelbyville Trails Invitational cross country meet on September 11. Chase White ran 37th, Caleb Wiessing came in 56th and Blake Davis and Austin Zoch rounded out team scoring by placing 87th and 88th, respectively, on the challenging Shelby County circuit.
Girls
Emma Buesing finished 14th overall to lead VGHS to a seventh place finish at the Shelbyville Trails Invite. Madison Logan ran 37th, Kyleigh Price was 48th, Scarlett Howard ran 54th and Hailey Stutz came in 64th for the Blue Devils scoring.
Tuscola Quad
Boys
Kurt Zimmerman ran to an eleventh place finish in a meet at Tuscola that featured Heritage, VG and C-N in addition to the host school. Chase White ran 19th, Caleb Wiessing came in 33rd, Andrew Fonner finished 40tht, Austin Zoch ran 41st and Blake Davis finished 47th for VG CC.
Girls
Emma Buesing ran seventh in the Tuscola Quad meet on September 14. Other finishers included Madison Logan (11th) Kyleigh Price (12th) Hailey Stutz (14th) and Scarlett Howard, who ran 15th.
Tuscola Classic
Boys
Kurt Zimmerman was again the first finisher for VG, coming in 28th at the 44th annual Tuscola Classic. Chase White again backed his running mate by finishing 73rd. Other runners for VG included Caleb Wiessing, Blake Davis, Austin Zoch and Andrew Fonner.
Girls
Emma Buesing finished in 45th place to lead the Blue Devils, while Scarlett Howard (83rd) Kyleigh Price (84th) and Hailey Stutz also competed for the Blue Devils.
Volleyball
Jousted by Knights
Logan Lillard hammered three kills and stuffed an ALAH shot at the net, but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Devils dropped a 9-25,14-25 decision to Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond on September 14.
Remembered by Titans
Ava Vollmer hammered four kills and Logan Lillard and Vanessa Wright each powered down three, but VGVB dropped a 15-25, 20-25 straight set decision to Tri County on September 16.
Golf
Girls
With two upperclassmen shelved due to injuries, Freshman Lila Bessent and Olivia Jones led the way with 65’s at the Blue Devils’ triangular meet vs. SJO and Okaw Valley. Sophomore Zoey Thompson Burton was a stroke back at 66.
Boys
Despite a fourth place finish by Jake Gilles (50) and 54’s from Jesse Bessent and Gavin Kiser VG finished their home meet in third with a team score of 219 behind SJO (170) and Okaw Valley (187) on Thursday, September 16.
JH Softball
Clawed by Eagles
14 errors led to ten unearned runs as the Blue Devils saw their season come to an end with a 12-7 loss to Gifford in the championship game of the IESA class 1A Rantoul St. Malachy regional. Piper Kiser did her best to lead the Devils back from an early 6-2 deficit by going 3-4 with a homer and a double and four RBIs at the dish. Hayden Thomas and Izzy Dodd each scored a pair of runs for VGJH, and Ryan Lillard went 1-3 and scored a run for Villa Grove.
JH baseball
Mauled by Tigers
The boys’ dropped their IESA class 2A opener to Westville by a score of 17-2. No box score was made available, but Thomas Vandeventer tripled and knocked in a run, Jackson Gilles had a hit and scored a run, and Brody Sanders tallied the other VGJH score.
JH Cross Country
Boys
Sixth grader Nolan Shadwick cruised to a third place finish to lead the Blue Devils at a home meet, held in Camargo on September 16. Classmate Robert Mitsdarfer ran in sixth, while Logan Hauersperger, Max Kneer, Ethan Vail and Cole Cardiff “packed up” to finish in eighth through eleventh places. Other finishers for VGJH included Keith Bailey, Leith Carter, Linstead Thomas and Kamerer Wyatt.
Girls
Eva Piercy made her Eighth Grade Night a triumphant one by finishing second in the Girls Meet. Lilly-Lynn Davis finished fifth, Lyndsay Zoch ran sixth and Teaghan Henderson cruised to a seventh place finish for the Blue Devils.