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Putnam County adding to rich baseball tradition with seventh state appearance · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Putnam County adding to rich baseball tradition with seventh state appearance.
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  Written by Kevin Schlum, this article is being read by
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  an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Putnam County
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  Freshman catcher Callen Weisbrock knows all about the Panthers baseball tradition.
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  His father, Tom was a starter on Putnam County's nineteen
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  ninety eight team that placed fourth in Class A. He's
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  told me about the home run he hit and the
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  competition they faced to get there, Callen Weisbrock said. Tom
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  Weeesbrock belted a two run walk off home run to
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  lift the Panthers to victory in the nineteen ninety eight quarterfinals. Now,
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  Callan Weisbrock is making plays for the Panthers in their
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  run to state. In Tuesday's seven and four victory over
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  Galena in the Class one at NIU Super Sectional in Decalb,
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  Weesbrock tagged a runner out at home plate, caught a
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  pop up along the fence deep in foul territory, and
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  picked a runner off first base. It feels great keeping
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  the tradition going, Weisbrock said, it means a lot to
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  my Dad. It takes him back to when they went
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  to state and how much effort he's put into me.
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  This year's Panthers have added another chapter to Putnam County's
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  rich tradition. Putnam County twenty five eleven will play North
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  Clay thirty five to four in a state semifinal at
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  one pm Friday at Illinois Field in Champagne. Putnam County
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  opened for the nineteen sixty six to sixty seven school
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  year as a consolidation of Hennepen, Hopkins and Magnolia Swiney
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  High schools. The Panthers have qualified for state in baseball
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  in every full decade since the school opened. Putnam County
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  qualified for state in nineteen seventy two, nineteen seventy nine,
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  nineteen eighty two, nineteen ninety eight, two thousand and eight,
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  twenty thirteen, and twenty twenty six. The Panthers placed fourth
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  in nineteen ninety eight, third, third in two thousand and eight,
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  and second in twenty thirteen. I think all the success
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  we had in the past influences the future, said Putnam
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  County freshman second baseman Eli King, who was two for
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  two with two RBIs in the super Sectional. It just
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  creates a new level of play for future athletes. Junior
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  pitcher slash third baseman Maddox Pool credits the community support.
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  I think just the culture and the community, said Pool,
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  who went two for four with a run and an
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  RBI and was the winning pitcher in relief in the Supersectional.
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  When we were playing the sectional at home, there were
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  tons of people there. Everybody came out to support. I
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  think that's probably what it is. Putnam County has had
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  four coaches who have led the program for fifty five
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  of its fifty nine seasons, and current coach Chris Newsom
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  now joins the other three as a state qualifier. Joe
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  Massino was the consolidated school's first coach, going one hundred
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  and ninety one forty two with one state berth from
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  nineteen sixty seven to seventy five, after previously co ching Hennepin.
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  Ken Jenkins guided the Panthers to a five hundred seventeen
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  three thirty six record and three state appearances from nineteen
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  seventy nine to two thousand and eight. Dave Garcia coached
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  the Panthers to a one hundred and twenty four fifty
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  one mark and a runner up finished from twenty to
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  twenty thirteen. Mike Kilbartin led PC to State in his
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  loan season in nineteen seventy eight. Newsom is two hundred
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  and thirteen one hundred and twenty four in his eleventh season.
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  All the coaches and all the players who came before
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  us just set the bar that we constantly strive to hit.
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  Newsom said, I've told them before, if you're here for
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  a point five zero zero season, I'm not your guy.
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  Early on, a talk we had was what do we
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  want out of this year? They all fill out anonymous,
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  this is where we see ourselves forms. We had a
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  couple state tournaments. You usually get that every year, but
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  most of them were like, I'd like to advance to
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  the Sectional without the last couple weeks of us clicking
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  a little little bit more offensively. I'd say that's probably
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  pretty true to where we should have ended up. But
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  now that we're clicking a little bit and are a
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  little bit more dangerous, we earned that trip and beat
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  a good ball club in the super Sectional. Newsome knows
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  the Panthers have a tough matchup in the semifinals against
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  North Clay, which doesn't have as much historical success as
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  Putnam County, but has a strong program in recent years.
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  The Cardinals are three hundred and twenty six one hundred
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  and twenty three with eight regional titles, two sectional titles,
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  and the twenty twenty two class won a state championship
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  in fifteen seasons under current coach John Freck. This spring,
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  the Cardinals are averaging nine point eight runs per game
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  while allowing two point one. North Clay has scored double
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  digit runs in eighteen games this season, including five games
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  scoring twenty or more, and has shut out sixteen opponents.
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  The Cardinals have outscored postseason opponents forty nine to five,
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  an eight zero win over Gorville in the Super Sectional.
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  Jack Compton Low four hundred and sixty two eleven doubles,
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  fifty two runs forty RBIs, Ian Jones Low four hundred
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  and forty one, ten two billion thirty R forty five, RBIs,
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  Carter Walden Low four hundred and twenty nine ten two billion,
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  four hours thirty four R thirty nine, RBIs, Cooper Lewis
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  Low three hundred and eighty six ten two billion, three
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  hours forty two air twenty nine twenty RBIs and Cayden
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  Craig both three hundred and sixty four seven hours, thirty
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  seven R forty eight RBIs are the Cardinals top hitters.
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  North Clay has three strong pitchers. Compton and Jones are
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  each nine to one, and Trevin Sidwell is seven to one.
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  Compton has a zero point sixty nine ERA with seventy
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  seven strikeouts, Jones has a one point nine two ERA
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  with sixty six strikeouts, and Sidwell has a two point
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  zero four ERA with forty six strikeouts. Also for the Cardinals,
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  Zimdars is four zero with a zero point five six ERA.
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  They're good, Newsom said, I know that it's a team
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  somewhat familiar with from when we had fall ball. They're
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  a good offensive club. They're doing damage too. They've got
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  several guys who can throw it upper eighties. Hopefully we
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  can get some more information on them moving forward to
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  help aid us and help develop a game plan. It's
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  going to be a tough one. Newsom said he thinks
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  most people are expecting a North Clay versus Tremont thirty
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  six to two matchup in the state title game at
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  one pm Saturday. Tremont will play Route Catholic twenty four
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  to twelve in Friday's first semi final. If you ask
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  anybody across the state, they're looking at Tremont versus North
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  Clay for the title. Newsom said, they want to see that.
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  Hopefully we can play spoiler and end up there instead
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  of them. Putnam County is averaging seven point three runs
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  per game, including nine point three during its current eight
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  game winning streak, and allowing three point three runs per game.
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  Senior Jonathan Stunkle has led the Panthers as he's hitting
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  point four for zero, seven home runs, five triples, twelve doubles,
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  forty eight runs, and thirty nine RBIs while going nine
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  to three on the mound with a one point four
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  to six ERA and ninety two strikeouts to fifteen walks
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  in seventy two innings. Stunkel was the winning pitcher in
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  the regional final, Sectional semifinal, and Sectional championship and is
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  expected to start Friday's state semifinal. During five postseason games,
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  Stunkel is nine for eighteen with two home runs, a triple,
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  three doubles, seven RBIs and seven runs. I knew I
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  had to step up this year, Stunkle says. After the
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  Sectional final last year, I was kind of that guy.
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  Then this year I knew for sure I had to
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  step up, take that role and get the job done.
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  Also for PC, Traxton Mattingly is hitting point four two
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  six with seventeen doubles, four triples, forty nine runs and
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  twenty four RBIs. Cade Zimmerline is hitting point four two
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  six with nine doubles, thirty two runs and thirty RBIs.
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  Pool is hitting point three three three with nine twenty
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  six runs and twenty four RBIs. Zimmer Line is seven
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  two with a two point one four e r RA,
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  Pool three one two point three three E RRA and
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  Rudy Villagomes three zero two point zero zero E RAY
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  have also logged innings for PC