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Putnam County gets some early preparation for state · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Putnam County gets some early preparation for state Written by
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  Kevin Hieronymus, this article is being read by an automated
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  voice brought to you by Everlett. The Putnam County baseball
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  team made one stop on the way to Champagne for
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  the state tournament, and another in town once it got
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  there to prepare for Friday's Class one A state semi
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  final game. The Panthers made a pit stop at the
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  Corncrib in Normal, the home of the Corn Belters of
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  the Prospect League, to practice on the turf. It helped
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  to get the Panthers used to playing on the turf
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  field like they'll see at Illinois Field. When they got
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  to Champagne, the Panthers got in more work at the
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  Yard Goats Indoor Facility aka the Yard thanks to former
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  PC coach David Garcia, who formerly coached at Parkland College
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  and now is at Southwestern Illinois College. It is a
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  thirty eight thousand square foot training center. Today was a
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  great experience at the Corn Crib. We got down there
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  at one and did defensive work and it was just
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  a great experience with the whole team. We fielded well
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  and gave great effort. PC senior captain Traxton Mattingly said,
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  we got down to the hitting place and it was
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  very surprising when we walked into two big areas to
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  throw and play catch, and then there were three cages.
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  We had the hack attack going and it was a
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  great experience. We hit well and we're ready to compete
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  this weekend. Mattingly said, it's already proven to be an
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  experience he will never forget. I want thank coach Chris
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  Newsom for this opportunity. It's been one of the best experiences,
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  he said. It hasn't clicked in that like we're going
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  to State and everything, but the State send off in
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  all of this is starting to be the best experience
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  of my life. I'm happy me and Jonathan Stunkle get
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  to end our high school careers at the biggest event
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  in Illinois for baseball. Mattingly said the team really creciated
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  the community send off. This community has been with us
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  since the start, and it's just great that we have
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  such a good community that always wants to be a
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  part of stuff that we do. I could not ask
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  for a better community, he said. They've always been supportive
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  and they show up for their teams very well, so
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  the sendoff was one of the best things that has happened.
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  The Panthers twenty five to eleven, will face North Clay
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  thirty five to four at one pm Friday. With a win,
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  they'll advance to Saturday's championship game at one pm against
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  the winner of Friday's first semi final between Triment thirty
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  six to two and Jacksonville Route Catholic twenty four to twelve.