Game Balls: Top performances from the week in high school sports
Jessica Albers
Central soccer
Albers has four goals Thursday in a 9-0 win over Salem and the Cougars’ senior has seven goals in her first three games.
Adam Alexander
Carlyle baseball
One of the area’s top leadoff hitters just continues to get better and better. The Southwestern Illinois recruit is hitting .407 with a St. Louis-area leading 12 stolen bases. He also is hitting .407 with 11 runs scored and two RBIs.
Addison Barnouski
O’Fallon softball
Barnouski has helped the Panthers get off a 4-0 start having pitched all 26 innings the team has played. The senior has struck out 25 against just one base on balls and has allowed just three earned runs for a .81 ERA. At the plate, she is 6-for-11 with two doubles and a triple.
Camden Bauer
O’Fallon baseball
The senior shortstop and Alabama recruit showed he knows his way around a pitching mound as well, tossing a five-inning no-hitter against Athens (Ala). on Saturday in only his second career start. Bauer was sharp, striking out one and allowing two walks as the Panthers closed out a 3-1 weekend at the Rawlings Tournament in Georgia. Bauer also was 6-for-11(.545) last week with three doubles, four RBIs and a .706 on-base percentage. He had the game-winning RBI double in a 6-4 tournament win over Ralston Valley (Colo.) and is hitting .412 this season with three doubles and four RBIs.
Abigail Crabtree
Edwardsville soccer
Crabtree, a junior, had two goals Tuesday as the Tigers blanked host Columbia 4-0 in a nonconference game. She scored Edwardsville’s only goal Thursday in a 1-1 tie against Collinsville in a Southwestern Conference game.
Trevor Davis
Gibault baseball
The hard-throwing junior right-hander struck out 16 in a two-hit, complete-game 3-1 win over Marissa on Saturday. Davis is 1-1 with a 1.17 ERA, striking out 22 in 12 innings of work. He’s also been on fire at the plate, hitting .577 through seven games with three doubles, three triples, one home run and 10 RBIs. He was 9-for-15 (.600) last week with three doubles, a homer and five RBIs in four games.
Ty Dill
Freeburg baseball
The hard-hitting senior has been on fire, racking up a .588 average with three doubles and seven RBIs. Last week Dill was 8-for-15 (.533) with two doubles, seven RBIs, seven runs scored and a triple.
A.J. Epenesa
Edwardsville track
Picking up where he left off a year ago when he was the Class 3A state runner-up in the discus, Epenesa shattered the Southwestern Illinois Relays mark in the discus by over 30 meet on Saturday with a throw of 185 feet, 3 inches. The Iowa football recruit also won the shot put with a throw of 53 feet, 5 inches.
Amani Franklin
Belleville East track
One of most improved track athletes in the area, Franklin continued to surprise as he won the Class 3A triple jump title at the Illinois Top Times Meet. Franklin had a winning leap of 47 feet, 1/4 inch.
Katelyn Grandcolas
Belleville West soccer
Grandcolas, a freshman, scored both goals for the Maroons on Tuesday as they defeated visiting Belleville East 2-0. The goals were Grandcolas’ first at the varsity level.
Bradley Harrison
O’Fallon baseball
Expected to be one of the top players in the state, the senior Southern Illinois University Carbondale recruit has not disappointed. He’s 2-0 on the mound with a 0.88 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 16 innings, also hitting .318 with two homers and 12 RBIs in seven games.
Chelsea Hooker
Valmeyer softball
Hooker ranks among area batting leaders with a .636 average and seven runs batted in. Four of her seven hits on the young season have been for extra bases, including three doubles and a triple.
Abby Marlow
New Athens softball
The senior pitcher is doing it all for the undefeated Yellow Jackets. She’s started the season 12-for-18 with two home runs and eight runs batted in. She’s also 5-0 in the pitcher’s circle with a 0.71 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings.
Kenny Roberson, Marlowe Mosley and Delano Anderson
East St. Louis track
Led by this trio of winners, the Flyers won the Southwestern Illinois Relays for the first time in several years on Saturday at Edwardsville High School. Roberson won the long jump, Mosley took home first place in the 100 meters and Anderson won the 300-meter low hurdles.
William Session
Belleville East track
The defending Class 3A state champion in the 110 meter hurdles and an Indiana University recruit, Session showed why he is regarded as one of the best high school hurdlers in the nation by winning the 60-meter hurdles championship at the Illinois Top Times Meet. Session finished with a time of 7.89 seconds
Ja’Mari Ward
Cahokia track
The premier track and field athlete in the state, Ward concluded the indoor portion of his high school career by winning four titles at the Illinois Top Times Championship on Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. Ward won the 60 meters, 200 meters, long jump and triple jump championships.
Dillon Weiss
O’Fallon baseball
Weiss continued his hot start last week, piling up eight hits in 19 at-bats (.471) with a double, six runs scored and a .600 on-base percentage. He was 4-for-4 in a win over South Dade (Fla.) at the Rawlings Select Classic in Georgia.
Allison Wendt
Triad soccer
Wendt had three goals and an assist Friday in a 10-0 Mississippi Valley Conference win over Mascoutah. She has five goals and three assists in her first six games.
Joe Wolf
Freeburg baseball
The senior right-hander had a five-inning no-hitter Friday in a 12-1 win over Murphysboro. He’s off to a 2-0 start on the mound with a 0.00 ERA, allowing only one hit and no earned runs in his first 11 innings. Wolf also was 4-for-7 (.571) at the plate last week with two RBIs and is hitting .400 on the young season.
This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Game Balls: Top performances from the week in high school sports."