Let the Spring Sports Begin

Mar 10, 2017
4 min read

It's hard to believe that basketball season is over for the year. As a matter of fact, the Benton Rangers & Centralia Orphans are the only teams in our area remaining. After tonight only one of those will remain as they play in the Benton Sectional Championship game at 7:00 PM.

We saw some exciting basketball down the stretch as our Carterville Lions boys varsity played inspired basketball down the stretch, but it just wasn't enough against the Carbondale Terriers.

With that loss, we have to say goodbye to our senior players Taylor Heil, Brendan Beasley and Blake Jackson. It was a pleasure to watch each of these young men play the last four year. Can't wait to see where your future leads each of you.

It's that time of year that the spring sports get fired up for the season, and it should be another great year for the Carterville Lions.

Lady Lions Softball

Coach Will Capie and the Lady Lions Softball team pursue a second straight state title in Class 2A and a record of 32-3. The Lady Lions are the pre-season #1 team in the state. They are lead by Senior Baleigh Koester on the mound.

The Lady Lions will open up the season next Satruday against the #2 team in the state, St. Joseph-Ogden. Game time is set for 10:00 am weather permitting.

The full schedule for Lady Lions Softball is here.

BTW, can you believe we are supposed to get snow this weekend? Crazy!

Lions Baseball

Coach Bobby Jackson is putting together his 2017 baseball squad. They will open the season Monday when they travel to Herrin to take on the Tigers. Game time is 4:30 pm.

You can find the schedule for Lions Baseball by clicking here

Lions Soccer & Track & Field

The Carterville Lions soccer team and track and field begin their season's this week as well. The soccer team plays tomorrow at 11:00 am when they host Harrisburg.

Here is the complete schedule for the Lions Girls Soccer Team.

The schedule for boys varsity track and field is here:

The schedule for girls varsity track and field is here:

Luke Ford Receives Two More Offers

Luke Ford had another production week on the recruiting front has he received two more offers.

On Monday, Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban called Luke and offered a scholarship to play in Tuscaloosa. If you recall, Luke attended the Nick Saban football camp last summer. It was in that camp that Luke caught Coach Saban's eye. It was at that time when Coach call Ford "Baby Gronk".

On Thursday, Luke received his twentieth offer from University of Louisville.

Luke and his family are getting ready to make a couple of college visits as they will visit Lovie Smith and the Fighting Illini, Brett Bielema and the Arkansas Razorbacks, Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs and Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.

I'm hoping that when Luke gets back that I will have the chance to sit down and talk about the recruiting process he is experiencing.

Congrats Luke and good luck!

Lions football will open the season on August 25th when they take on the Benton Rangers.

Final Thoughts...

I want to take a moment to thank all of our radio sponsors of our Lions Sports broadcast this year. Our radio broadcasts wouldn't be possible if not for these fine business's.

Also, thank you to Tom Miller and Mike Murphy and Bob Romanowski at River Radio for all their help and support this year. We were able to do some things we hadn't done before and I just wanted to say thanks.

I want to take a second to thank the coaches and staff at Carterville High School. From Mr. Liddel and the Carterville School Board, and to Principal Todd Rogers. I appreciate the support you gave to me all season long.

To IT Manager Dave Baburnich. We would not be able to live stream the home games on YouTube if it weren't for "Computer Dave"! We are working on some new things for our Live-stream broadcast next year.

A huge "thank you" to AD Brett Diel and all of the coaches, Dennis Drust and staff, Shane Hawkins and his staff. To Matt Crain and Steve Cowan, thank you. To Linda Drust, Bonnie Howerton and the entire cheerleading team....thank you!

I also want to say a huge thank you to my radio partner Scott Hudson. It was a pleasure to call the games with you this year. I truly appreciate your preparation for each game. More importantly I appreciate your friendship. It won't be long and football season will be here.

Finally, to my Amy. Amy helped me all season with the live-stream video and makes sure to keep it going during the games. I couldn't do the games and coordinate the video by myself.

But most important I want to say thank you for your support of me. I understand the time and travel that is required to do this job can be crazy and sometimes incredibly inconvenient. But not only do you support me, you are there with me every step of the way and that means everything to me. I love you Amy! Thank you!

I will keep you up-to-date with all of the Carterville Lions spring sports teams. Don't forget to check out www.cartervillelionathletics.org That is where you can get all of the latest Lions news and updates.