Effingham baseball sweeps Taylorville; Hearts boys and girls track and field teams perform well at Apollo Conference Meet

May 7—TAYLORVILLE, Ill. — Effingham senior shortstop Camden Raddatz had quite the day Saturday against Taylorville.

Raddatz, a Kaskaskia College baseball recruit, finished with five hits, five runs scored and eight RBIs. He hit two home runs, one in each game in the Flaming Hearts sweep of the Tornadoes.

Effingham won the first game 16-4.

Kaiden Nichols and Kaden Koeberlein opened the game with back-to-back walks. Nichols then scored on a fielder's choice, making it 1-0.

Colton Webb then hit a double and Raddatz scored on an error. Webb then scored on a wild pitch, making the score after the first half inning.

Taylorville answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning.

The Hearts, though, put a six-spot on the scoreboard in the top of the second. Raddatz and Webb hit back-to-back home runs on three pitches and Jude Traub scored on an error.

Effingham then plated three more runs in the top of the fifth. Nichols scored on a wild pitch, Spencer Fox drew a bases-loaded walk and Raddatz scored after Braxton Lewis was hit by a pitch.

The Tornadoes tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, eliminating a run-rule victory.

The Hearts then put four more runs on the board in the top of the sixth before Rylan Pals struck out two of the three batters he saw to end the game.

Aside from Raddatz, Webb had two hits and two RBIs. Lewis had three hits and two RBIs. Traub had two hits. Nichols had one hit and two RBIs and Braden Verdeyen had one hit.

Carter Braddy started the game and allowed four hits, four runs (two earned) and six walks to eight strikeouts in five innings.

Effingham then defeated Taylorville 7-1 in the second game.

Raddatz hit a two-run home run in the top of the first.

The Hearts scored once in the second. Lewis started the frame with a base hit. Brody Boehm did the same and Traub reached on an error before Nichols hit an RBI single, making it 3-0.

The Tornadoes scored their lone run in the bottom of the frame. Effingham responded with one in the fifth and three in the sixth.

Fox hit and RBI double in the fifth. Boehm scored on a fielder's choice in the sixth before Raddatz hit a two-run double.

Koeberlein finished the second game with two hits. Nichols had two hits and two RBIs. Fox had one hit and one RBI and Lewis, Boehm and Nick Martin had one hit.

Raddatz, Pals and Peter Rosen toed the slab. Raddatz allowed five hits, one run and two walks to six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Pals allowed one walk to two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings and Rosen allowed one walk to one strikeout in one inning.

Hearts track and field athletes make lasting impression at Apollo Conference Meet

The Effingham boys track and field team finished second and the girls third at the Apollo Conference Meet, hosted by Mattoon High School, on Thursday.

The boys finished with 112 points. Mt. Zion won with 165 points, while Mahomet-Seymour was third with 107, Charleston fourth with 69, Taylorville fifth with 61 and Mattoon sixth with 40.

On the boys side, junior sprinter Weldon Dunston won the 200 with a time of 22.78 seconds. Senior Jacob Weaver was fifth with a 23.24-second personal record.

Dunston also finished second in the 100 with a time of 11.56 seconds. Weaver was fourth at 11.64 seconds.

Junior Adam Flack finished third in the 800 with a 2:04.25 personal record. Fellow junior Aaron Hill was eighth with a personal record of 2:08.46.

Sophomore Alex Gordon finished third in the 3200 at 10:21.22.

The 4x200 team of sophomore DJ Latham, seniors Andrew Lotz and Weaver and Dunston won in 1:32.48. The 4x800 team of Flack, Gordon, Hill and junior Sam Spicer finished third in 8:44.85.

Senior Charlie Ring took first in the shot put with a throw of 47 feet, 8.5 inches. Freshman Clinton Metcalf finished third with a throw of 40 feet, 3.75 inches.

Sophomore Blayne Ring finished second in the discus with a personal best throw of 139 feet, 6 inches. Senior Carter Larimore was second in the high jump with a personal best leap of 6 feet, 0.75 inches, while freshman Maxx Kistler was fourth with a personal best jump of 5 feet, 8.75 inches.

Weaver finished fourth in the pole vault with a vault of 11 feet, 9.75 inches and senior Logan Kessler was fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 38 feet, 10.5 inches.

Jessica Larsen shined on the girls side for EHS.

The junior won the 800 in 2:22.59, the 1600 with a 5:20.54 personal record and was the anchor to two relay teams that came away victorious. The 4x400 team of Larsen, sophomore Baylee Summers and freshmen Macy Kirk and Drew Weis won in 4:06.41. The 4x800 team of Larsen, Summers, Weis and junior Morgan Springer won in 9:49.98.

Weis also had a strong showing, finishing second in the 800 with a 2:22.97 personal record. She was also fourth in the 400 at 1:01.86.

Senior Audrey Wagoner finished fourth in the 3200 at 12:52.25. Freshman Camdyn Burgholzer finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with an 18.25-second personal record. Burgholzer also finished second in the high jump at 4 feet, 11 inches.