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  By Will Becque

  CARBONDALE, Ill.- Southern Illinois head coach Kerri Blaylock has announced the addition of five student-athletes that have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Saluki softball program in the fall of 2019.
  
  Signing NLIs with the Salukis are pitcher Carlee Jo Clark (Carol Stream, Ill.), pitcher Sarah Harness (Bowling Green, Mo.), outfielder Aubree DePron (Blanchard, Okla.), catcher/infielder Kerrigan Gamm (Ulman, Mo.) and utility player Tori Schullian (Herrin, Ill.).
  
  “We are so excited to sign these five student athletes,” Blaylock said. “We needed to focus on pitching, speed, power and versatility and we feel that we accomplished all of those traits.  We are getting five young ladies that have played at the highest level of club ball and have succeeded greatly.  We also got five great students and people.  Our culture is so important to us here at Southern and these five fit in perfectly.”
  

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  A native of Carol Stream, Ill., Carlee Jo Clark currently attends St. Francis High School where she has been named all-state three times in her career. She hit .506 as a junior with 12 home runs and 49 runs batted in and posted a 1.28 earned run average with 108 strikeouts over 71 innings of work. As a sophomore, Clark earned All-State First Team honors after she hit .380 with 14 home runs and 45 runs batted in to go along with a 14-1 record on the bump and a 1.01 earned run average. 
  
  She has spent the past three seasons playing for the Illinois Chill in Northbrook, Ill. under the direction of Gerry Quinn. This summer, Clark helped Illinois Chill Gold 16U take fifth at the prestigious Boulder IDT, which was the best finish of any Midwest program. Clark is an exceptional student as well, as she currently maintains a 3.98 grade point average at SFHS.
  
  “I saw Carlee for the first time when she was 14 years old,” Blaylock said. “She did a great job on the mound and also with her bat.  She is such a hard worker and has improved herself every year by adding another pitch or just gaining strength, etc.  She is a versatile athlete that will be able to pitch and hit for us.”

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  Sarah Harness is a senior pitcher at Bowling Green High School where she helped the Lady Cats win back-to-back Missouri State Championships. The Bowling Green, Mo. native is a four-time All-District and All-Region honoree who has amassed a 59-9 career record in the circle with a microscopic .83 career earned run average. She struck out more than one-third of the batters she faced during her four seasons, as she struck out 623 of the 1628 batters she faced with a nearly 6:1 strikeouts-to-walk ratio. During one game last fall, Harness struck out all 21 batters she faced.
  
  Harness has been named to three-straight All-State teams, including back-to-back turns on the All-State First Team. During the summer, she has played for the Illinois Force travel team. A solid student, Harness has maintained a 3.9 grade point average.
  
  “We are so excited that Sarah chose SIU,” Blaylock said. “She has such a great presence on the mound.  She has good speed and movement and commands the game.  She is a two-time state champion that knows how to win and that is such an important factor at the Division 1 level. She gets better and better every time I see her throw.”

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  A native of Blanchard, Okla., Aubree DePron led Bridge Creek High School to the 4A Regionals in 2018. A versatile athlete with top of the lineup speed, DePron ran the anchor leg of the 4×400 relay for Bridge Creek’s track team and took second in the long jump at the Oklahoma 4A state meet. On the diamond, she hit .627 as a junior with 51 runs batted in and swiped 71 bases. A two-time Little All-City First Team selection, DePron was picked as a starter on the 2018 Middle West All-State team after she hit .563 and stole 46 bases during her senior campaign. 
  
  On the travel ball circuit, DePron played for the Oklahoma Ultimate. 
  
  “Aubree will be the fastest athlete that we have ever had here at SIU,” Blaylock said. “She can fly but also can hit the gaps. She is a great athlete that competes extremely hard. We felt we needed more speed in our lineup and she will give us that.”

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  Kerrigan Gamm attends Osage High School in Ulman, Mo., where she rewrote the school record books and will leave the program as it’s all-time leader in nearly every offensive statistical category including career batting average (.483), on-base percentage (.535), slugging percentage (.866), hits (149), doubles (34), triples (7), home runs (21), runs scored (113) and stolen bases (17). Gamm also pitched for the Indians and posted a 19-6 career record with a 1.73 earned run average. During her sophomore campaign she led all Missouri hitters with a .609 batting average. 
  
  A three-sport athlete, Gamm is also a standout on Osage’s basketball and track and field teams. A three-time state qualifier in the javelin, the Ulman, Mo. native finished third in the state in the event in 2018. She was also named as one of Missouri RoundBall Magazine’s “Elite 30” girls basketball players and is a two-time all-conference player on the hardwood. 
  
  She has played travel ball for the past four seasons for the KC Zephyrs under the direction of Justin Corona. In addition to her athletic success, Gamm is a tremendous student and has earned three Academic All-State honors.
  
  “Kerrigan is such a strong and versatile athlete,” Blaylock said. “She can literally play every position but pitcher.  She hits for tremendous power and has an elite arm.  Her versatility will allow her to play all over the field when needed.”

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  Tori Schullian is a senior at nearby Herrin High School where she led the Tigers to three-straight regional appearances. A starter since her freshman season, Schullian delivered big hit after big hit for the Tigers, including a go-ahead double in the sectional championship game as a sophomore that advanced Herrin to the state quarterfinals. She has been named to the All-Conference, All-South and All-State teams in each of her three seasons, including a turn on the All-State first team after a junior season in which she hit .505 with a .550 on-base percentage to go along with four home runs and 21 runs batted in.
  
  Schullian has played travel ball for the Illinois Force, which has produced several notable Saluki alumnae including the school record holder in career on-base and slugging percentage Shaye Harre. Current Salukis Bailee Pulley and Nicole Johnson both played for the Force. The Herrin, Ill native is an exceptional student and holds a 4.2 grade point average. 
  
  “I have watched Tori since she was very young,” Blaylock said. “She is a very good athlete that will play both the infield and outfield. She can hit for power and average. Again, her versatility is what drew us to her.”

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No football metric measures how fast teammates rush to their quarterback’s defense, but the way the Bears responded Sunday at Soldier Field to an out-of-bounds hit on Mitch Trubisky revealed something as important as any of Trubisky’s numbers.

Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.

The College Football Playoff rankings held steady at the top, with Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan an unchanged first four from last week.

Here’s a link to the story at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Oakland’s Bob Melvin and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker were named managers of the year in the American League and National League on Tuesday, with voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America clinging to tradition by choosing the architects of the biggest year-over-year surprises in either league. Both the Athletics and Braves were picked to finish near the bottom of their divisions in 2018, but made the playoffs.

Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood walked into the locker room after an encouraging 88-80 loss to Georgetown and liked what he saw: A bunch of angry players.

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

Shohei Ohtani was rewarded for a Ruthian season at the plate — and on the mound.

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

Hot topics from this week as MLB gears up for an interesting off-season.

Here’s a link to the column  at St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Football  11/12/2018 | 2:40:00 By Tom Weber, SIUSalukis.com

Saluki head coach Nick Hill’s weekly press conference