by Steve Dunford

The Zeigler-Royalton girls softball team beat Sesser-Valier on Wednesday of last week.  I am unsure of the final.  Haley Pasquino fanned 15 in the game.

Allison Giles and Olivia Kirkpatrick went 3-5 at the plate on the afternoon, Bella Bate 2-3, Skylar Hudson 2-4  Lainey Morris, Olivia Crain, Hadley Sweetin, and Pasquino picks up hits for the Tornadoes.

On Friday, Z-R travels to McLeansboro to face the Hamilton County Foxes, and fall 7-6.   Hudson leads the offense that day going 3-4, Giles, Harris, Crain, and Sweetin end up 2-4 at the plate.  Pasquino goes 1-2 with a walk and a sacrifice.

Z-R is 5-6 on the season.

From Mike Kern, Associate Commissioner, Missouri Valley Football Conference

Best in the FCS

The MVFC is well represented on national pre-season rankings/player recognition lists. The Conference has an FCS-best five teams on the FCS coaches poll; an FCS-best six teams on the STATS FCS top-25 poll; an FCS-best five student-athletes on the STATS Buck Buchanan Award Watch List; an FCS-best 17 student-athletes on the STATS FCS pre-season All-America teams, which includes an FCS-best seven individuals on the first-team unit. South Dakota State, meanwhile, has an FCS-best three student-athletes on the STATS Walter Payton Award Watch List (TE Dallas Goedert, QB Taryn Christion, and WR Jake Wieneke).

Against the FBS
MVFC schools set a league record with four wins against FBS schools last year. Three MVFC games this weekend are at FBS sites. The Conference has had at least one FBS win in each of the last seven seasons.

Home Sweet Home
Last year, MVFC schools recorded a 16-4 record in home non-conference games. In the last eight seasons (since 2009), MVFC schools have combined for a 131-17 (.885) record in games played at MVFC sites.

by Steve Dunford

I went ahead and shared this information in case you have plans for outdoor activities this afternoon.

There is a cell with heavy rain getting ready to cross the Mississippi in Perry County, Mo.  I am going to add a lightning detector in the future, but as intense as the cell is, there might be some cloud to ground lightning in it.  The storms are not severe.

The showers should clear off by early morning.  There is going to be three very mild days ahead, and a chance of storms by the weekend.

UPDATE:  3:30 p.m.  The showers and thunderstorms that I was keeping an eye on are weakening.  The cell was in Western Perry county a half hour ago and fell apart.  There are still some light to moderate showers in SEMO.  They are weakening as well.

Chance of  showers and thunderstorms on Friday, it could play havoc with football Friday night

Scattered showers and thunderstorms will continue through tonight. Thunderstorms will be mostly during the afternoon and evening hours. A weak front will become nearly stationary across southern Illinois and extreme west Kentucky today and tonight. Highs will be mainly in the lower 80’s. Lows tonight will be 60 to 65. (NWS Paducah)

Hazardous Weather Outlook

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southern
Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky, and southeast
Missouri.

.DAY ONE…Today and Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms are expected today and tonight, mainly
during the afternoon and evening hours. The main hazards will be
lightning and heavy rain.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…Tuesday through Sunday

A chance of thunderstorms is forecast over all or a portion of the
area Thursday through Sunday. Heavy rainfall and lightning will be
the primary concerns.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT…

Spotter activation is not anticipated at this time.

Seven Day Forecast

Today
Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Light and variable wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Tonight
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. Light north northeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming north northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. Light north wind.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming north northeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Light east northeast wind.
Thursday
Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. East northeast wind around 6 mph.
Friday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. East northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
Friday Night
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. East wind 3 to 7 mph.
Saturday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Light and variable wind becoming south southeast around 6 mph in the morning.
Saturday Night
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. South southwest wind 3 to 5 mph.
Sunday
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph.

RHP Trevor Rosenthal moved to the 60-day DL; RHP Josh Lucas optioned to Memphis following Tuesday’s game

Press Release from the St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have purchased the contract of left-handed relief pitcher Ryan Sherriff from triple-A Memphis. To make room for Sherriff on the team’s 40-man roster, the club moved RHP Trevor Rosenthal to the 60-day disabled list and optioned right-handed pitcher Josh Lucas to Memphis following last night’s game.

Sherriff, 27, the Cardinals 28th round pick out of West Los Angeles College in the 2011 draft, has appeared in a team-leading 48 games this season for the Redbirds, ranking T-4th in the Pacific Coast League. He’s 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA and has six saves in seven opportunities, covering 53.2 innings.

The southpaw has stranded 14-of-17 inherited runners this season and is holding left-handed batters to a .198 batting average while right-handers are hitting .215 with no home runs. Of his 48 appearances this season, 37 have been scoreless and he has not allowed a home run since June 9, a span of 24 games. Sherriff received an invitation to Major League Spring Training in 2017 and made eight relief appearances allowing one run in 8.2 innings. Sherriff will wear uniform No. 65.

Lucas was purchased on August 19 and made his Major League debut that night at Pittsburgh. He made two appearances for the Cardinals, and pitched a combined 4.0 innings, striking out five.

Rosenthal was placed on the 10-day disabled list on August 17 with right posterior elbow irritation. Rosenthal, who has 11 saves for St. Louis this year and is 3-4 with a 3.40 ERA, ranks 5th among National League relievers with 76 strikeouts.