Wrapping Up The Season and Into Postseason

Princeville High School Spring sports are coming to an end to wrap up their seasons and enter into the postseason. Girls track had their sectionals at Wethersfield High School on Thursday, May 9th with two girls carrying on to state.  Softball started their Regionals, their first game being Monday, May 13th against Galva. They ended their season on May 15th against Ridgewood in the regionals semi-finals. Their final score was 1-0. Baseball started their regionals this past Thursday, May 16th against St. Bede Academy at St. Bede. Boys track ran on Wednesday, May 15th in Farmington. They now have one relay consisting of Jack Lied, Brock Butler, Parker Melick, and Joey Bosch advancing to State, as well as Josh Hunt qualifying for Shot Put. Joey Bosch also qualified for the IHSA State track meet in the 1600m.  

For many of the girls on the girl’s track team, their season has come to an end, but we had two successes in making it to State. Senior, Brianna Brodie won sectionals in Discus, with the throw of 117’ 7” to advance to state, and is looking to improve on her 2nd Place State Medal last year. Freshman, Bethany Sennett ran a new personal record at sectionals in the 800m to finish in 5th place & qualify with a time of 2:26.77. Coach Wonders said, “ Girl’s track had a successful season overall.” Junior, Tessa Berchtold finished 5th in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 18.32. Bethany Sennett finished 4th in the 400m with a time of 1:03.44 & Freshman, Sahara Streitmatter also finished 4th in the Long Jump with a new personal record of 15' 7".  Junior, Montana Hoerr also had a new personal record in the 1600m with a time of 6:16.16. “All of the girls saw their times drop or distances improve as the year progressed and we are proud of them for the work they put in, especially with the challenging weather that we had this season,” said Coach Wonders. The team had a slow start to their season with their first 5 outdoor meets being canceled due to weather. Coach Wonders wants to thank his athletes. "Want to thank Seniors Brinae Rice (all 4 years), Brianna Brodie (all 4 years), & Makenna Sears (2 years) for competing, showing class, and representing themselves, their families, their school, and their town with pride.  Also, JRs Tessa Berchtold & Montana Hoerr might be graduating early so this might have been their last season as well, they will be missed.  Special thank you to Coach Jon Carruthers for coaching the throwers and Coach Jeremey Melick for his work primarily with the jumpers (did a great job with Sahara).”

The Softball team started their postseason at home against Galva on Monday, May 13th. According to Coach Holt, “The 2024 Softball season has been a road that has been blocked with weather, injuries, and unfortunate circumstances. But the season has been relatively a good season. “ The softball team has entered the postseason with an overall record of 10-16 and the conference record of 6-12 making them 7th in the conference. The team batting average is up 45 points from last year at .296. Coach Holt says, “Our goal of less strikeouts and errors are both much better than last year. We swept rival ROWVA and split with Annawan and Mercer County teams that all beat us last year. The past 11 games we are 7-4 going into our last weekend of the season. Freshman Pitcher Claire Sutherland has been a very good consistent pitcher in the circle with a 3.67ERA.” Big hitters in season are Senior, Kinley McGinn; Junior, Mekeya Cihla, and Junior,  Sierra Stahl all have been hitting over .350 to help boost the power at the top of the lineup. Holt says, “The best thing is out of all 11 starters that rotate, all are hitting over .200 for the first time in a couple of years. So I'd say, I am very optimistic about what the Postseason holds for the Princeville Softball team.”

The baseball team's current overall record of 10-17 and the conference record of 5-8 making them 7th in the conference. Their first regional game was Thursday, May 16th against St. Bede Academy at St. Bede. Junior, Logan Olshawsky (.410 BA and 17 RBIs) and Junior, Jake Williams (.438 and 14 RBIs) have been the offensive leaders of the season. The pitching staff has a solid 3.8 ERA and Junior, Parker Dickinson leads the pitching staff with 42 strikeouts. According to Coach Williams, “The team has shown a lot of growth through the season and had some good wins against Bureau Valley and Farmington. The JV team is currently 3-3 and has struggled to get games in due to rainouts. The team has developed a lot this season and has shown tremendous offensive growth. We look forward to challenging teams in the postseason!”

The boys' track team had a very successful Conference meet at United High School on Friday, May 3rd.  The boys came in second place at the conference meet with many 1st and 2nd placings and personal records. The 4 x 800 relay team with Freshman, Oliver Melick; Freshman, Jacob Bosch; Junior, Jack Lied; and Freshman, Jackson Kraft got 1st place and a new personal record with the time of  8:52.86. 4 x 100 relay team with Senior, Josh Hunt; Sophomore, Eli Christianson; Senior, Parker Melick; and Senior, Tayshaun Kieser got 1st place and a new personal record with the time of 44.39. Senior, Logan Carruthers got 1st place in discus with a throw of 135’4”. Senior, Joey Bosch got 1st place in the 1600m with a time of 4:40.63 and 3rd place in 800m with a time of 2:07.56. The 4 x 400 relay team with Senior, Tayshaun Kieser; Sophomore, Brock Butler; Junior, Parker Melick; and Senior, Joey Bosch got 2nd place and a new personal record of 3:30.91. Senior, Josh Hunt got 2nd place in shot put with a throw of 42'11''. Senior, Tayshaun Kieser got 3rd place in the 400m dash with a time of 52.00. Freshman, Collin Carruthers got 3rd place in the discus with the throw of 125’ 7”. The boys' track team had Sectionals Wednesday, May 15th at Farmington High School with one relay, one shot put, and a 1600 m advancing to state!