July 2020

Volume 3, Issue 7

#Owen Tough Post 68 to hold alumni game in honor of Owen Matthews Page 16

Academic All-Stars Lyon County athletes recognized for academics Page 8

Record Setter Marshall standout Abby Fiessinger making history at Carson-Newman Page 5

July 2020 • Page 3

8

16 22

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ADVERTISERS INDEX: Akridge Farm Supply — p. 4 Brehm Striping ­— p. 17

Shop-O-Rama ­— p. 17

Magistrate Bobby Cummins— p. 10

Williams Veterinary Clinic — p.10

Buchanon’s Design Center — p. 12

WCCK/WCBL — p. 5

Lake Barkley CrossFit- p. 32

Wilson Law Firm — p. 14

West Kentucky Sports is made possible through the sponsorship of advertisers listed at left. These businesses help provide local coverage of youth sports and positive acts by local athletes. On behalf of our readers, the staff would like to say:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Page 4 • July 2020

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Post 68 seniors sweep Mayfield to open 2020 Staff Report

Post 68’s Aces senior team started off the 2020 season with a sweep over Mayfield’s Post 26.

Playing in Eddyville, visiting Post 26 shook off a one-run deficit to tie the game at four-all in the seventh. But in the home half of the inning Tate VanHooser scored on an error to give the Aces a season opening win.

Post 26’s Taylor Goodwin capitalized on an outfield error to earn the game’s opening score. The visitors added two more runs in the top of the third to lead 3-0.

Post 68 got on the board following a pair of walks in the bottom of the third. Josh Wilson singled to score Brady Darnall, who scored on a ground out later in the inning.

VanHooser tied things up in the fifth frame with a single, driving in Ben Hargrove. VanHooser advanced on a single by Colin Price, then scored off an infield error to take a 4-3 lead.

Post 26 tied things 4-all in the top of the seventh, but VanHooser finished things off in the bottom of the half. The Caldwell County senior was hit by a pitch to get on base, advancing on a walk by Price and a single by Tate Quertermous. He went on to score the game winning run off an outfield error.

The Aces had an easier time in the second game of the double header against Mayfield, picking up a 6-0 win.

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July 2020 • Page 5

Fiessinger helps make program history at Carson-Newman Staff Report For the first time in program history, Carson-Newman softball has landed a pair of players on CoSIDA’s Academic All-America team.

It’s just the second time in the history of the athletic department that a pair of teammates has been honored.

Caleb Agee and Luke Greer were both recognized last year for the track and field team.

Former Marshall County High School standout Abby Fiessinger earned first team honors, while catcher KaraLynne Levi (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) landed on the third team.

The awards bring Carson-Newman’s overall total to 46 academic All-Americans all-time, 31 in the last six years.

The duo becomes the softball program’s eighth and ninth academic All-Americans.

Fiessinger joins Elayna Siebert as the program and the athletic department’s two-time first team Academic

All-American.

Fiessinger, an outfielder, was named the program’s sixth honoree for the league’s Softball Scholar Athlete of the Year honor earlier in May and the first since Elayna Siebert won in 2016.

Prior to that, Haley Allen won it in 2004 with Carson-Newman and SAC Hall of Fame Marci Mitchell (now Whiteside) winning three straight from 2001-03.

The Benton, Kentucky-native wrapped up her mathematics degree with a 3.85 GPA. She is a four-time Eagle Scholar and will be a four-time member of the SAC Commissioner’s honor roll. Last year she earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.

On the field, Fiessinger goes down as one of Carson-Newman’s all-time greats. She is just the second two-time All-American for the program since it transitioned to Division II. She earned All-America honors as a freshman at second base from the D2CCA before being recognized as an outfielder as a junior unanimously by the NFCA and D2CCA. She was also named the

Southeast Region Player of the Year for her efforts last season.

She closed out her career as an Eagle ranked in the top-five in several Carson-Newman statistical categories including, being second in total bases with 381, second in intentional walks with four, fourth in home runs with 29, fourth in sacrifice flies with five, fifth in on-base percentage at .473, fifth in hits with 225, and fifth in hit by pitch having been hit 28 times.

Levi blossomed in her first senior season (the Murfreesboro, Tenn.-native plans to use her extra year of eligibility granted due to the CoVID-19 health crisis) at the plate. Levi was hitting .463 in 2020 before the season came to an early close. She had eight doubles and two bombs with 25 RBI. In her Carson-Newman career, she ranks first in SAC flys with 10 and second in times hit by a pitch with 54.

She also has the second best fielding percentage (.996), second most chances (1089) and second most putouts (990).

Your Home for Lyon County Lyons and Lady Lyons Basketball, Marshall County Marshals and Lady Marshals Soccer, University of Louisville Football and Basketball and NASCAR!

Page 6 • July 2020

July 2020 • Page 7

VIRTUAL RUNALITY

Circle the Lakes looks to give runners course around Kentucky & Barkley lakes, raise funds for Friends of LBL Special to WKY Sports

Runners can spend the month of July virtually running around Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, and Land Between the Lakes.

Circle the Lakes Virtual Run will start and finish at The Golden Pond Visitor Center in Land Between the Lakes. Head west on Highway 68/80 across the Eggners Ferry Bridge. Run counter clockwise to totally encircle Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Passing through the towns of Dover, Tennessee, Cadiz, Eddyville, Kuttawa, and Benton along the way. Come back across the Eggners Ferry Bridge and finish at the Golden Pond Visitor Center.

If you run all 31 days in July you would have to average 4.65 miles per day to complete the 144 mile route. Enter your results daily and track your results on a progress bar and your position on the virtual course map. A leaderboard will also show results and progress during the event. You may use the same runs and mileage for this event that you use for other virtual races.

A portion of the proceeds from this event go to support Friends of Land Between the Lakes.

The Friends of Land Between the Lakes is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with the U.S. Forest to support environmental education, volunteer activities,

visitor services, promotions, and natural resource stewardship at Land Between the Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area. Their staff cares for the animals at the Woodlands Nature Station and Homeplace Living History Farm, as well as develops and presents the educational programs and events at these sites. They operate the Golden Pond Planetarium, manage over 300 volunteers who help out annually at LBL, and promote the educational and recreational opportunities at LBL.

They also offer a grant program for local schools to help cover the costs of school field trips to bring students to visit LBL. They work hard to make sure that visitors to LBL have an enjoyable and memorable experience every time they visit. COVID-19 has seriously impacted the Friends of LBL by shutting down their main revenue source, their five gift shops located inside Land Between the Lakes, for several months.

All participants receive a t-shirt and custom bib number. Finishers of the complete 144 mile route will also receive an awesome Finishers Medal. Friends of Land Between the Lakes will be providing items from their gift shops that will be raffled off to lucky participants. All swag will be shipped during the first week of August.

Runners may sign up at https://runsignup.com/ Race/KY/Cadiz/CircletheLakesVirtualRun

Lyon County

c i m e Acad

All-Stars

Eli Baker

John Ryder Bingham

Bailey Breitrich

Luke Burchett Anna Crawford Jackson Crawford Lauren Davis Justin Dunning Deven Guess

Alli Holt

Kyndal Hubbard Lilly Perry Travis Perry Riley Posey Zach Radivonyk

Anna Yanez Allye Culp

Abbi Crawford Laney Dalbey Ella Defew Wendy Dong Ashlyn Doom Destiny Dycus Katelyn Dykes Megan Franke

Luke Gilbert

Tyson Glover Kate Gray Nathan Hague Kaleigh Haulk Sydney Hoffman Caitlyn Hooks Samantha Hooper

Todd Huddleston Abbeni Jones Rylee Kent Sam Klueppel Abby Krus Maddie Krus Lucas Mayberry Taylor Monceaux Christian O’Daniel Cadence Peralta Rylee Purdy

Brandon Ray Tori Schenk Cole Schroeder Emmy Slaton Sarah Spurlock Brayden Trice Nelli Walker Brody Williams

Andy Zheng

Turner Hurst Calista Collins Ryan Graham Drake Jackson Audrey Kennedy Ashlee Kent Kooper McDowell

Mystique Mix

Brady Shoulders

Krysta Stovall Ethan Wallace Avery White Mary Beth Davis Sydney Melton

Isabella Ortiz

Aiden Rush Emily Smith

Levi Willis

Gunnar Bingham Kade Blackburn Destiny Blair Octavia Bradley

Cathryn Brown Peyton Carney Kertsin Craft Kyra Craft Justin Crawford Audrey Crayne Bailey Guess Leeanna Odom Kierstin Piercy Jackson Shoulders

Walker Suitor

(

Jack Reddick Courtney Schenk Kyleigh Schneider Alice Smith Caden Sparks Anna White Peyton Williams Zoe Board Jakhia Burks Jaiden Capello Kaelyn Conger Caroline Cook

Rachel Coursey Emma Riley Kamryn Schoonover Leah Schroeder Rose Smith Taylyn Sutton Ryan Tucker Kayden Watts

Brody Williams The Lyon County Schools Athletic Department has released a list of their 2019-2020 Academic All-State and All-State Honorable Mentions. Lyon County students receiving the recognition are listed below.

2019-2020 Academic All-State Eli Baker

John Ryder Bingham Bailey Breitrich Luke Burchett

Anna Crawford

Jackson Crawford Lauren Davis

Justin Dunning

Mary Beth Davis

Deven Guess

Alice Smith

Lilly Perry

Peyton Williams

Alli Holt

Kyndal Hubbard Travis Perry Riley Posey

Zach Radivonyk Jack Reddick

Courtney Schenk

Kyleigh Schneider

Caden Sparks Anna White Zoe Board

Jakhia Burks

Jaiden Capello

Kaelyn Conger

(Continued on Page 10)

Page 10 • July 2020 Continued from Page 9 Caroline Cook

Rachel Coursey Emma Riley

Kamryn Schoonover Leah Schroeder Rose Smith

Taylyn Sutton Ryan Tucker

Kayden Watts Anna Yanez Allye Culp

Abbi Crawford Laney Dalbey Ella Defew

Wendy Dong

Ashlyn Doom

Destiny Dycus

Katelyn Dykes Megan Franke Luke Gilbert

Tyson Glover Kate Gray

Nathan Hague Kaleigh Haulk

Sydney Hoffman Caitlyn Hooks

Samantha Hooper Todd Huddleston Allye Culp

Abbeni Jones Rylee Kent

(Continued on Page 12) Large & Small Animal Services

Bobby Cummins

1280 Ferguson Road Princeton, KY 42445

(270)963-0699

Magistrate District 1 Lyon Co.

Brian Williams, DVM Brad Stubblefield, DVM

Brian William, DVM 270-545-7000 Brad Stubblefield, Eddyville, KYDVM

270-545-7000

July 2020 • Page 11

6 Tori Schenk

5 Kate Gray

6 Katelyn Dykes

Page 12 • July 2020

5 Cole Schroeder Continued from Page 10 Sam Klueppel Abby Krus

Maddie Krus

Lucas Mayberry

Taylor Monceaux

Christian O’Daniel

5 Calista Collins Cadence Peralta

Brayden Trice

Tori Schenk

Andy Zheng

Rylee Purdy

Brandon Ray

Cole Schroeder Emmy Slaton

Sarah Spurlock

Nelli Walker

Brody Williams Turner Hurst

Calista Collins (Continued on Page 15)

July 2020 • Page 13

5 Travis Perry

6 Kaelyn Conger

5 Kayden Watts

Page 14 • July 2020

5 Luke Gilbert 3 Rachel Coursey

Wilson laW Firm,

pllc

marvin lee Wilson n Dailey e. Wilson n allen o. Wilson n lee F. Wilson

635 TraDe avenue • eDDyville, Ky 42038 • 270-388-9951

July 2020 • Page 15

5 Ashlyn Doom | Isabella Ortiz | Taylyn Sutton 3 Aiden Rush Continued from Page 12 2019-2020 Academic AllState Honorable Mentions Ryan Graham

Drake Jackson

Audrey Kennedy Ashlee Kent

Kooper McDowell Mystique Mix

Brady Shoulders Krysta Stovall

Ethan Wallace Avery White

Mary Beth Davis Sydney Melton Isabella Ortiz Aiden Rush

Emily Smith Levi Willis

Gunnar Bingham Kade Blackburn Destiny Blair

Octavia Bradley Cathryn Brown Peyton Carney Kertsin Craft Kyra Craft

Justin Crawford Audrey Crayne Bailey Guess

Leeanna Odom Kierstin Piercy

Jackson Shoulders Walker Suitor

#OwenTough Post 68 Alumni Game July 17 to raise funds for Owen Matthews with special events planned throughout the evening

July 2020 • Page 17

On Deck: The 2020 Aces will take on an all-star caliber lineup on July 17 during the first ever alumni game for Post 68 in Lyon County. The night will serve as a fundraiser for Owen Matthews, a local youth battling cancer.

By Jody Norwood

Good teams can do great things. On July 17, American Legion Post 68’s Aces are hoping to be the team one young man needs in his greatest battle.

The Aces have scheduled a first-ever alumni game that evening at the Lee S. Jones Park in Eddyville. Fundraising events will begin at 5 p.m. to benefit Owen Matthews.

The 10-year-old Lyon County resident is battling Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare variation of cancer forming in soft tissue, specif-

ically skeletal muscle tissue and sometimes hollow organs.

Owen’s battle began in mid-September after receiving the diagnosis. Since January, Owen has received chemotherapy and undergone testing as specialists in Ohio and Tennessee try to reduce tumor growth.

During his journey, the Lyon County community has come together in support of one of their own. Now, Post 68 is hoping to help the Matthews as the battle continues.

Owen’s sister, Sarah Spurlock, is help-

ing organize the event. According to Spurlock, several area businesses have donated items for an auction planned during alumni night. Greg Vincent, who is also assisting with plans, said all proceeds from concessions and ticket sales will go to the Matthews family.

“We need to have a huge crowd,” Vincent said. “Even if they don’t like baseball, come out and support Owen.”

(Continued on next page)

Page 18 • July 2020

Continued from previous page “We’ve got all kinds of gift cards from Eddyville and Princeton,” Spurlock said.

“We have four all day passes to Venture River Water Park, a, 18-inch two topping pizza from Our Daily Bread, a large pizza from Pagliai’s Pizza in Princeton, a $25 gift card to the Black Patch Grille, two pork packs from The Joint, a $25 gift card to Izzie’s Boutique in Eddyville, a $25 gift card for Oasis and a $25 gift card to HuB’s in Kuttawa. Eddy Creek will also be in there, too.”

The event will also be a chance to win a few one-of-a-kind items.

“We’re going to have a silent auction and a regular auction,” Vincent said.

“We’re going to have the alumni team sign a bat and we’ll auction it off. We’ll also have them sign a bat to give to Owen.”

Not a baseball fan? Well, they may still have something for you.

Vincent said memorabilia signed by country music star Alan Jackson will be auctioned off. So will items donated by Jacob Tamme. The tight end was a standout for the University of Kentucky, and played from 2008-2016 for the Colts, Broncos and Falcons in the NFL.

pledge a dollar amount for each shot over the fence. As of July 1, about $8 per home run had been pledged. Vincent hopes to at least triple that amount by July 17.

Vincent said the event will help the family as they go forward.

For the alumni game, Vincent said a number a familiar faces will be returning.

So far, Tyler Estes, Drew Cooper, Gabe Board, Jay Vincent, Cam Head, Cade Duncan, Brody Bridges, Dallas Green and other recent Post 68 standouts will be in the lineup.

In addition to the auctions and proceeds from sales, Vincent said five batters will take to the field for a special event, Homers For Owen. Each batter will attempt to smash as many home runs as possible before striking out. Anyone can

Activities will start after 5 p.m. at the Lee S. Jones Park in Eddyville. The alumni team will take the field shortly before 6 p.m.

“Our goal that night is to raise a minimum of $10,000,” Vincent said. “We’re going to do everything we can that night for Owen.”

“We’ve never had an alumni game here, but it will be fun,” Vincent said. “The alumni are going to wear special shirts.

People can come out and get autographs.

We’ll have bats and batting gloves for sale.”

ANNOUNCEMENT? SIGNING? ITEMS OF INTEREST? Spread the news to nearly 3,000 readers in western Kentucky! Send relevant information on player signings, club or program announcements or other items of interest to: wkysports@gmail.com.

Page 20 • July 2020

Crawford, Doom named Mr. & Miss

Lyon County

Basketball

WCCK Radio presented the 2019-20 Mr. and Miss Lyon County Basketball to seniors Ashlyn Doom and Justin Crawford in late June. The annual recognition is given to individuals who exemplify what it means to be a Lyon, their success in the gymnasium and in the classroom, being a leader to their team, and work in the community. Aaron Clayton made the award presentations to Crawford and Doom in person after the traditional end of season banquet had to be canceled due to COVID-19 concerns and social distancing requirements.

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Page 22 • July 2020

Blevins to take helm of Marshals Marshall County’s mens soccer team wasted little time in finding a new head coach. They didn’t have to look far to find their choice, either.

Just two weeks after Donnie Heath stepped down from the position, Marshall County Soccer an-

nounced Bryan Blevins will helm the Marshals this fall. Blevins served as an assistant under Heath, along with fellow coaches Tyler McKenty and Levi Darnell.

Blevins and wife Elena reside in Benton with their daughters Adelyn and Lucy.

THE # O wen BACK PAGE Tough

By Jody Norwood | Editor

You can judge the quality of a community by how it treats those who live there.

Lyon County sets a pretty high standard, as evidenced by how it had come together in support of the Matthews family.

Owen Matthews was diagnosed with cancer last fall. In the months that followed, the Lyon County community has rallied together behind the young man. Matthews was recognized during a cancer awareness night by the Lyons and lady Lyons basketball teams. Several fundraisers have been planned in support of the family. And in early July, American Legion Post 68 announced it would hold its first ever alumni game in Matthews’ honor.

Even further, the Post is using the event to help raise funds for the family as they travel out-of-state for treatments.

Matthews is a brave young man, fighting a battle no youth should have to face. But thanks to the strength of his family and community, he isn’t fighting it alone.

Post 68’s benefit isn’t the only one planned.

A week later on July 25, organizers have planned a Big Ball Benefit tournament at the Lee S. Jones Park. Teams looking to participate can contact Lafe Riggs at 270-5645000. A $250 entry fee per team has been announced.

With everything discouraging going on in the world, it’s a welcome change to see the community coming together.

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July 2020 • Page 23

KEEP UP WITH YOUR TEAMS!

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Every month, West Kentucky Sports features stories and photos on what’s going on in western Kentucky. Keep up with it by subscribing!

Just fill out the form below, attach a check and mail to:

West Kentucky Sports 24 Clayshire Lane Benton, KY 42025

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