High School Softball
In their first bit of action in nine days, Mt. Pleasant experienced the full gambit of emotions, losing in extra innings in game one, 5-3, before rallying for eight runs in the sixth inning of game two to come out on top, 14-6. Paityn Ensminger ripped a two-RBI double in game one during a late surge by the Panther bats. Nevertheless, game two saw Mt. Pleasant club six extra base hits, including a grand slam by Chaley Cook, two triples from Lila Cook, and an RBI double by Kya Heaton. Panther head coach Curtis Bjork was proud of the effort displayed by his team,
“Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot to be said there as far as our mentality’s always been competing every pitch. We really showed that tonight against a tough pitcher. That first pitcher was really tough. The second time we had seen her, she shut us down twice. But the resiliency of the girls coming back and winning a game after losing a heartbreaker in extra innings when you’re down 5-1, showed a lot of resilience. Just the toughness that our girls have shown and the growth they’ve shown this year.”
The week is just getting started for Mt. Pleasant with a rescheduled makeup doubleheader tonight against Keokuk with game one at 5:30 pm. Coach Bjork knows this will be a tough slew of games,
“Yeah, before this week we had played nine games. We got seven games this week, so almost doubling our games. So it’s just one game at a time. We just can’t get ahead of ourselves. Tell the girls every night, I feel like we can compete against whoever steps on the field with us, but you can’t overlook anybody. That goes for tomorrow night, too. So it’s just one game at a time for us.”
In a battle for conference supremacy, Fairfield and Burlington split their doubleheader matchup last night with the Grayhounds shutting out the Trojans 4-0 in game one and Fairfield notching an 8-3 victory in game two. Leah Helmick clobbered two home runs for five RBIs in the winning effort for the Trojans.
Fairfield will make the trip to Pekin tomorrow, June 17th, at 7 pm.
Mediapolis suffered a pair of losses last night to Bettendorf, falling 12-1 in game one and 8-5 in game two. Payton Harris smacked two solo home runs between the two games.
Holy Trinity Catholic knocked off #8 Highland last night, 7-0. The Crusaders will welcome Mediapolis to town at 7 pm tonight.
Van Buren County outlasted Wapello last night, winning 6-4. Quinn Zweibohmer did everything she could for the Arrows, slashing a triple, a home run, and notching 13 strikeouts in the circle.
Columbus will face off against Wapello on the road tonight at 5 pm on the road.
West Burlington/Notre Dame lost to Louisa-Muscatine last night, 6-0. The Falcons will take on Van Buren County tonight at 7 pm on the road.
Washington swept Keokuk last night for their first and second conference victories of the season with finals of 17-0 and 16-3. The Demons will take on Burlington at home on Thursday, June 18th, at 7 pm.
Danville fell to Lone Tree last night, 6-5. The Bears will host Central Lee tonight at 7 pm.
WACO will tangle with Highland tonight at 7 pm at home.
New London will travel to Van Buren County tomorrow at 7 pm.
High School Baseball
Burlington Notre Dame shutout Highland last night, 14-0. The Nikes will tangle with Mediapolis tonight at 7 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union was handled by Mediapolis last night, 15-2. Trevor Phillips had the lone RBI for the Wolves.
New London scored 11 runs in the final two innings to claim a 14-7 victory over Hillcrest Academy last night. Riley Rains and Branz Manning each tabbed three RBIs in the win. The Tigers will host Winfield-Mt. Union tonight at 7 pm.
Battling for the top spot in the conference standings, Fairfield took game one over Burlington, 7-1, but the Grayhounds responded with an extra innings 4-3 victory in game two. Aiden Westercamp tabbed a double and four RBIs in game one, while Dain Burkhart collected the win on the mound. The Trojans will make the trip to Mt. Pleasant on Thursday, June 18th, at 5:30 pm.
Washington outscored Keokuk 25 to 1 between the two games, winning 8-1 in game one and 17-0 in game two. The Demons will face off against Oskaloosa tonight at 7:30 pm on the road.
Mt. Pleasant swept Fort Madison last night with Grayson Lowery throwing 5.2 innings of one-hit ball, notching seven strikeouts in a 9-0 win for game one, while game two saw the Bloodhounds nearly stage an eight-run comeback but coming up short in a 12-10 final. Ethan Peck and Kaden Schadt each slugged a triple with Peck collecting four RBIs in the game two victory. The Panthers will travel to Davis County tonight at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
Danville is still searching for their first win of the season after being walked-off by Lone Tree last night, 12-11.
Central Lee lost a close one to Pekin last night, 3-1. Carter Ellingboe had an RBI double in the loss. The Hawks will fly to Danville tonight at 6 pm.
Van Buren County smacked Wapello last night, 12-1. West Burlington will take on Van Buren County on the road tonight at 7 pm.
Wapello will take on Hillcrest Academy on the road at 7 pm on Thursday.
High School Girls’ Soccer
The Iowa Girls Coaches Association released the All-District teams from the spring 2026 season and southeast Iowa had six make the list.
In Class 2A, Burlington’s Daphne Brown and Fort Madison’s SEC Player of the Year, Hadley Wolfe, each found a spot on the East team.
Class 1A was a bit more populated with Washington’s Isobel Murphy, Burlington Notre Dame’s pair of Avery Jeffries and Daisy Hazell, and Mediapolis put Camryn Bailey on the list.
Mt. Pleasant Cross Country
Summer runs are underway for the Mt. Pleasant Cross Country team. These runs are optional but a great way to run with others and get in shape for the fall season. The runs are available to anyone entering 7th through 12th grades. Coaches may not be present at every run, as they are often led by upperclassmen.
On Mondays, the runs will take place at 6:30 am at the Old Threshers Museum Theatre. Wednesdays will be high school speed day at 7 am at Mapleleaf and Tuesdays and Thursdays will take place at Saunders Park by the swimming pool at 7 pm.
The runs will continue through the middle of August until the Mt. Pleasant Cross County camp. If you have any questions, you can contact Coach Lyle Murray at 319-850-0867.
Local Summer Athletic Camps
Mt. Pleasant girls’ basketball is offering up a camp for any girls’ basketball players entering 3rd through 12th grades from June 23rd through the 25th located at the Mt. Pleasant High School Gym. The camp will focus on the fundamentals and introduce team concepts employed by the high school’s system.
If you would like to sign-up, then follow this link and fill out the form: https://kilj.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mp-girls-bball-camp.pdf
Prospect League
The Burlington Bees will head over to play the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp tonight at 6:35 pm.
The Clinton LumberKings will be back at home with a matchup against the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes slated to start at 6:30 pm tonight.
This Day in Sports History
1909 – Jim Thorpe makes his pro baseball pitching debut for Rocky Mount (ECL) with 4-2 win, this will cause him to forfeit his Olympic gold medals.
1975 – NBA Milwaukee Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley to L.A. Lakers for 4 players.
1989 – In the 88 previous U.S. Opens, there had only been 17 holes-in-one, then Doug Weaver, Mark Wiebe, Jerry Pate, and Nick Price each got a hole-in-one on the par-three, 160-yard sixth hole.