Marion County College Report

Salem grad Mallorie Cummings signs on to play with UIS Prairie Stars

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Daniel L. Chamness

Standing (from left): RLC Head Coach Cindy Corn, Katherine Bray, Taylor Landers, Jessica Pigati, Nichole Ojala, Megan Gindling. Seated (from left): Proud dad Kevin, Mallorie, proud mom Pam, and Sarah Fraser.

As most people read this, Salem grad and Rend Lake sophomore Mallorie Cummings is taking care of some unfinished business in Florida.

Earlier this month, however, the former Lady Wildcats star made her decision about where she will be playing collegiate golf over the next two years — heading north and west to Springfield to become a member of the Prairie Fire ballstriking corps at Illinois-Springfield.

"I chose to go to UIS because of the coach and the proximity to home," Cummings said. "I plan to major in psychology and they have a great program at UIS. They also have a master's program in psychology. Hopefully, I will be there longer than two years. I will miss playing for Rend Lake. We were like family.”

Cummings’ final outing as a junior college golfer is this week at NJCAA Nationals in Daytona Beach, Fla. Rend Lake College has finished in the top 10 at nationals in every year this decade.

RLC earned the Florida trip by finishing second in the NJCAA Region 24 Finals. Rend Lake finished with a stroke count of 684 on the Franklin County Country Club layout in West Frankfort, just back of John A. Logan CC’s winning score of 667. Cummings took seventh with a 178, improving 10 strokes in the final round, shooting an 84. Cummings selected UIS over Campbellsville, Lindenwood and McKendree.

"Mallorie is a great kid and is very coachable," RLC Coach Cindy Corn said. "We are going to miss her not only for what she does on the golf course, but also her attitude. She is a great asset and should have a great two years at UIS."...

Cummings was not the only RLC golfer and Salem grad competing at the NJCAA Region 24 Finals. RLC freshman Taylor Landers finished fourth with a stroke count of 169. She was only eight strokes off the winning total of 161 posted by JAL golfer Mallory Gentry. Landers was RLC's top finisher. ...

Softball

The University of Southern Indiana ended its season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament this past week. Former Salem player Amanda Brendel was 3-for-3 and scored one run in the 4-3 loss to Missouri University of Science and Technology. Southern Indiana finished 19-26 overall and 15-12 in the GLVC. ...

Kristin Barrow, a Centralia grad and DePauw University senior, suffered the loss as DePauw dropped a 4-1 decision to Washington University. Barrow worked three innings and allowed three earned runs on five hits. She fanned a pair and walked a pair. DePauw is 38-6 overall and 15-1 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. ...

Former Centralia standout Bailee Winkeler, a Lindenwood sophomore, recently finished her softball season. Winkeler played in 16 games and started seven, finishing the year with five hits (one double, one homer) in 20 trips to the plate. She walked seven times, drove home six and scored four runs. Winkeler finished with an on-base percentage of .444 and a slugging percentage of .450. Lindenwood was 32-21 overall and 17-3 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. ...

Baseball

The McKendree Bearcats ended their season in the American Midwest Conference Tournament earlier this month. Their lone win of the championship came against Park as Bearcat hurler and Odin grad Alex Young worked 5 2/3 innings and improved to 6-3 with the victory. Young allowed three earned runs, six hits and four walks against four strikeouts. …

Salem grad Tyson Moore, a McKendree senior, was 2-for-5 in the same contest, driving home one and scoring one. During a 25-6 MWC tourney loss to Missouri Baptist, Moore was 1-for-4 with a triple, two walks, two RBI and one run. finished 29-24 overall and 13-11 in the AMC. ...

Centralia product Brian Dinkelman helped the Rochester Red Wings win two of their first three games against the Louisville Bats this past week. His best performance, however, came during a 12-9 loss. Dinkelman was 3-for-4 with one walk and one run scored. In Rochester's most recent game, a 4-3 win over the Bats, Dinkelman was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Rochester, the Class AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, is 15-22 in the International League-North Division. ...

Brian Deadmond (Odin) and Cody Stevenson (Centralia) had met many times on the baseball field this year, but none of those meetings was more important than the one that came this past week.

Stevenson, who suits up for Webster University, helped the Gorloks defeat the Greenville Panthers 7-3 for the SLIAC title. Stevenson was 2-for-3 with a double, three runs, one RBI and one stolen base.

Deadmond finished 1-for-1 with a walk in the loss. Greenville is 28-14 and will await word from the NCAA Division III selection committee whether they will join the national tournament with an at-large bid. Webster is 33-9 overall, and earned the SLIAC's automatic bid. Greenville finished 18-6 in the league, while Webster finished 21-3. ...

Basketball

Centralia grad Matthew Shaw scored in double figures twice this past week, but his professional team Illiabum Clube (Portugal) bowed out of the playoffs with three straight losses. The team lost the best-of-5 playoff series to VSC Guimar by scores of 83-74, 71-58 and 87-71.

Shaw scored 15 points in both the 83-74 loss and the 87-71 loss. In the 83-74 loss, Shaw hit 6-of-15 from the field and 2-of-2 from the stripe. The former Southern Illinois-Carbondale star struck once from beyond the arc, grabbed seven rebounds and doled out two assists.

In the 87-71 loss, Shaw finished with 15 points, five rebounds and two assists. He drained 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from the stripe. He was held to nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists in the other loss. With the quarterfinal loss in the tournament, Illiabum Clube slipped to 10-15 overall. ...

Message from Daniel L. Chamness

With only three businesses left to support The College Report Online, it is unlikely this column will continue following summer break.

If the market exists for the The College Report Online, we will continue tracking Marion County collegiate athletes. If the market does not exist, we will not.

Any feedback would be appreciated, and we hope to hear from you soon.

— Daniel L. Chamness