Greenfield girl named finalist in MLB contest
Lilly Stewart of Greenfield has been named a national finalist in Major League Baseball’s Pitch, Hit & Run program.
The daughter of Greenfield-Central High School softball coach Jason Stewart, Lilly is one of 24 girls and boys to advance to the finals. The announcement was made this week on MLB Tonight on MLB Network.
Stewart is competing in the 9-10-Year-Old Girls Division, representing the Hoosier State and the Cincinnati Reds. Each participant is paired with a major league team during the competition.
The Pitch, Hit & Run finals will take place July 13 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, site of this year’s All-Star Game.
Competition is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. prior to Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the 2015 Gillette Home Run Derby.
The program opened in March with about 625,000 youths participating in more than 4,400 competitions across the nation.
2015 National Finalists
Here are the finalists in the 9-10-Year-Old Girls Division:
•Lilly Stewart of Greenfield (Cincinnati Reds)
•Olivia Shaw of Flowery Branch, Georgia (Atlanta Braves)
•Abby Braby of California, Missouri (St. Louis Cardinals)
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Mt. Vernon student in national music video
Three Mt. Vernon High School band students participated in one of the top summer music camps in the country, “Music For All’s Summer Symposium,” at Ball State University last month, and one received some camera time.
Katie Smith earned the lead trumpet spot in the camp’s marching band track and was featured in the Music for All’s video. The clip can be seen at mvcsc.k12.in.us/news.
Mt. Vernon band students Evan Schacherer and Emma Flick also participated in the drum major track of the camp.
Music for All is one of the largest national music education organizations in support of active music making.
The Music for All Summer Symposium offers a weeklong, immersive camp experience for high school band and orchestra students in all areas of instrument and color guard performance and leadership.
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Ball State extends contract for coach
Ball State head women’s basketball coach Brady Sallee has been given a contract extension through the 2019-20 seasons, director of intercollegiate athletics Mark Sandy announced this week.
This marks the second time in three years that Sallee has been awarded a contract extension.
Sallee, who completed his third season at Ball State, becomes the only head coach in program history to take the Cardinals to three straight Women’s National Invitation postseason tournaments.
Sallee is only the second head coach in program history to have three consecutive winning seasons — 17-16 (2012-13), 18-17 (2013-14) and 17-14 (2014-15).
The Cardinals had a 13-5 Mid-American Conference record last season and clinched the MAC West Division title outright for the first time since 2008-09.
Sallee has a 188-142 career coaching record, including his eight years as the head basketball coach at Eastern Illinois.
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Jeff Gordon Day, parade scheduled in Pittsboro
Jeff Gordon, a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and five-time winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will have a day and parade in his honor July 9 in Pittsboro.
Gordon, pictured, is wrapping up his final full season behind the wheel and visiting on his “Victory Tour” in advance of a final appearance |July 26 at the Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard.
When Gordon was 14, he and his family moved to Pittsboro to further his racing career. The driver went on to stardom in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
In conjunction with the town of Pittsboro, IMS is staging a parade in Gordon’s honor on Jeff Gordon Day (as designated by the town) at noon on Main Street. Fans are encouraged to line the parade route. A merchandise trailer stocked with Gordon items will be on site.
