Fourth Annual Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame Golf Scramble at Cascades Golf Course
The Fourth annual Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame Golf Scramble will be held this afternoon at the Cascades Golf Course on the Northside of Bloomington. Registration and Lunch will start at 11:30 am with the team’s teeing off at 1pm. The Cost is $300 dollars per team and includes lunch and a tee prize. Past and Current inductees will be playing on 4-person teams along with a couple of current board members of the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame.
The Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2011 and will induct a Ten Person class on Friday July 14, at the Monroe Convention Center. This will be 12th class inducted bringing the total number of inductees to 137 in 16 different sports. There will be a meet and greet starting at 5pm which is open to the public. Dinner will begin at 6:45pm and opening remarks will happen at 7pm while dinner is going on followed by the program at 7:30pm. Tickets are available at: https://www.monroecountyshof.org/banquet/
The Inductees are Garrett Butcher Edgewood, 2008 Basketball, Dan Burton, Bloomington South, 1983 Track & Field, Ben Chappell Bloomington South, 2007, Football, Rachel Deloney, Bloomington North, 2008, Track & Field, J.T. Young, Bloomington South, 2001, Wrestling, Paul Young, Bloomington South, 2006, Wrestling, Jeannine Butler, University & Bloomington North, Coach – Volleyball, Basketball & Track, Georgia Tidd, Bloomington High, Coach – Volleyball, Basketball & Track, Mick Renneisen Contributor, Softball, Parks & Rec and Bud Damon Contributor, Softball.
The Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame honored six student athletes on June 5. One Female and One Male from each of the three Monroe County High Schools with a $1,000 Scholarship bringing the total to 66,000 dollars in 12 years. The 2023 Scholarship Award winners are Clara Crain and Anthony Gough from Edgewood HS. Sarah Goldsworthy and JQ Roberts from Bloomington North along with Lilly Meyers and Griffin Gillard from Bloomington South.
Indiana University Football lands the Nation’s best Long Snapper in Alan Soukup
Alan Soukup, the No. 1 ranked long snapper by Kohl’s Kicking, announced his commitment to Indiana on Wednesday. Indiana’s 2024 recruiting class is now up to 13 players, with commitments coming in three consecutive days. Soukup attends Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Ariz., where he also plays tight end, wide receiver and basketball. He stands at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds. Soukup received a scholarship offer from Indiana on June 20, and he picked the Hoosiers over an offer from USC. He also visited Arizona, Kansas State, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
When he arrives in Bloomington, Soukup will likely succeed current Indiana long snapper Sean Wracher, who was named a preseason fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele. Under Indiana special team’s coordinator Kasey Teegardin, Wracher has been a mainstay at long-snapper for the Hoosiers. He has started all 45 games since the beginning of the 2019 season, earning All 45 games since the beginning of the 2019 season, earning All-Big Ten honors from Steele in each of the last four seasons.
Savannah Bananas bring World-Famous Banana Ball Tour to Indianapolis
The Savannah Bananas is in Indianapolis tonight and tomorrow for their world-famous Banana Ball tour at Victory Field. The fun begins at 7 both nights and tickets are already sold out for both games. The Bananas, who are akin to basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters as a new style of play is the baseball version of the Harlem Globetrotters without the script, that is. The Bananas, along with their competitors the Party Animals, are traveling to 33 cities to put on their show.
The Savannah Bananas started as a college summer league team in the Coastal Plains League in 2016. At the time, the funniest thing about the team was its name. The Bananas were a college summer league team from 2016-22, with players from around the country playing in Savannah. But Bananas associate head coach Adam Virant said the Bananas were struggling to keep fans in the stands, especially after COVID-19, so owner Jesse Cole came up with a new style. After the 2022 season, Savannah officially left the Coastal Plains League to become a touring entertainment product.
Enter, Banana Ball. There are some key differences to Banana Ball and the regular-style MLB rules. First, the game isn’t scored by runs. Instead, it’s scored in a similar way to match play in golf. Whichever team, the Bananas or the Party Animals, scores more runs in the inning gets one point. Of course, these games do not count in any official standings. So, fans could see some players coming out to bat on stilts, fielders doing coordinated dances before a pitch, or any number of trick plays.
Another key part of Banana Ball is that there are no walks. Once a pitcher throws the fourth ball of the at-bat, it turns into a sprint. The batter takes off to first base, and every defensive player (other than the pitcher and catcher) must touch the ball before it can become a live ball. And the batter isn’t limited to first base they can go as far as they want until it becomes a live play. Batters can also steal first base at any point during their at-bat, whether there’s a wild pitch, passed ball, or they just feel like stealing. Finally, the Bananas’ front office’s favorite rule has to do with the fans. If a fan catches a foul ball at any point during an at-bat, the batter is out.
The majority of Banana Ball rules vary around timing one of the biggest aspects of the game is that it will never be over two hours. according to Banana Ball rules, no new inning will start after an hour and 50 minutes of play. In the final inning, every run counts. Savannah’s goal is to make it through nine innings of baseball in under two hours. To achieve that, they have multiple rules in place: No mound visits and No stepping out of the batter’s box. The only time a game will go over two hours is if there is a tie. The final rule of Banana Ball is that in case of a tie, there will be a Showdown Tiebreaker with three rounds. In each round, the batter must score to record a point. In the first round, the pitcher, catcher, and one fielder go up against a batter. The second round is just the pitcher and catcher against the batter. The third and final round is the pitcher, catcher, and one fielder vs. the batter with the bases loaded, and every run scored in the third round is worth one point.
Indiana University Football gets verbal commitment from Tight End Hubert Caliste
Coach Tom Allen has gained momentum on the recruiting trail in recent weeks, and Hubert Caliste is Indiana’s latest commitment. The three-star tight end announced his decision to join the Hoosiers on Tuesday. He’s the 12th player in the class 2024 to commit to Indiana. Caliste is a 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end from St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, La. He’s a three-star recruit, ranked No. 1168 in the country, No. 54 among tight ends and No. 37 in Louisiana, according to 247Sports.
Caliste took an official visit over the weekend, and he chose Indiana over offers from East Carolina, Arkansas State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Grambling State, Houston, Jackson State, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, Mississippi Valley State, Nebraska, Old Dominion, Troy and Tulane. Caliste is the second tight end in Indiana’s 2024 recruiting class, joining fellow three-star prospect Brody Kosin. Kevin Wright enters his fourth season as Indiana’s tight ends coach in 2023.
Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball Race Thompson to play for the New York Knicks in NBA Summer League
Former Indiana men’s basketball forward Race Thompson has signed a deal with the New York Knicks for the NBA 2K24 Summer League 2023 in Las Vegas. NBA Summer League action will begin on July 7 in Las Vegas. Each team will play in four games prior to the start of the tournament on July 15. The Summer League champion will be crowned on July 17. Thompson was one of 64 college basketball seniors invited to the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational Tournament, an event that has showcased players abilities in front of professional scouts since 1953, earlier this offseason.
Thompson, a six-year player for the Hoosiers, averaged 7.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game across 130 appearances for the Cream and Crimson. He started 91 of his final 92 contests. He shot 51.1% (340-of-744) from the floor and 64.6% (204-of-316) from the free throw line in his career. The two-time Indiana basketball team captain was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the league’s voting media members following a breakout 2021-22 season. Thompson averaged career highs in points (11.1), rebounds (7.5), assists (1.4), and steals (1.1) under the guidance of first-year head coach Mike Woodson. He also made a career-best 15 3-pointers while leading the Hoosiers to the first of two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Kickoff Time announced for Indiana-Indiana State Football Game
The Indiana-Indiana State football game will kick off at 7pm on Friday September 8, and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. It was announced on April 24 that the Hoosiers and Sycamores would move the game to Friday night. Indiana State is coached by Curt Mallory who Graduated from Bloomington South in 1989 and is the son of former IU Football Coach Bill Mallory. Curt was a graduate assistant for the Hoosiers from 1993-94 under his dad and came back as the defensive backs coach from 20002-04 under Gerry DiNardo. Curt got his master’s degree from IU in outdoor recreation in 1999 and is 19-37 in 5 seasons as the head coach at Indiana State.
The Hoosiers hosted Illinois on Friday night to open the 2022 campaign in a 23-20 come-from-behind victory at The Rock. Indiana is 3-2 all-time in Friday contests, with the other two wins during the 2005 (Central Michigan) and 1987 (at Minnesota) seasons.
The full 2023 schedule is below with game times and TV assignments have been announced Sep 2 Ohio State 3:30 PM CBS
Sep 8 Indiana State (Friday) 7 PM Big Ten Network
Sep 16 vs. Louisville (Lucas Oil Stadium; Indianapolis) 12 PM Big Ten Network
Sep 23 Akron
Sep 30 at Maryland
Oct 14 at Michigan
Oct 21 Rutgers 12 PM
Oct 28 at Penn State
Nov 4 Wisconsin
Nov 11 at Illinois
Nov 18 Michigan State
Nov 25 at Purdue
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