Clay City Eels

Clay County’s YMCA continued its annual tradition of hosting a Fourth of July 5K road race this year, although there were several alterations to the event. Instead of it taking place on the morning of July 4, the race was held Friday night with a start time of 8:30 p.m. The route was also moved from the roadways around the YMCA complex and moved to the cart path at Forest Park Golf Course...

Over the weekend, a pair of Clay County standout student-athletes simultaneously took part in prestigious All-Star games when Clay City’s Sophie Moshos was selected to play in the North-South Indiana All-Star Softball Game and Northview’s Landon Carr was selected to play in the North-South Indiana All-Star Baseball Game...

Last week, the Executive Committee of the Indiana High School Athletic Association voted to make a significant change to the format of the annual boys and girls basketball state tournaments. In its final meeting of the 2021-22 school year, the group of school principals and athletic directors voted 15-2 to make the regional round a single game and the semi-state round a two-game format beginning with next winter’s tournaments. ...

There’s no denying Clay City’s softball team put together the program’s best-ever two-year running during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Both springs ended with the Lady Eels losing to the eventual state champion. Clay City lost to Northfield by a score of 3-1 in the Class A state championship in 2021 and then lost to Tecumseh by a score of 3-0 in the Class A North Daviess Semi-State semifinal game in 2022. ...

At the start of the high school track and field season, Northview head coach James Grounds said the goal was to get as many athletes to the state finals meets that took place at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Complex. Northview achieved that goal, moving four individuals and both 4x800 relay teams, but none of them were able to accomplish the ultimate feat in earning All-State honors with a top nine finish...

As Northview arrived at Linton’s Phil Harris Golf Course Monday morning for the boys golf sectional, it marked the first time any of the Knights aboard the bus had played in a postseason tournament. Neither Northview nor Clay City finished in the top three of the team scoring to advance onto Thursday’s regional held at Washington’s County Oaks Golf Course, but as the last of the scores were being written onto the big boards, it was determined Northview’s Lane Notter would be placed in a four-way playoff along with Linton’s Blake House and White River Valley’s Michael Solliday and Jake Antibus to see who would be the third individual to advance out of the sectional.. ...

Last weekend, during Clay City High School’s graduation ceremony, principal Jeff Bell unveiled what the basketball and volleyball court inside the historic Eel Dome will be referred to for the rest of time as the school named it after Dr. Forrest Buell...

Coming into Saturday afternoon’s Class A North Daviess Semi-State semifinal, Clay City softball head coach Jason Sinders knew there were certain aspects and scenarios his group would need to be sharp in to come away victorious against No. 1-ranked Tecumseh...

Clay City’s golf team features a pair of veterans in Clay Brown and Joshua Hogan and three inexperienced freshmen in Bryce Wiram, Connor Tucker and Gabriel Campbell. Because of that, the Eels took a different approach to the regular season this spring than they have in the past, although as head coach Clarenece Johnson has noted, it isn’t completely different...

Throughout the high school softball season, Clay City head coach Jason Sinders said if every hitter in his batting lineup clicked at the same time, the Eels would be a hazard for any pitcher opposing them in the circle. That never quite happened, he acknowledged...

Looking at the heat sheets leading into Tuesday night’s girls track and field regional held at Bloomington North, there was a solid chance Northview would have an opportunity to make history. As it turned out, that’s exactly what the Lady Knights accomplished...

The vibe on Clay City’s bus ride home from Tuesday night’s Class A White River Valley Sectional softball semifinal win over Eminence was a joyful one. But after the sectional championship game was postponed from Wednesday to Thursday and later moved from Switz City to Clay City, the excitement and anxiousness grew within the program, senior Sophie Moshos said...

Coming off a state championship appearance last spring and being highly ranked in the Class A high school softball polls, there was no denying Clay City entered the White River Valley Sectional as the heavy favorite to become repeat champions. However, in sports, there’s nothing that’s guaranteed...

Leading into last Tuesday’s girls track and field sectional and last Thursday’s boys track and field sectional, both held at Terre Haute South, it was a known fact that in order to guarantee a spot at this week’s Bloomington North Regional, student-athletes must finish in the top three of their respective events...

Clay City was scheduled to clinch the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference softball championship with a win over Eastern Greene Thursday evening. However, Mother Nature interfered and pushed the game back a day. Despite the 24-hour postponement, the Lady Eels did what they needed to do. ...

In a normal spring, the Clay County baseball rivalry game between Northview and Clay City takes place in the first week of the season. However, this year has been filled with frigid temperatures and buckets of rain, forcing games to be moved all around the calendar...

There was a slight delay to Tuesday’s Terre Haute South girls track and field Sectional due to a few buses getting stuck in traffic on I-70. However, for several Northview runners and a pair of Clay City athletes, the extra preparation time in the warm mid-May sun was well worth the wait as both schools will have representatives in next Tuesday’s Bloomington North Regional...

Last spring, on a similarly warm May morning as it was Saturday, Clay City’s Demi Wolfe and Northview’s Lauren Sackett locked horns in a pitcher’s duel that will go down in the county rivalry’s all-time pitching matchups. Sackett ultimately got the best of the Eels as the current Indiana State University freshman no-hit Clay City to run the Knights’ winning streak against their cross-county rivals to six in a row...

As the temperature continues to rise in Clay County, the high school boys golf scores keep lowering themselves for Clay City and Northview. Both groups feature youthful rosters that are – for the most part – going through their first varsity season this spring...

Throughout his time at Clay City, Blake Patterson has spoken highly – and openly – about his older brother, Bryce, and the bond they share. Patterson said he always wanted to follow in the footsteps of Bryce. So, when he signed to run track at Indiana State University a couple of years ago, it lit a fire underneath Patterson to do the same...

As the collegiate baseball and softball regular seasons come to an end – or have ended – we went around the country to catch up on the former Clay City and Northview standouts that are shining on the diamonds. Below are the season statistics for each student-athlete:...

There were several incentives for Clay City’s track and field team to get Thursday night’s Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference dual meet against North Daviess in despite the precipitation that splashed down throughout the afternoon and put it into serious jeopardy...

On Jan. 8, Clay City’s Russell Butts was in a serious automobile accident with his older brother, Corbin, that left him with a broken mandible, elbow, spine, pelvis and ribs, as well as a pair of severely sprained ankles. Butts was sent to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where he began his long road to recovery alongside his family...

Earlier in the week, the IHSAA released its new sectional assignments for the 2022-23 high school sports seasons. Clay City and Northview were both impacted in various ways. The new sectional assignments and the teams playing in the respective sectional are listed below:...

As the start of the week began to unfold Monday with a win over Cloverdale, Clay City softball head coach Jason Sinders admitted this was an important stretch of games for the Eels as they hosted Terre Haute North on Tuesday before welcoming Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference rival North Daviess on Wednesday and then visiting Class 3A state runner-up Sullivan on Friday...

Each year Clay City hosts the annual Keith Jones Classic track and field invitational, it serves as a ‘where are we’ meet as several of the Eels’ Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference and sectional opponents participate in the event. This year, however, it was even more important for the programs to see where the stack up against the local competition, Clay City head coach Cole Schroer said...

Entering the week, Clay City’s baseball team was ranked No. 7 in the Class A MaxPreps and Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association polls. A big reason for the Eels’ standing around the state has come from a trio of freshmen in Logan Stoelting, Zain Keller and Wyatt Johnson that have been thrown into the varsity baseball fire and have fared extremely well...

Last Wednesday, Clay City’s Sophie Moshos signed her letter of intent to play softball for Transylvania University. Moshos had dozens of supporters in the Eel Dome to celebrate one of the biggest accomplishments of her life. The senior left-handed pitcher and outfielder credited each and every one of them for helping her get to the point of becoming a collegiate athlete...

There’s something about Clay County baseball and softball teams throwing no-hitters through the first half of their respective seasons. It was Northview’s Landon Carr twirling back-to-back no-no’s first. And on Friday, it was the freshmen combination of Lizzy Sinders and Abby Shearer that no-hit Shakamak to pick up the Eels’ third straight win...

Clay City opened the high school baseball season with five consecutive wins, marking the best start to a spring in head coach Larry Shaw’s five-year tenure. And while the Eels have scuffled as of late, dropping two of their last three entering a Saturday afternoon matchup with visiting Owen Valley, the six wins they’ve tallied are one shy of matching last year’s total...

If throwing his first-ever high school no-hitter last week against Greencastle wasn’t enough of an accomplishment, Northview’s Landon Carr one-upped himself Tuesday night at Owen Valley. The senior right-hander threw his second no-no in as many starts, blanking the Patriots to snap the Knights’ two-game losing skid...

As a youngster growing up on the softball field, Clay City’s Sophie Moshos always saw a future with herself playing at the collegiate level. Unlike many at that age, though, Moshos had the wherewithal to understand that while getting to one of the highest levels the sport has to offer is of significant importance, picking a school based solely on the softball program would be a mistake...

Throughout most of the high school softball season, Clay City has been a part of numerous blowout affairs. The Eels have either steamrolled their opponents or been downed in fewer than seven innings in their three losses, leaving them with very little close game experience...

For what felt like the first week of the high school spring season, Mother Nature didn’t disrupt too much around Clay County, which has allowed teams from Clay City and Northview to settle in. Northview boys golf Northview picked up its first win of the year Thursday evening at Parke Heritage...

For the first time in program history, Clay City’s softball team entered its name in the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Columbus North High School. There, the Eels were scheduled for a pair of round-robin games against Columbus North and South Bend Adams that would then slot them into a seeded final game – based upon their record in the first two contests – against a team from a separate group, which turned out to be North Harrison...

Down 8-0, host WRV looked ready to fold and prepare for another day when it played Clay City Friday. Instead, WRV fought back and eventually took the lead as it won 10-8. “I told them after the first inning, once we finally got through it, the game plan hasn’t changed,” Coach Mark Walton said. “We’re still going to do what we want to do and it goes from there. They believed in it. That’s what I want to get them to do is believe in it.”...

As has been the case for the first few weeks of the high school spring sports season, rain played a factor in how many games, matches and meets transpired during the early portions of the week. There was, however, plenty of action that took place which was highlighted by Clay City’s baseball team extending their start-of-season winning streak to five games and Northview’s softball season pulling off an improbable comeback to pick up its first conference win of the year...

Clay City’s softball team entered the week with a sparkling goose egg seated in the loss column next to its name after opening the year with back-to-back wins over Greencastle and Parke Heritage. The Lady Eels extended that winning streak to three with a 15-5 victory over North Knox on Thursday before splitting Saturday’s doubleheader with Barr-Reeve. Clay City was victorious in the first game, winning 4-2, before falling in the night cap, losing 5-3...

Unlike the last few years at the Patriot Invitational held at Terre Haute North High School, rain was minimal during the meet. In years past, athletes from across Indiana have attended the meet and ran in downpours. However, despite the luck drawn on the rain, the Indiana temperature had other plans for the meet. The low to middle 30s and 40s made the meet cold, harsh, and challenging for many athletes. At times, sleet, snow, and rain repelled down on the athletes and fans...

Mother Nature tried her very best to cancel or postpone just about every game on the docket for Clay City and Northview this past week. And while she succeeded in knocking out several of them, there were also many games and meets that took place despite the unpleasant weather conditions that have become so familiar for spring athletes in the state of Indiana...

The forecast for Saturday’s Northview Invitational held at Forest Park Golf Course called for frigid temperatures with a chance of flurries throughout the afternoon. With rain falling during the week and especially for most of the day Friday, the course was full of water, making for tough conditions to post low scores...

With the thermometer fluctuating between the upper 30s and the lower 40s, which felt much chillier than that with 15 mph winds gusting through the openness of Rea Park Golf Course, Clay City’s boys golf team got its season underway Thursday night against West Vigo...

For the first time in four years, Clay City will open the boys high school golf season without Justin Hopkins penciled into the No. 1 spot in the team’s lineup. Clay City head coach Clarence Johnson said not having one of the best – if not the best – boys golfer in program history around has been different. ...