Thursday is another big day of conference baseball and softball games in the Little Illini Conference.

First, the lineup:

Marshall at Casey-Westfield
Mt. Carmel at Olney
Newton at Robinson
Paris at Lawrenceville

Baseball
The championship race is still up in the air after four rounds of league play. There is a three-way tie at the top of the standings: Mt. Carmel, Newton, and Olney are all 3-1. So, at least one of those teams (either Mt. Carmel or Olney in particular) will fall from the ranks Thursday. Casey-Westfield is one-half game back at 2-1, so the Warriors, with a win over arch-rival Marshall, can stay even on the loss side.

In case you’re wondering, Mt. Carmel’s conference loss came against Newton, Newton lost to Olney, Olney lost to Casey-Westfield, and Casey-Westfield lost to Mt. Carmel. So, it’s a vicious circle with three games (four for C-W) to go.

Softball
Thursday’s action could go a long way towards determining the championship. Marshall is the lone unbeaten team at 4-0, one game ahead of Casey-Westfield and Robinson (both 3-1). Defending co-champions Mt. Carmel and Newton have drifted off the pace at 2-2.

If Marshall (ranked 11th in Class 2A, according to the Illinois Coaches Association) can knock off No. 1-ranked (Class 1A) Casey-Westfield today, the Lady Lions could move within striking distance of their first LIC crown in a long time, with LIC games remaining against Olney and Mt. Carmel (No. 12 in Class 2A).

Robinson is very much in the picture as well with three league games left. The Lady Maroons lost to Marshall, 6-5, in eight innings earlier, but have since knocked off Casey-Westfield. They have a demanding back-to-back sequence ahead against Newton (Thursday) and Mt. Carmel (Monday).

Please note: All games start at 4:30 p.m. CDT.