Lake County auto racing legend Ray Toft of Antioch and longtime Wilmot Raceway driver Dave Moulis of Johnsburg are among the Class of 2015 inductees into the Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame.
In all, 11 leaders of short track auto racing in Illinois and Wisconsin will be honored. The induction ceremony will be on Nov. 7 at the Schauer Arts and Activities Center in Hartford, Wis.
The actual Hall of Fame is located within the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford.
Taft helped form the Interstate Racing Association, and was a promoter at both Wilmot Raceway and Lake Geneva Raceway. He is also former mayor of Antioch.
Moulis was a four-time champion in the 410 Sprint Car Division at Wilmot and also won several other titles during his career.
The other inductees are from Wisconsin — Lowell Bennett, Rick Bickle Jr., Jim Blazek, Donny Goeden, Pete Ostrowski, Bill Prietzel, John Quinn, Dave Watson and John Ziegler.
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CLC softball
College of Lake County’s weather-plagued softball season ended with a pair of shutout losses to Moraine Valley in the quarterfinals of the Region IV playoffs.
Moraine Valley won 4-0 and 12-0, as CLC (17-18) finished its season with four straight losses.
The Lancers did go 8-6 in the Skyway Conference, and split two games with Moraine Valley during the season.
CLC had four hitters finish with batting averages of .300-plus. The list included sophomores Kayla Uhwat (Grant) and Kaylene Ressler (Antioch), along with freshmen Nicole Livengood (Grayslake North) and Kaleigh Snyder (Grayslake Central).
Livengood (24 appearances), Ressler (10) and freshman Frankie Covella (8, Glenbrook South) did the pitching.
After Moraine Valley eliminated CLC, it lost 12-2 to Kankakee, which has won the Region IV tourney every year since the turn of the century.
CLC baseball
College of Lake County finished third in the Skyway Conference with a 10-4 record. Oakton and Elgin tied at 12-2, although Elgin won both games between the co-champs.
Rounding out the standings were McHenry (9-5), Morton (4-10), Moraine Valley (4-10), Waubonsee (4-10) and Prairie State (1-13).
Currently, the leading hitters for the Lancers among regular players are Jordan Villarreal from Grant (.327), Jake Costabile from Kenosha Bradford (.354), Dominic Cuevas from Warren (.329), Billy Hayes from Lemont (.304) and James Sheldon from Downers Grove North (.303). Sam Merlock from Kenosha Christian Life is hitting .378 in limited action.
On the mound, Antioch grad David Meade has made eight starts and is 5-1 with a 2.78 ERA. He’s allowed 29 hits and 45.1 innings and fanned 51.
Luke Samson has made seven starts and is 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA. He’s allowed 25 hits in 39 innings and struck out 39.
The other main starter is Nicholas Seketa from Lakes, who is 3-0 with a 4.68 ERA.
College track
According to website http://www.directathletics.com, the top NCAA Division I high jumper in the nation so far this spring is Texas Tech senior Jacorian Duffield, who has cleared 7-7.
Grant grad and Illinois freshman Jonathan Wells has cleared 7-1.5, which ranked 12th in the country.
In the men’s long jump, Arkansas State sophomore Roelf Pienaar has the best leap at 26-8.25. Wells is No. 53 with a best jump of 24-4.25.
In the women’s pole vault, the leader is Arkansas sophomore Sandi Morris at 15-1.75. Lake Forest grad and Memphis vaulter Carolina Carmichael is fourth at 14-5.25.
Minor league baseball
Lakes grad D.J. Snelten has been roughed up a bit as a starting pitcher with the Giants’ top Class A minor league team in San Jose.
So far, the 6-foot-5 lefty is 0-3 with an ERA of 5.21. He’s made four starts and allowed 24 hits and seven walks while fanning 15 in 19 innings.
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After graduating from Lakes, Snelten played college baseball at Minnesota. He was drafted in the ninth round by the Giants in June of 2013.