GOREVILLE — For the first time in more than a decade, the Goreville Blackcats are playing fall baseball.

Goreville has been in a co-op with Vienna to play football since 2007. Normally, schools that play football in the fall are not allowed to play baseball as well. Since the Blackcats are not the host for football and less than 15 percent of their boys will go out for football, they are eligible to play baseball in the fall.

The addition of baseball this fall was good news for the returning players that had their season canceled in the spring due to the pandemic. It was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for the Blackcats, considering it was a “dream team” according to head coach Shawn Tripp.

While the pandemic has taken its toll on high school sports, few schools, if any, can legitimately say they potentially lost three state championships because of it. The Blackcats boys basketball team had made the state semifinals and was in Peoria for the final four when this all started, leading to the tournament to be canceled. The Blackcats softball team had won the 1A state title in two of the last three years (and finished second in between). The defending champs were loaded and ready to make another run to East Peoria. Tripp believes as good as the Blackcats were in basketball, they were going to be even better in baseball.

With six seniors having graduated, the Blackcats have a very young roster this season. It’s a group that is taking full advantage of the extra time on the diamond in fall. Goreville will open its fall schedule Tuesday night at home against Meridian.