R-B’s Stanton signs with Winona

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Riley Stanton relishes being in a position of authority on the softball field.

That was something Winona State coach Greg Jones noticed when he saw the Richmond-Burton junior catcher playing in the fall.

“As catcher you see everybody on the field, you’re in charge of everything,” Stanton said. “You have to be a leader, and I have good leadership skills. [Jones saw] one of my first tournaments with my new travel team [the Midland Magic Gold], and he said he liked my personality. He liked my passion for the game.”

That, along with the beautiful campus that captivates so many prospective athletes, was enough to win Stanton over. She recently committed to the NCAA Division II school in Minnesota, although she will not sign her NCAA national letter of intent until November.

Stanton hit .507 with five home runs and 22 RBIs for the Rockets last spring. She also carries a 4.0 GPA and her athletic/academic scholarships will cover her entire cost for schooling at Winona. Between travel and high school softball, she hit 29 homers.

Stanton received D-I interest from Bradley, DePaul, Evansville and Tennessee-Martin. She played with the Richmond Rockets travel program last summer before joining the Magic Gold, which plays out of Glen Carbon, Ill., near St. Louis.

“The campus was really pretty, and coach Jones said he thinks I can be a four-year starter,” Stanton said. “I was looking at mostly D-I schools, and most of them only have two or three scholarships for 2013. Once I got to [Winona], I knew it was where I wanted to go. I feel stress-free, but I’m still going to work hard at school and softball. It’s very exciting.”

Let’s play two: The Marengo E.C. Nichols Boys Basketball Tournament format, unlike most other tournaments, calls for teams to play two games in the final day.

That offers a different challenge for players and coaches.

“It’s a little tricky, but we won both games on the last day last year,” Woodstock coach Alex Baker said. “This morning, we weren’t where we needed to be. That happens in morning games sometimes, even when you’re not playing two games. The kids have fun and it’s a day full of basketball, which is fine with me.”

• Joe Stevenson is a senior sports writer for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by email at joestevenson@shawmedia.com. You also can follow him on twitter@nwh_JoePrepZone.