If you have a news tip, we want to be a go-to source

Well, I just got back from a week's vacation which puts my last live action back to two weeks ago when the Coal City softball team played for third place down in East Peoria. It was a blissful stretch of days off, thanks for asking.

Since returning to the fold, I've spent some time working on local features and getting the Morris Ladies and Braidwood Boys Shootout previews together. Yes, it's that time of year again for summer basketball.

Here in the office we are diligently preparing things through the Fourth of July. Certainly there won't be anything lacking for us to write about.

At present, we are frantically trying to wrap up the high school senior signing/commitment stories. We've managed to get the list down to a couple of football players from Morris and a couple of are pitchers. This would be the last call for anyone out there who knows of a high school senior-athlete who is planning on attending college and intends to continue playing sports.

The All-Conference teams have been picked and we're finishing up those lists, too. Which, of course, leads to the Morris Daily Herald All-Area Teams. These will be revealed in the coming weeks, as usual within a month of the end of the season.

I also sauntered over to Morris High School this week to get a copy of the Morris 7-on-7 summer football schedule. We'll most certainly be heading out to see what the earliest glimpses of the Redskins look like. Yeah, and the football tab is right around the corner.

As we've done the past couple of years, we'll also be saluting the area's college senior graduates who have finished up their athletic careers. If you have a son or daughter who finished up their final year of sports at the collegiate level, please let us know and we'll feature them. Dan Chamness has a list going already but we like to be sure.

I'd also like to thank Mary Lou Carr for calling us about her daughter Mallory. A Minooka High School graduate, Mallory Carr has been participating in the Illinois Women's State Amateur Golf Tournament held at the Kankakee Country Club. The tournament is match play with an 18-hole qualifying round to determine flights. Mallory has since won both of her flights and is in the championship.

On Wednesday, Carr defeated Sydney Tyler by a score of 6-and-5 and she then deposed of Erin Gorman by scores of 1-and-1. On Saturday, Carr will be playing for the championship against Lauren Williams. Williams advanced to the title round by defeating Catherine Scudder 2-up and Colleen Dold 6-and-4.

More on that next week.