Amanda (Brendel) Litteken put together one of the most dominant careers by a Salem Lady Wildcats softball player and continued that excellence on to the collegiate level.

A 2007 Salem Community High School graduate, Litteken was a force both at the plate and on the mound for the Lady Wildcats. Her biggest offensive season came as a junior in 2006 when she set school records for batting average (.554), hits (56), doubles (12) (since broken), triples (12) and RBIs (44). Litteken was equally dominant on the mound. Her 25 wins during her senior season in 2007 still stands as the school mark. So, does her 0.71 earned run average. Litteken broke the school record for strikeouts in a season with 216 during her junior campaign although that mark has since fallen. Litteken was a four-time All-Apollo Conference selection.

The top three-win totals in a season by a Lady Wildcats softball team came during Litteken’s tenure with the program led by a 26-win campaign in 2007. Prior to Litteken’s arrival no Salem team had won more than 18 games in a season.

Litteken began her collegiate path at Rend Lake College where she spent one season with the Lady Warriors. During that one campaign Litteken led Rend Lake in batting average, triples, home runs and RBIs. She also won ten games on the mound.

Litteken transferred to the University of Southern Indiana for the remainder of her collegiate competition. As a sophomore Litteken was a Great Lakes Valley Conference Second Team selection as she led the Screaming Eagles with seven home runs and was runner-up in batting average and RBIs.

As a junior in 2010 Litteken had eight multi-hit games when she started 44 of her team’s 45 games at second base as she received Academic District Third Team honors in addition to being named to the All-GLVC Academic Team.

Litteken closed out her college eligibility with a stellar senior season when she was selected to the All-GLVC First Team. She led USI in batting average at .388, which ranked fourth in the league, and hit a team-high eight home runs. Litteken reached base safely in 43 consecutive games. Litteken received a GLVC Player of the Week Award and earned All-GLVC Academic honors for the second straight year. It was also during her senior season when Litteken was named to the Daktronics & NFCA All-Midwest Region Team.

Despite playing only three years at USI, she finished second all-time on the program’s all-time career home run list with 20.
At the time of her induction into the Salem High Sports Hall of Fame Litteken resided in Salem and served as a physical education instructor for first through fifth grade students at Salem District 111. During her return to the area she served as an assistant softball coach for one season at Salem Community High School, one season as softball coach at Selmaville Grade School and four years as Selmaville girls basketball coach.

A four-sport athlete during his time at Salem Community High School, 2005 graduate Scott Murfin used his baseball and basketball skills to take him to the collegiate level.

Murfin graduated as the Wildcats all-time career scoring leader in basketball with 1,202 points, a mark that has since been broken. Murfin, who had a 36-point outing as a junior, put together one of the better individual seasons in the program’s history as a senior when he was an All-Apollo Conference Team selection. Murfin scored 555 points and averaged 18.5 points per game, which earned him Honorable Mention on the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-State Team. Murfin was also selected for the Southern Illinois Lions Cub All-Star Game.

Murfin continued his basketball career for two more seasons at Maryville University, but it was on the baseball field where he made his biggest contributions for the Saints. Murfin made a quick splash as a freshman when he earned St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors. Overall Murfin put together one of the better pitching careers in school history. His 17 wins and 36 games started ranked second on the school’s all-time career list. Murfin was also fifth in career innings pitched with 187 and career strikeouts with 137.

At the time of his induction into the Salem High Sports Hall of Fame, Murfin was working as a doctor of physical therapy at the Orthopedic Center of Southern Illinois and assistant director of the physical rehabilitation center at OCSI.  He resides in Pinckneyville with his wife Jamie, daughters Nora and Noelle, and son Nolan.

Grant Reed, a 2006 Salem Community High School graduate, was a multi-state medalist for the Salem Wildcats track team as well as the owner of multiple school records. Reed put his name in the record book for the first time in 2004 when he established a new sophomore school mark in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 40.7. It was his senior season in 2006 when Reed made his biggest impact. It began with a new school indoor record in the 55-meter high hurdles with a time of 7.6.

When the scene shifted outdoors Reed established new school marks in the 110-meter high hurdles at 14.1 and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at 38.7. Reed was also part of two school relay record teams. He completed the foursome of Corey Hopkins, Chris Williams and Justin Helpingstine when they posted a time of 3:22.50 in the 1600-meter relay. It was Reed, Hopkins, Helpingstine and T.C. Hargis that posted a new school mark in the sprint medley relay with a time of 3:37.7.

Reed, who claimed the Apollo Conference championship in the 300 intermediate hurdles as a senior, qualified for the Class AA state meet in both hurdle races at the Marion Sectional. Reed advanced as the champion in the 300-intermediate race with a time of 38.7 and as a runner-up in the 110-meter highs at 14.2.

The highlights did not stop there as Reed advanced to the finals in both events at state and took home eighth place finishes in each of his races as he had times of 15.04 in the 110 highs and 39.4 in the 300 intermediates.

Reed, who shared the Wildcats Team Most Valuable Player Award with Hopkins, would continue his track career in college as he attended Rend Lake College and Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

At the time of his induction into the Salem High Sports Hall of Fame Reed resided in Salem and was a PLC Programmer.