Peoria Sunday Morning League Crowns New Strikeout King

Submitted by Tim Cundiff, Peoria Sunday Morning League President

A few weeks ago, a milestone was achieved.  We crowned a new ‘Strikeout King’ in the Peoria Sunday Morning League!   Clay McConkey of the Miller Lite Falcons became the all-time strikeout king by achieving 950 strikeouts (and counting).  He broke the longtime record that stood for 58 years, held by Harry Dean Blair.  Harry died several years ago. 

McConkey was a four-year letter winner and ace for the Eureka College baseball team from 2007-10. He is Eureka’s career leader in wins (17), strikeouts (267) and innings pitched (270.1) since 2000.  His 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings are the second-most by a Red Devil since 2000.

A two-time All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection (2009-10), McConkey is the only Eureka player to be named to the SLIAC All-Tournament Team (2010).

In 2010, McConkey notched six wins and recorded five complete games, including one shutout, in 16 pitching appearances while recording a 4.23 ERA and striking out a program-best 85 in 89.1 innings. With 19 wins, the 2010 Red Devils were the winningest team in program history and clinched the program’s first-ever SLIAC Tournament berth.

We reached out to his grandson and his daughter-in-law.  The Blair family was all in attendance for the game when Clay broke the record.  It was a very special moment.  It was covered by our local TV news and we had several posts, photos, and videos covering this achievement. 

Here is a link to the local television coverage of Clay’s big day:

https://www.hoiabc.com/video/2022/07/04/clay-mcconkey-breaks-sunday-morning-league-strikeout-record/