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Baseball
St. Anne-Donovan 5, Kankakee 0: Carter Ponton was dominant for the Cardinals on Tuesday, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Kays. He recorded 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings with Cassen Berryhill recording the final out. Ponton and Berryhill each had RBI doubles as well, and Ponton scored two runs. Ben Harpster was 2-for-3 with an RBI as St. Anne-Donovan moved to 2-0 on the season.
Tuesday’s game was Kankakee’s season opener. Jacob Vinardi pitched four no-hit innings for the Kays, issuing three walks and allowing three unearned runs. Noah Hileman had Kankakee’s lone hit.
Peotone 2, Central 1: The Blue Devils and Comets opened their seasons with an extra-inning affair in Peotone on Tuesday, with the Peotone’s Gavin Costanzo drawing a walk-off walk in the eighth inning to give the Blue Devils the win. Ruben Velasco was 2-for-4 for Peotone and scored the winning run. Tyler Leitelt went 3-for-4 with two doubles and got the win on the mound, pitching one inning of relief. Josh Barta started, allowing four hits in seven innings.
For Central, Derek Meier went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Blake Chandler was 1-for-4 with a double and also started on the mound, going seven innings and allowing four hits while striking out nine.
Beecher 12, Watseka 7: Beecher scored the first 11 runs on the road against Watseka Tuesday and held off a late push from the Warriors to pick up the win in what was the season opener for both teams. Ryan Cruz and Steven Fezler both had three hits for the Bobcats, with Cruz recording two RBIs and Fezler scoring three runs. Chasten Clegg went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.
For Watseka, Andrew Shoemaker went 1-for-3 with a walk, three RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base. Seth Dirks and Frankie Shervino scored two runs apiece.
Coal City 11, Dwight 5: The Coalers pulled away with some late insurance runs to pick up a home win on Tuesday and improve to 2-0 on the season. They led 8-1 entering the sixth innings before Dwight cut it to 8-5, but Coal City added three runs in the bottom of the sixth to get some breathing room.
Lance Cuddy earned the win, going five innings while allowing two runs on three hits. He had 11 strikeouts. Cuddy also went 2-for-4 from the plate a home run and two RBIs. Gabe McHugh also went deep and was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Manteno 16, Grant Park 1: Thanks to a 10-run explosion in the fourth inning, Manteno earned a shortened win in their season opener at home on Tuesday. Nolan Canfield and Cameron Tillman combined to hold Grant Park hitless in four innings, walking six batters in total, with Canfield allowing the Dragon’s lone run on a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Jake Stevens and Brady Hespen both went 3-for-4 with four RBIs for the Panthers, with Stevens having a double and a triple and Hespen having a home run.
For Grant Park, Ian Hamann drew a walk and scored on the sac fly from Ryder Greenholt. Aiden Overbeek drew two walks for the Dragons.
Putnam County 6, Gardner-South Wilmington 5: The Panthers fell to 1-1 on the season with a loss Tuesday in walk-off fashion. They led 5-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, but Putnam County rallied for three runs to erase the deficit. Milette went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Partilla and Gray also had two hits apiece for Gardner-South Wilmington.
Softball
Peotone 1, Central 0: Sophie Klawitter was absolutely dominant in the circle for Peotone in Tuesday’s season-opening win over Central. She allowed just two hits and tallied 17 strikeouts in seven innings to give the Blue Devils the narrow win. Ava Kosmos and Caelan Farmer gave Klawitter all the support she would need in the second inning, with Kosmos hitting a leadoff double and Farmer driving her home with a two-out single. Those were Peotone’s only two hits in the game.
Sydney Jemar took a tough loss for Central, allowing just the two hits and one run across six innings while recording seven strikeouts. Rayven Perkins and Lia Prairie recorded the Comets hits in the game.
Manteno 9, Grant Park 1: Ava Peterson tossed a gem for Manteno in the season opener for the Panthers on Tuesday. She held the Dragons to just one run on three hits while recording 10 strikeouts over seven innings of work. She also went 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot with a run scored, two RBIs and a stolen base. Aubrie Goudreau was also 2-for-4 for Manteno.
Grant Park fell to 0-2 on the season with the loss. Hayes hit a solo home run in the top of the first to give the Dragons a brief lead. Claire Sluis and Ava Desiderio also recorded hits for Grant Park.
Milford-Cissna Park 6, Donovan 1: The Bearcats improved to 2-0 while sending the Wildcats to 1-1 with their five-run win on Donovan on Tuesday. The teams combined for just five hits, one of them being an RBI triple from Kami Muehling in the third that put Milford-Cissna Park up 2-0. That gave Muehling, who also pitched all seven innings, all the run support she needed. Addison Lucht worked four walks, stole four bases and scored two runs.
For Donovan, Laylah Lou Walters struck out 10 batters in six innings of work with only one her six runs allowed being earned. Chloe Ponton and Evelynn Lopez each had a hit for Donovan while Bailey Henneike scored the team’s run.
Gardner-South Wilmington 7, Putnam County 0: For the second day in a row, Maddie Simms led the Panthers to a shutout win. After striking out 18 batters across seven shutout innings in Monday’s opener, she pitched six more scoreless innings on Tuesday, allowing just three hits and recording 13 more strikeouts. At the plate, Liv Siano and Bree Stein each drove in two runs while Bella Dinelli was 2-for-4 with a run.
Wilmington 18, Joliet Catholic 10: The Wildcats stayed hot at the plate Tuesday, following up Monday’s 19-1 win in the season opener with an 18-0 win to improve to 2-0 in style. Nina Egizio went 3-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. Molly Southall went 2-for-3 with a walk, three RBIs and three runs scored. Taylor Stefancic was 2-for-2 with two walks, and RBI and three runs scored while Keeley Walsh scored four times out of the leadoff spot.
Herscher 10, Prairie Central 8: Keira Abramovich went deep twice for Herscher in Tuesday’s season opener, both solo shots, while also recording a single and scoring third run in the Tigers’ road win. Chloe Kinkade went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Anistin Hackley earned the win on the mound, pitching all seven innings, while also going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Track and Field
Lincoln-Way West Indoor Invite: The girls teams from Bradley-Bourbonnais and Peotone competed against Lincoln-Way West on Tuesday. Bradley-Bourbonnais placed second with 32.5 points, trailing Lincoln-Way West’s 91. Peotone was third with 13.5 points.
Bradley-Bourbonnais got two first place finishes. One was in the 4x400 relay, where the team of Nevaeh Brown, Meara Pizur, Nora Hyma and Niyah Crockett won with a time of 4:22.17. Peyton Montgomery had the other in the long jump, winning at 1.34 meters. Peotone’s Celeste Richards won the 800 meters with a time of 2:35.42.
Girls soccer
Reed-Custer 4, Ottawa 1: The Comets picked up their first win of the season on Tuesday, bouncing back from Monday’s 2-0 loss to Coal City. No individual stats were immediately available.